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Tsiknopempti

Smoky Thursday in Greece: everyone grills meat in the street before the Lenten fast draws near.

Tsiknopempti in Plateia Varvakeiou, Athens, Greece. The municipality of Athens grills meats to celebrate the day, part of the Greek Carnival, and gives it to the crowd.
Photo: C messier, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is eaten for Tsiknopempti

Tsiknopempti means the Thursday of the smell of grilling meat. It falls in the middle week of the Greek carnival, eleven days before Lent begins, and it is the day for eating as much meat as possible. Grills are set up outside shops, offices and homes, and the smoke hangs over whole towns. Souvlaki, pork chops, sausages and kokoretsi are the usual things on the coals, eaten with bread, tzatziki and wine.

The dishes

SouvlakiSkewers of grilled pork, the food of the day.LoukanikoGreek sausage for the grill.TzatzikiYoghurt, cucumber and garlic beside the meat.

Also part of it, and being written: Kokoretsi (Lamb offal wrapped and turned over coals.).

About this page

Written by the Thali desk with AI assistance. Background: "Tsiknopempti" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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