The EUROMED 2020 theme, Traditional Gastronomy in the Mediterranean, was gorgeous! Vibrant and mouth wateringly delicious pretty much  summed up the year. Then again, I’m passionate about foods from around the world and I get wildly excited about the idea of trying something new. Just ask my friends. 

The 2020 stamps all had a lush, rich look and I have to say, it was an exceptional year for design.  Much to my disappointment, only 7 out of 18 countries participated. I had hoped to see Egypt, Tunisia and Montenegro participate.  But, that’s the way stamp programs go. It can be hit and miss. 

I’ve included some links to recipes and a bit of history about each dish. If you have any to share, please leave them in the comments below. And don’t forget to tell me which dishes you’ve tried. 

If you enjoy thematic stamp collections stop by Themes, EUROPA & SEPAC stamps.  You’ll find more stamps listed by year and theme, including Lunar New Year issues and Europa.  If you’d like to be notified when a new list goes up, sign up for my weekly newsletter. It goes out Sunday evenings. Just look for the sign up box in the middle of the page. 

Croatia – Rab Cake | Rapska Torta

1 stamp, sheet of 16, FDC, cancel
multi-colour offset

Rabske is a traditional Croatian dessert that has origins in the island of Rab. It’s always baked in a spiral shape and usually has almonds, lemon zest, orange zest, and Maraschino liqueur

Kuća Rabske Torte & Slastice Vilma (rabskatorta.com)

Designer: Ariana Norši

Release date: July 13, 2020

Cyprus – Kolokasi  

1 stamp, sheet of 8, FDC, cancel
litho-offset

Kolokasi is a hardy root vegetable that resembles a potato or sweet potato. It’s use in Cyprus’ cuisine dates to Roman times. Some sites refer to it as taro. 

Kolokasi – Taro (yummycyprus.com) 

Designer: Antonia Hadjigeorgiou

Release date: July 9, 2020

France – Bouillabaisse

1 stamp, cancel, info sheet
rotogravure 

To me the telling flavor of bouillabaisse comes from two things: the Provençal soup base—garlic, onions, tomatoes, olive oil, fennel, saffron, thyme, bay, and usually a bit of dried orange peel—and, of course, the fish—lean (non-oily), firm-fleshed, soft-fleshed, gelatinous, and shellfish
Julia Child

Bouillabaisse is a classic dish from Provençal. It’s a fish stew that traces it’s origins to the city of Marseille. The first references to bouillabaisse popped up towards the end of the 18th century.

Originally, this modest dish consisted of boiling, on return from fishing, in a cauldron filled with seawater, fish too damaged to be sold or that had not found takers. The first mention of this cult dish dates back to the end of the eighteenth century, but it is then rather a method of cooking over high heat, which is lowered to the first broths, with this recommendation: “when it boils, lowers the fire” or “boils and falls”, “bouiabaisso” in Provençal, which will give the word “bouillabaisse”.

 

Rock fish bring it, its iodized and full-bodied taste. We usually add small mullet, monkfish, whiting, scorpionfish, st. peter, some stirrups, tomatoes, onions, leeks, celery, garlic and olive oil, not to mention the essential pinch of saffron. The broth is served first, then the fish, accompanied by rust and croutons. EuroMed Postal – البريد الاورومتوسطيالبريد الاورومتوسطي (euromed-postal.org)

Designer: Jenne Pineau La Poste — Jenne pineau

Release date: July 13, 2020

Greece – Octopus | Moussaka | Lamb | Green Pie

4 stamps on souvenir sheet, 2 FDCs, cancel
multicoloured offset

Greece also issued a numbered album and booklets

If you have a good source for Greek recipes, preferably from Greece, please post in the comments.

Cooked food begins in Greece with recipes both simple and complex. However, our long history has put great pressure on the evolution of our cuisine as a result of conquest and especially poverty. Perhaps this poverty gave rise to some great ideas.

 

Looking through the Greek cooking repertoire, we see that it is dominated by the ubiquitous lamb and goat, mainly roasted on a spit or grilled.

Pies are also made throughout Greece, with various kinds of pastry and rich or humble fillings. They are found everywhere, from north to south and from east to west.

 

The famous moussaka, Greece’s most emblematic dish, doesn’t exist in any other country the way we make it here. It brings together the West and the East: a French béchamel sauce with a little meat and vegetables.

 

Finally, with its long coastline, Greece has always loved seafood.

 

So, with these thoughts, and having searched through our favourite recipes, we have decided to put lamb, pie, moussaka and octopus on the stamps.

