Yesterday was March 25th, the feast of the Annunciation and the 204th anniversary of the Declaration of Greek Independence. On this day Greeks eat salted cod fried in a batter. The finished product looks like the fried fish you’ll find in any Irish or British fish & chip shop. My mother-in-law is a good source of words relating to the kitchen, but I never know if they are standard Greek words, or words she learnt during her childhood in Epirus. This one is in the dictionaries!
Κουρκούτι = batter. It is a borrowing from the Turkish kükürt, which means sulphur. Apparently, the colour of κουρκούτι bears a similarity to the element.
Γίνομαι κουρκούτι = I’m getting sluggish
Έχω μυαλό κουρκούτι/το μυαλό μου έγινε κουρκούτι = my brain is mush/fried
Κουρκουτιάζω = to be in slow mental or physical decline/confusion due to overworking or old age.
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