The ‘End of Summer and the Fall Equinox,” – Equinox is the time of year when the sun is just above the equator. This means that day and night have almost the same duration. This happens twice a year, around March 20 and September 22 . The autumnal equinox marks the beginning of autumn in the northern hemisphere.
Equinox has played a significant role in the culture of all civilizations of the past. In Macedonia, the oldest known site on which the date of the equinox was determined is Kokino, from around 1800 B.C.E. The day when ‘day and night’ last 12 hours, not only marks the beginning of autumn, but also this day is considered a very powerful period for rituals and numerous folk beliefs and customs.
The rituals performed at Kokino were connected with the agricultural activities of the Bronze Age people in Macedonia and with the change of seasons. For that purpose the motion of the sun and some other celestial objects were observed. According to the ancient Macedonian calendar, the beginning of the year coincided with the autumnal equinox and called the first month Dius – October.
For some, the autumnal equinox has long been considered a day that is very important for all unfinished business, as well as for resolving disagreements with others. The autumnal equinox is a time when we should look at ourselves and see if we are satisfied with the results we have achieved in life, which is considered by some astrologers.
Preparing for Winter
The concept of autumn is also associated with the harvest of crops. It is marked by ceremonies and festivals that revolve around the importance of the season in food production. Animals gather food in the fall in preparation for the coming winter, and those with fur often grow thicker. Many birds migrate to escape the drop in temperatures, people prepare traditional foods according to their geographical location.
The universal and feverish participation of the whole community in the harvest is attributed by the proverbial phrase “Fall Harvest.” The participation of all the inhabitants of Sklithro-Zelenich made the harvest a hard but pleasant time, which often took on the character of a festival.
This was the time when women of the village would start to prepare their traditional foods to last throughout the winter. In each of the village neighbourhoods, women would gather as a group and make their tomato sauces, roast peppers, make ajvar, pickle cabbage, prepare leek sausages, couscous, kori (a type of pasta) but, most of all they would make the traditional cracked wheat “tralnik” (tarhana).
The couscous would be made with flour and eggs and would be rolled into various sizes. The ‘Kori’ would be made with just flour and water as women would make a filo and place it on bed sheets laid out in the yard. On these sheets they would line straw and place the filo on top as to create a space for air to flow and dry the filo which would naturally start to break apart and then gathered for storage. They would also add a step where they would put the ‘Kori’ in their stone ovens to further dry out. As a kid, I remember our whole front yard be strewed with white bed sheets and I had to place rows of straw on the sheets and as the women opened the filo they would come out and place them on top of the straw. Other kids and I had to ward off the cats and bugs, but the best part was when we had to hit the drying filo making a cracking sound and breaking apart. Women would then gather the broken pieces and divide them among all the families that were involved in this communal food preparation system.
My favourite was ‘tralnik – trahana’ – one of the world’s oldest comfort foods. Some historians believe that it originated with the ancient Macedonians when King Philip created the world’s first army ration that was then used by the Roman foot soldiers who called it tractae. Others believe it’s origins may lie in Persia who called it ‘Tarhaneh” and was then discovered by Turkish tribes.
The preparation of trahana begins in the first months of summer, a period of the agricultural cycle during which there is an excess of milk. It is the right time to dry, pack and be ready for the coming winter. The last stage is drying it over a large area for at least a week. When the materials are mixed, they are broken into irregular pieces, dried and then crushed into smaller granular pieces or passed through a sieve to achieve the same texture.
In the village, ‘trahana’ is dairy based and comes in two types: sweet and sour. Sweet is made with whole milk, typically goat’s milk, and sour trahana is made with yogurt or buttermilk. In both cases, cracked wheat (bulgar – pligouri in Greek) has always been used as the base whereas in other parts of the Balkans they make it with only flour, substituting water for fasting times. Women would prepare the ‘trahana’ in two ways, one as a porridge soup (tralnik) and the other (my favourite, trana) as ‘pita,’ baked and cut into squares – similar to our modern day energy bars.
Solid – Trana 
Porradge – Tralnik
This time of year is also the start of preparing sour cabbage called ‘rasol’ or ‘kisela zelka.’ The cabbage was put in a barrel filled with water and salt, and from time to time you would need to stir it all up so that the cabbage will be sour all the way through. When the cabbage is completely soaked and soured villagers would eat it as a side dish with dried hot red peppers, add it to a ‘zelnic,’ make ‘kapooshta’ (sour cabbage with pork ribs and many more dishes.
One of my favourite winter foods is making ‘Sarma’ – cabbage rolls stuffed with rice/bulgar and ground port. It can be prepared with the soured cabbage, but fresh cabbage or even vine leaves can be used to prepare Sarma. One cabbage leaf is stuffed with rice and meat and rolled up. Also for this dish there are variations. Some add smoked meat, bacon, ham and chopped vegetables to it and during times of lent, they would use bulgar as a substitute for meat.
The traditional foods and products that have been incorporated into the village cuisine recipes today have also had a significant influence from the refugees that came from Asia Minor in 1923. Another of my village foods that I desire is ‘manti’ – a filo pasta made similar to spreading filo in making ‘kori.’ This is combine with chicken pieces, broth, rice and veggie and then cooked in the oven. In the olden days, everyone wood sit and all eat out of the round pan.
So, for this fall take time to ask your parents and grandparents about preserving some of the old village food traditions that they remember so fondly. For your information in Sklithro today, there are a few women who have resurrected this village tradition.
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Sklithro-Zelenich-Sebalći 
