Ambrosia & Nectar, Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral

Two vintage Greek cookbooks displayed on blue surface: green spiral-bound The Best of Greek Cookery and red Ambrosia and Nectar tied with white ribbon

Evening Sun food columnist Virginia Roeder generally knew what she was talking about. In 1962 she announced that “a new cookbook star has appeared on the Maryland culinary horizon.”

The book she was writing about would go on to earn a time-tested place on many Baltimore kitchen bookshelves. My next-door neighbors have a copy. A former coworker told me that she’s “seen it on [her] godmother’s shelf, so it must be good!” My own copy was donated to me from the cookbook collection of the late Dr. Patricia Smith. The book is well-used, its cover fallen off and held on with a ribbon. Opening it is like opening a gift.

The book in question, “Ambrosia & Nectar,” was compiled by the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Community, and as far as I know, it was the first cookbook representation of Baltimore’s Greek community, one of the largest Greek communities in the United States.

Greek immigration to Baltimore gained steam in the years between 1930 and 1950, and families moved to a neighborhood in Highlandtown known as “the Hill.”

In 1975, the Baltimore Sun covered a story about a road in “Greektown, which is Baltimorese for that part of Highlandtown beyond what everyone calls ‘the underpass.'”

Citizens took pride in the moniker. “The majority of people around here are Greek. They speak Greek. The main church is the Greek church. Most of the businessmen are Greeks. Whether we call it that or not, this is Greektown,” said Jimmy Hajimihalis in 1979. “So we decided to call it what everybody knows it is.”

Historic Greek Orthodox cathedral with domed architecture, columns, and cross on top surrounded by landscaped grounds — *Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation, Baltimore Heritage flickr*

The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation served Baltimore’s Greek community since 1906, before families began settling in Highlandtown. The iconic Cathedral stands across town at the intersection of Preston and Cathedral Streets. The building was constructed to serve a Protestant congregation in 1888. Annunciation services were moved there in 1937. Each year, the church holds a Greek festival in October. 2023 will be the 50th anniversary of the festival.

“Ambrosia & Nectar’s” success was followed up a decade after its publication, with 1972’s “The Best of Greek Cookery.” That book took the recipes and updated them, elaborated on the instructions, or switched to ingredients that were more readily available. As far as I can tell, the original remains the favorite.

Rather than listing recipe contributors’ names alongside their recipes, the cookbook committee is listed at the front of the book only. Mrs. Konstantine J. Prevas, a local restauranteur, led the committee. Well over 100 people were involved in the making of “Ambrosia & Nectar.”

Baked beef stifado in cast iron skillet with mushrooms and onions, traditional Greek Easter dish

To make a post about “Ambrosia & Nectar,” I felt I had to try out as many recipes as possible. I enlisted some help from family.

I made the Eggplant Casserole (moussaka.) My cousins did Wine Dipped Meat Balls (soutzoukakia) and marinated mushrooms. My mother made beef onion stew (stifado) and a Lima Bean salad (using the aptly named Gigantes beans.) My aunts made Green Bean Salad, cheese-filled triangles (tiropitakia), and a dessert made with shredded wheat cereal (mock kataiffi.) I also made Koulourakia, an Easter cookie that uses ammonia for leavening. A recipe for these cookies will appear in Festive Maryland Recipes.

In 2023, Greek Orthodox Easter falls on April 16th, one week after other Christian churches celebrate Easter. Following a special midnight service at the Cathedral of the Annunciation, families will gather to feast and crack red Easter eggs.

There is one section of “Ambrosia & Nectar” that I did not try make any recipes from… yet. Towards the back of the book, there is an illustration of a crab and the title “Favorite Maryland Recipes.” The pages that follow contain beaten biscuits, Maryland Fried Chicken, Lady Baltimore Cake, crab soup, crab cakes, crab imperial plus some crab, crab, and more crab!

Though separated in the book, these recipes were made in the same kitchens as grapevine leaves stuffed with rice, silky Avgolemono soup made with egg and lemon, and Easter Soup containing lamb lung. “Ambrosia & Nectar” is yet another testament to the infinite range of Maryland kitchens. And to the irresistibility of Maryland crab.