My grandparents came over from Greece and in doing so they brought with them a lot of the Greek food culture. A well-known Greek recipe that has been passed down in my family from generation to generation is known as pastitsio. It consists of meat and pasta with a custard over the top. It is similar to a baked version of a lasagna. My yiayia (Grandmother in Greek) lived in the same house as us so we were accustomed to her making her delicious recipes. She used to make pastitsio just about every Sunday and on holidays such as Christmas and New Years. On the weeks before the holidays she would go food shopping with my Dad to pick up all the necessary ingredients required to make this dish. She would go to a small Greek supermarket in Astoria. I remembered one time I went with them they took hours in the store just because my yiayia wanted to make sure she got everything she needed for a perfect meal. My yiayia would always tell me how important it was to learn to cook this dish and how much hard work and dedication it takes. A few holidays ago, I was able to cook this meal with the help of my grandmother for about 20 family members. It was a lot of hard work but in the end it was all worth it seeing the looks on the faces of my family. They all had loved it so much.

– Nick Liolios

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant