Taperakia, or the diminutive of the word ταπερ (the Greek spelling of tupper), connotes the custom of Greek mothers preparing traditional foods for their children and sending them in Tupperware containers wherever those children reside after leaving home. It’s not clear when the tradition began (although Kallidis jokes that it probably goes back to antiquity when, instead of plastic, mothers used clay containers) but according to Marianna Economou, a documentary filmmaker, it’s a natural extension of the relationship Greeks have with food.
Iouliani Polykretis makes yemista (stuffed tomatoes and peppers) at her organic farm on the island of Naxos in Greece.Margarita Gokun Silver
Economou became interested in taperakia as a student in the United Kingdom, when she watched her friend receive regular shipments of spinach pies and meatballs from his mother in Greece. Later she learned that this wasn’t an isolated occurrence. More and more women she met were sending prepared dishes to their children, some going as far as creating weekly menus and splitting their tuppers into single-sized servings.
Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)Moussaka
Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)
Moussaka
Some of this practice, Economou argues, comes from the mothers' fears that their children can’t cope on their own. Kallidis agrees. “For my mom, I’m not a celebrity chef,” he says. “I’m away from the nest, I’m supposed to suffer.” Taperakia is one way a mother expresses concern for a child’s well-being. For Dimitris Dimitriadis, who’s been receiving taperakia from his mom for years, this “ritual-like preparation of food [is a] gesture of love and care.”
Chef Vassilis KallidisBecause it comes from my momit’s more precious than gold to me.
Chef Vassilis Kallidis
Because it comes from my momit’s more precious than gold to me.
Children’s opinions on taperakia vary. For some it’s a welcome taste from home—“It was exciting [to receive] it and [my roommates] thought it was cool” says Katerina Bournou, who studied in Manchester, England—but for others their mom’s homemade food is something they haven’t yet had a chance to miss. Grown-up enough to own a restaurant in Athens, Kallidis, who still gets taperakia from his mom, now sees it as symbolic. “I don’t want to waste even a single grain of rice from [her] tuppers,” he says. “Because it comes from my mom it’s more precious than gold to me.” For him—as for his mother—her lovingly prepared stuffed peppers andgrape leavesare a way to communicate, to be together while apart, and to maintain their bond across time and distance.
Leigh Beisch
Get the recipe:Ntolmadakia (Stuffed Grape Leaves)
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!Tell us why!OtherSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
Tell us why!OtherSubmit
Tell us why!
