Funeral Food: Greek

Rather than food brought by others, a unique food served at Greek funerals is made by the family of the deceased and given to mourners. Koliva (or kolyva) is a sprouted wheat salad, taken from Jesus’s words in John 12:24: “Unless a wheat grain falls in the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Preparation of koliva is a two-day process that ideally involves the family. Wheat is soaked overnight and then boiled and mixed with toasted sesame seeds, raisins, nuts, parsley, and sometimes pomegranate seeds. Sometimes sweetened, the mixture is dried, shaped in a mound, covered with bread crumbs, and topped with confectioners’ sugar. The top is decorated with icing or Jordan almonds in the sign of the cross and the deceased’s initials. The koliva is taken to the church and distributed after the funeral as a symbol of immortality and resurrection.