Oct 10, 2026 · 37 min · 9 segments
In this episode, I speak with award-winning cookbook author and food storyteller Irene Matys about her internationally acclaimed cookbook, *My Cypriot Table*, winner of the Gourmand World Cookbook…
Do you remember any particular challenges, adjustments, you know, from from climate to maybe being a kid in school, not really speaking English? Like, how was that experience for you?
A lot of the kids... didn't we weren't as welcome as we would hope like i remember i had a unibrow so you know i was made fun of right we were also embarrassed to open up our lunches um because grape leaves and you know basticho and all that stuff in our lunches louvi and all that was not recognized back then right so you know there'd be some days where because we made we're being made fun of we we would just not even open our lunch so those were the challenges for us also my parents didn't have money they were struggling so we didn't really do much as kids right like participate anything that involved you know maybe doing school trips or you know things like that the clothing we wore a lot of it was from missions and hand-me-downs and goodwill and i remember my first clothing with a price tag was a pair of shorts in grade seven from byway and i was so excited that my mom bought me these pair of shorts where i actually had a price tag that i can pull off and they were my own so you know it does having an upbringing like that and going through something like that really does humble you it really does make you look at life with a grateful and kind heart, for sure.
The fact I find it really interesting how food is certainly going to be a source of comfort.
But at the same time, it was, it sounds like it may have been a source of anxiety for you, just, you know, where you were eating it, you know, it offers familiarity, but at the same time, it kind of sets you apart from everyone else and makes you the other.
And it's interesting just how food could have that like double-edged sword to it, you know, at least for you.
Depending where we were eating the food, because my parents, our home was always full of friends and family.
Like, it's just the Cypriot way, right? Like, there was always people at our house, weekends, Sunday souvlats, like barbecues and stuff.
When I was in that familiar setting, when we had friends over and family, food was comfort.
So when it was at home or we visited aunts and uncles and, you know, it was comfort for us because it was like, oh, this is us.
We were going to another school and we were going to be gone for the day and the bus stopped at McDonald's.
Do you remember any particular challenges, adjustments, you know, from from climate to maybe being a kid in school, not really speaking English? Like, how was that experience for you?
A lot of the kids... didn't we weren't as welcome as we would hope like i remember i had a unibrow so you know i was made fun of right we were also embarrassed to open up our lunches um because grape leaves and you know basticho and all that stuff in our lunches louvi and all that was not recognized back then right so you know there'd be some days where because we made we're being made fun of we we would just not even open our lunch so those were the challenges for us also my parents didn't have money they were struggling so we didn't really do much as kids right like participate anything that involved you know maybe doing school trips or you know things like that the clothing we wore a lot of it was from missions and hand-me-downs and goodwill and i remember my first clothing with a price tag was a pair of shorts in grade seven from byway and i was so excited that my mom bought me these pair of shorts where i actually had a price tag that i can pull off and they were my own so you know it does having an upbringing like that and going through something like that really does humble you it really does make you look at life with a grateful and kind heart, for sure.
The fact I find it really interesting how food is certainly going to be a source of comfort.
But at the same time, it was, it sounds like it may have been a source of anxiety for you, just, you know, where you were eating it, you know, it offers familiarity, but at the same time, it kind of sets you apart from everyone else and makes you the other.
And it's interesting just how food could have that like double-edged sword to it, you know, at least for you.
Depending where we were eating the food, because my parents, our home was always full of friends and family.
Like, it's just the Cypriot way, right? Like, there was always people at our house, weekends, Sunday souvlats, like barbecues and stuff.
When I was in that familiar setting, when we had friends over and family, food was comfort.
So when it was at home or we visited aunts and uncles and, you know, it was comfort for us because it was like, oh, this is us.
We were going to another school and we were going to be gone for the day and the bus stopped at McDonald's.
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