Greek dinners are always abundant, and are about three things : family, friends, and passion. I like to think of these dinners as being less food-oriented as they are people-oriented, the food , always shared, an accessory to the table. Cooking is like a ritual : everyone has a role, and it always serves a very precise social role in the family or friend unit ("parea" as we all our little friend tribes.) But above all, it is transcended from yaya (grandmother) to mitera (mother) to sons and daughter everywhere. The good thing about being a displaced Greek is that despite the cross-cultural metamorphosis of life, the food is what binds us together. That, and the parties : Easter, name days, any excuse to get together and dance a tsiftetelia.

On this ocassion, my Greek mother from Thessaloniki and her friend, a lovely woman from Athens displaced to the South of France and us, the half Greek daughters, danced around a 3 pound salmon from Alaska (salmon travel cross-country too) to entertain our non-Greek parea (the husbands boyfriends and sons.) Though I don't abide by the women in the kitchen rule, the passing down of time-old traditional cooking is something you just don't say no to. And the men did the dishes.

So here you are, from Greece to Belgium and France via Washington DC, A recipe for Greek-style Salmon.

5 red ripe tomatoes
One pound Potatoes, standard
3 onions
4 lemons
Olive oil (In Greece, olive oil is GREEN. Find the Greek-Green!)
Pastis (A licorice-flavored liquor)
Salt
Pepper
Rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano
One ginormous salmon, whole, emptied.

Cut all tomatoes and onions in circular pieces. Place in a large baking plate so as to cover the bottom.

Peel and cut potatoes into half inch circlular pieces. Place on top of the onions and tomatoes.
Add another layer of tomato, onion, and lemon cut into similar circular pieces.

Sprinkle salt, pepper, herbs, and olive oil.

Place salmon on top. Stuff with more tomatoes, onions, and lemon. Add herbs and olive oil/lemon juice inside.

Pour over a half cup of Pastis, a half cup of olive oil, and a 3 lemons worth of juice.

Preheat oven to 425. Place salmon in and cook for 1 hour.

Serve with a light salad and voila. The simplest, most beautiful salmon you've ever seen. Kali Orexi!