067 A Wild Idea to Bring the Slow Cooker to Greece with Entrepreneur Eleni Vonissakou

Welcome and Happy New Year to you, my dear readers! It’s wonderful to connect with you again - thank you for being here. I’m looking forward to a 2021 full of stories that feed our curiosity and nourish our empathy.

Have you ever tried something new and loved it so much you wanted to tell everyone about it?

When Eleni’s mother introduced her to a slow cooker, Eleni didn’t just tell her friends about it, she immediately started a business importing slow cookers to Greece!

Not only that, with just 5 recipes on a sheet of paper, she purposed to write a cookbook about Greek cooking in a slow cooker which has now been published and sold around the world.

Only from a woman who makes these types of wild ideas come true, would I believe the claim that a delicious, moist, firm cake could be cooked to perfection in a slow cooker. But I’m here to tell you - it can happen, and it did! Eleni shares with us today the recipe and traditions surrounding her version of Vasilopita, an traditional orange cake eaten by Greeks on New Year’s Eve.

We’ll also discuss what it was like to be the daughter of a Greek man and English woman, raised in Athens, educated in the UK, and how food bridged the two cultures.

Highlights

New Year's traditions of hiding a coin in Vasilopita, a delicious spiced orange cake
Making cake in a slow cooker?!?! And seafood?
Religion and celebrations in Greece
Growing up half Greek, half English
The surprising (and hilarious) way Eleni received her first Greek recipe from her mother
"Before I cooked, I collected recipes"
Is starting a business as simple as picking up the phone and making a call?
Writing a cookbook
Why the slow cooker works so well for the Greek (and your!) lifestyle