This month I invited the Movies & Munchies crew to watch any of the My Big Fat Greek Wedding movies. Number three was recently released for streaming; I thought it would be a good excuse to indulge in a marathon following the Portakalos clan in their wacky family interactions.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding came out in 2002 and tells the story of Toula Portokalos who falls in love with - and marries - a non-Greek, Ian Miller. That's the first wedding. And though it's obviously Greek-centric, it resonates with any children of immigrants who can relate to the cultural tug-o-war that is assimilation and holding onto traditions. D shared the movie with his college friends who had never seen it. And they all related to the experiences.
The second movie was released fourteen years later. Toula and Ian's daughter, Paris, is about to graduate from high school and Gus and Maria realize that they were never legally married. Recifying that error leads to the second Big Fat Greek wedding.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 takes the Portokalos family to Gus' village in Greece to spread his ashes and bring his journal to his best friends. True to the other two films in the series, this movie also includes a wedding.
All three movies celebrate family and Greek culture. And given that the Portokalos family owns a restaurant, there is a lot of food in all of the films. Here are the other bloggers' creations for this month's event...
Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm made Bougatsa.
She shares her inspiration: "Aunt Voula is exactly the same as she is in each of the movies. A loving, busybody, who believes she knows what is best for everyone and most often that means food. The Bougatsa I am sharing with you today was announced by her and brought out during a very tense time at the dinner table and, of course, it made everything better."
I have never had this phyllo and custard. It seems like a less heavy dessert than baklava. I can't wait to try Wendy's recipe.
Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures whipped up Greek Frappe.
Amy and her Hubs watched all three movies for this. Then she made this from the third movie. She shared, "I was interested in the Greek Frappe which has been around for awhile but as mentioned before became popular on TikTok. It is also known as Whipped Coffee or by the Korean version, Dalgona Coffee."
I was glad to see her recount the challenges in making this so I can avoid all of that headache and go straight for the ice cubes in a mason jar. Thanks, Amy.
Debra of Eliot's Eats shared A Big Fat Greek Salad.
Debra also watched all three movies and wrote: "This was my favorite from the opening scene on. There was a silly factor here as well (with the new family found in Greece), but I still liked it. More food spotted like souvlaki, lots of olive oil, tyropita (cheese pie), more eggplant and the gemista (stuffed vegetables with rice and herbs). ...If I had been really ambitious, I would have picked a food from each film and I almost did that choosing the spicy breakfast potatoes, chocolate baklava, and tryopita. In the end, I went healthy and made a version of a Greek salad that we could eat on for a few days."
I had to chuckle at her comment that "John Corbett is still hot in 2023!" I definitely had a crush on him as Chris in Northern Exposure.
As for me, I also re-watched the first and second movies before I watched the new, and final, one. It's hard to say which one I liked the best. I loved being introduced to all the characters in the first. We love Gus and Voula. But the food montage at the beginning of the third literally made my mouth water. I made horiatiko phyllo, village phyllo, and my version of Tyropita, cheese pie, that I will share shortly. But for now, I am offering my Greek marinated olives.
Marinated Olives
Inspired by Gus' speech at the wedding in the first movie, I marinated Greek olives with rosemary and citrus.
As many of you know, our name, Portokalos, is come from the Greek word "portokali," which mean "orange."
Ingredients
2 cups mixed olives
2 to 3 sprigs rosemary
5 to 6 cloves garlic, sliced
2 mandarin oranges, halved
1/3 cup olive oil (I used Koroneiki, a Greek olive oil)
1/3 cup Satsuma mandarin vinegar (or a vinegar of your choosing)
1/3 cup freshly squeezed mandarin juice
Also needed: a lidded jar
Procedure
Layer the olives, garlic, mandarin orange, and rosemary in a jar. Whisk together the oil, vinegar, and orange juice. Pour the liquid into the jar and try to ensure that the olive are completely submerged. If not, you will need to stir the jar to rotate the olives. Let stand for at least two hours, or if you are making this ahead of time, place in the refrigerator. Just be sure to bring the olives to room temperature before serving. In fact, I love to serve these warm.
That's a wrap for our April #MoviesandMunchies. I am also hosting the May's event. We'll be watching Parallel Mothers in honor of Mothers' Day. Stay tuned!