Greens, Culinary Tips & Athenian Wisdom at Nikos Markou’s Kolonaki Stall
A symphony of green goodness on display at the laiki on Xenokratous every Friday.
The many markets, laiki, of Athens are a microcosm of city life, laden with their own dramas, heroes, villains and storylines. A six sense develops over time that allows the regularly visitor to tell at a glance whether a stall, and stall holder, is in the hero category or not. The pride to want to set out a good stall, and the eye to do it well, is definitely one factor. The quality of the product, not always immediately apparent, is obviously another. A key factor, and one that is difficult to quantify, is that ineffable quality of charisma that makes the shouted advert sound more like opera than politics and the magical ability to turn a queue into an audience.
Nikos Markou, who runs a stall at the Xenokratous laiki on Friday is most definitely in this rarified group. To join the group of regulars in front of his display of herbs, salads and, mostly green, vegetables, is to take part in a wonderful performance for a few minutes that never fails to lift one’s mood. Nikos is an Athens native who trained in HR before, thankfully, following his father into the farming trade. Given his warmth and generosity of spirit, I can’t imagine he would have been very good at delivering bad HR news anyway and “corporate synergy’s” loss is the keen cook’s gain.
Nikos sells a range of salads, aromatic herbs, arugula, broccoli, cauliflower, and a variety of vegetables, all grown by him on his farm at Paiania, Attica. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of his produce, able to give nutritional, as well as culinary, advice on the lush spectrum of greens laid out invitingly before him. The biggest compliment I can pay Nikos is to say that his in now one of the stalls that I arrive at with an open mind, ready to be advised on what I should leave with, rather than a prescribed list. Often this level of produce and attention would come with a price to match so it’s one of the wonders of the stall that I often walk away worrying that I have somehow made off with more than I’ve paid for. Go and visit Nikos with an open mind and an empty stomach. You won’t be disappointed.
