Kathy Tsaples dreams of heading back to Greece one day to make a film. In it, she’d uncover what she calls “the real Greece” – beyond the stunning vistas commonly spotted in travel documentaries. She’d take viewers through tiny villages and up mountains, bringing them to rural communities where the simplicity and authenticity of Greek cuisine brings families and friends together. It sounds like a movie we would watch with gusto (and perhaps a touch of salivation).
When studying Tsaples’ track record of realising her dreams, it’s easy to presume the film is a real possibility. As the proud founder of in Melbourne’s Prahran Market, Kathy Tsaples carries on decades of Greek baking traditions, honed from hours spent cooking with her mother in the migrant suburb of Richmond as a young girl. “My baking passion started because mum would always ask me to make dessert,” Tsaples tells SBS. “Whilst working in the financial services industry and always being surrounded by food, I had a vision and a dream to open up a beautiful food store that would showcase everything that represents the beauty of authentic, traditional Greek cuisine. When I was diagnosed with cancer I came face to face with a long battle – I figured it was time to make this dream a reality.” Tsaples promptly said goodbye to her 9-5, and walked straight into an ‘office’ surrounded by spanakopita, ravani (a sort of sweet cake, similar to Middle Eastern Basbousa) and (egg shaped biscuits made with flour, olive oil and honey).
After proving herself indispensable to the fabric of Prahran Market by way of opening an always-bustling store and releasing two cookbooks, Tspales is now turning her mind to teaching others. “I would love to conduct small intimate cooking classes, and maybe even lead a food tour to Greece,” she says.
In a recent chat with SBS, Tsaples taught us Greek Dessert 101. “Greek desserts fall into three categories,” she explains. “We have the cakes, the biscuits and of course the syrup-based desserts like baklava, galoaktoboureko and ravani. Then there are the beautiful preserves, which are served with a cup of coffee when friends visit.”
Here’s what else the queen of Sweet Greek had to tell us:
On her must-have quintessential Greek ingredient
According to Tsaples, when it comes to readily available ingredients used to emulate the taste of home, nothing does it quite like a handful of luscious figs. “When I think of figs I think of Greece,” she says. “The beautiful warm climate allows the figs to grow in abundance in all their forms and varieties. The delicious sweet fruit allows us to use it in many ways, but the most common way we enjoy this delectable fruit in Greece is by simply presenting a bowl of them.”
Tsaples suggests using figs to make jams, baking them into the fig spoon sweet, or even drying them and turning them into her famed . “We eat them when they ripen, but we dry them out to enjoy all year round.” 
Fig paste (pasta me syko) Source: Sharyn Cairns
And it’s not just the fruit itself that Greeks love – Tsaples point out fig leaves are worth their weight in gold, particularly when making her fig paste. “The trick is to use really fresh fig leaves as a wrapping for the paste. Figs are in season a the moment, so the leaves are perfect. There’s a shiny side and a vein side to the leaf – have the vein side facing you so the paste paste goes onto the vein.” The result, she says, is not only aesthetically pleasing but incredibly aromatic, too. It’s the perfect accompaniment to any good cheese board.
On her all time favourite Greek desserts
“ would have to be my favourite because it’s a delicious semolina custard in between layers of filo pastry, with a light syrup poured on top,” she says. “I call it the Greek vanilla slice but it’s much better than that, really. We make it all day at the shop and I never get tired of it.”
Tsaples’ close runner up is Ravani, a sweet semolina cake – buttery, with a hint of orange. “It’s fluffy, sweet, aromatic and wonderful with a cup of tea.”
In close third place is Karithopita, traditional Greek walnut cake. “This cake is sentimental to me because it was the first cake I made using a recipe from my mum’s cookbook that she had received from Greece. This is how I got my start in baking.”
Get your hands on this creamy galaktoboureko
Source: Alan Benson & Ben Dearnley
On adding a touch of Greek flair to your Christmas table this year
“Christmas is such a special time of the year. Cook with all your heart and with lots of love,” she says. “Celebrate Christmas with the generosity of spirit and love that is synonymous with Greek culture. In Australia we are lucky because we have an abundance of figs available to us as it’s summer for our Christmas. Decorate your table with them, fill bowls and decorate you cakes. Make the fig paste and serve it with your cheeses."
“Have a platter of , the traditional Greek shortbread dusted in icing sugar and a platter of melomakarona, which are our honey and walnut biscuits. Decorate your house light the candles and fire up the barbecue to cook the octopus. No Greek festive table is complete without octopus.”
Keep your eyes peeled for Sweet Greek the movie in-between mouthfuls of fig paste – we don’t doubt it’ll be coming to a cinema near you in the not-too-distant future.
Brand-new series airs Thursdays at 8pm on SBS then on . For recipes and more visit the program site #FoodSafari
