Preparation:

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the meat and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally, for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned all over. Add the pureed tomatoes, garlic, and sugar, season with salt and pepper, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a nonstick skillet or frying pan. Add the orzo and cook over high heat, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes, until lightly golden. Transfer the orzo to a large ovenproof dish or divide among 6 individual dishes. (In Greece, a special clay pot called a giouvetsi is used for this dish.) Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C/Gas Mark 4). Put the pieces of lamb on top of the orzo and pour the tomato sauce over them. Carefully add the water and cover the dish with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the oven and put the tomato slices on top of the lamb, sprinkle with the cheese, and season with pepper. Return to the oven and bake, adding a little more water if necessary, for 30 minutes more, until the liquid has almost all been absorbed and the pasta is al dente. Serve immediately with extra grated cheese.

Serves 6

Preparation time 30 minutes Cooking time 2 1/4 hours

Note: Veal, beef, pork, chicken, or even shellfish can be substituted for the lamb, adjusting the cooking times as necessary.

Medicinal Herbs According to mythology, the original birthplace of all magic and medicinal herbs is not Crete, as is often wrongly claimed, but the Pilion mountain chain in eastern Thessaly. This was the home of Chiron the centaur, son of Cronos and Philyra, half-brother of Zeus and, unlike other centaurs, blessed with immortality. Although he was indeed one of these reputedly wild and unruly creatures, he differed from them not only in origin but also in nature. He was regarded as just, gentle, pious, and very wise and, consequently, the highest gods entrusted him with the task of educating their children. Asclepius, who later became the god of healing, originally gained his knowledge of the healing properties of plants and how to treat various diseases from Chiron. Even in ancient times, powerful healing properties were attributed to the medicinal herbs growing wild in the Pilion mountains, but they were mainly used externally to heal wounds. More often than not, the healing power of the herbs and plants was attributed to magical properties. In those days, the medicinal and pharmaceutical factors behind the efficacy of a plant were as yet unknown. It was simply experience that dictated the areas of application. In Asclepieia, the priests prescribed mystical measures as therapeutic treatment, such as sleeping in a temple. A more scientifically based form of medicine did not begin to emerge until Hippocrates (460-ca. 375 B.C.),Theophrastus (372-287 B.C.) and, more significantly, Dioscorides (around A.D. 50). Research began to take place into the causes of illness and into the curative effects of plants. In his reference work on medicines, Dioscorides names 500 different herbs, cataloged according to their usage, which he used in the treatment of around 50 different human ailments. During the 19th century, Theodor von Held-reich carried out a study on the abundant flora of Greece, including that of the Pilion area, which was published in 1862 in his book entitled Die Nutzpflanzen Griechenlands (Beneficial Plants of Greece). Many of these plants have disappeared as a result of modern urbanization and intensive farming. Nevertheless, the Pilion is still regarded as having an inexhaustible abundance of plants and herbs. Many herbs are used in traditional cuisine.

Remarkable architectural and topographic instrument, predecessor of the present plummet, which was used to calculate the inclination of several surfaces, in topographic sightings etc. The instrument describes Heron from Alexandria in his work Peri Dioptras, explaining the way, with which the engineer Eupalinos from Megara incised the known Eupalinion ditch in the present Pithagorio of Samos, in 520 B.C. The chorobates is considered to be a necessary supplement of the other significant instrument of Heron, the dioptra.

Excerpt from:
Ancient Greek Technology,
by Ailos Publications
(in English and Greek)