EuroMed Postal – البريد الاورومتوسطيالبريد الاورومتوسطي (euromed-postal.org)

Designer: Anthi Lygka

Release date: July 13, 2020

Lebanon – Kibbeh | Tabbouleh | Hummus |Manoush’eh

4 stamps on a souvenir sheet

10 Most Popular Lebanese Dishes – TasteAtlas

Food design: Mr. Nicolas Audi
Photography: Uf Concepts

Release date: July 17, 2020

Malta – Biskuttini tar-Rahal | Qaghaq tal-Gunglien | Pasta Roza bil-Gewz tal-Indi

3 stamps, FDC, cancel
offset

The first stamp depicts Biskuttini tar-Rahal or Rustic Biscuits. These traditional pastries consist of a unique blend of spices and aromatic herbs including ground cloves, caraway seeds and aniseed. They were sometimes prepared for special occasions such as christening parties. They are decorated with swirls of pink or blue icing and served with tea. Their aroma has come to be associated with quaint, old village bakeries.

 

Qaghaq tal-Gunglien (Biscuit rings with sesame seeds) are ring shaped biscuits made of flour with lemon /orange rind and a blend of aromatic spices with sesame seeds scattered on top. They are extremely popular with the locals and available at most bakeries and supermarkets.

 

Pasta Roza bil-Gewz tal-Indi (Coconut Lamington) has become a traditional sweet. It originates from Australia but Malta adapted it and given it a local flavour. Consisting of soft vanilla or butter cake, it is soaked in a strawberry syrup (as opposed to dipped in chocolate) and rolled in desiccated coconut. EuroMed Postal – البريد الاورومتوسطيالبريد الاورومتوسطي (euromed-postal.org) 

Designer: MaltaPost

Release date: July 13, 2020

Morocco – Bissara & Tagra

2 stamps, FDC, cancel
rotogravure

Bissara is a comforting Moroccan dish made with puréed beans – either split peas or dried fava beans. It can be prepared in the form of a soup or porridge, while the thicker versions are commonly used as a dip. The puréed beans are typically seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic, and the dish is often served with paprika and cumin on the side, while crusty Moroccan bread is almost mandatory. Eat Local in Morocco (tasteatlas.com) 

 “Tagra”, a fish dish, originally fishermen, and subsequently adopted by villagers in northwest Morocco. Cooked fish is mainly composed of sardines or anchovies. The dish is named after the unglazed terracotta container, oval or round, with no lid. EuroMed Postal – البريد الاورومتوسطيالبريد الاورومتوسطي (euromed-postal.org)

Designer: Mohammed Elouanti  

Release date: July 13, 2020

Portugal – Arroz Doce à Estoiense | Licor de flor de laranjeira

Perfume of Citrus

2 stamps, FDC, cancel
offset

Arroz Doce à Estoiense is a sweet rice pudding from Estoi, Portugal. It’s cooked with hints of citrus. Arroz Doce – Portuguese Rice Pudding Recipe (wetravelportugal.com)

Licor de flor de laranjeira is an orange blossom liqueur. 

The legacy of the Portuguese orange is an enduring one. The name Portugal is synonymous with the word for orange in far-flung places such as Iran (porthegal), Turkey (portakal), Romania (portocal), and Greece, where the name portokalia is certified through the PDO designation of the Greek orange Portokalia Maleme Chanion Kritis. The quality of Portuguese citrus has also been recognised since 1996, when the Mediterranean modus vivendi of the Algarve received PGI certification for the Citrinos do Algarve (Algarve Citrus Fruits), which also includes clementines, tangerines, grapefruit and lemons. And it is in regional Algarve cookery that we find a recipe that blends the region’s history with the fruit. Long ago, somewhere between the 8th and 12th centuries, people almost certainly started making roz bel hlib (rice pudding) and mazaher (orange blossom water). These two ancestral elements of Maghrebi culture are now found in recipes from Brazil to the Middle East. In Portugal, they are still used in a peculiar convent-style recipe called Arroz doce à Estoiense, a sweet rice pudding from Estoi, in the Faro area. Orange blossom liqueur is recorded in an old English recipe for orange blossom brandy from 1727, a time when Portugal and France were big exporters of orange blossom water.

 

The citrus perfume is embedded in the Portuguese soul, something that cannot be dissociated from the fact that UNESCO recognised Portugal (in 2013) as one of the heirs of the Mediterranean for its anthropological, sociological, gastronomic and nutritional heritage. The Mediterranean Diet doubtless has in the Algarve a symbol of this heritage that can be felt, smelt… and savoured!
EuroMed Postal – البريد الاورومتوسطيالبريد الاورومتوسطي (euromed-postal.org)

Designer: Folk Design
Photographer: Mário Cerdeira
Chef: Chef Paulo Mendonça

Release date: July 10, 2020

Slovenia – Olive Oil | Istrian jota |  Sea Bass|  Refosco & Malvasia wines

1 stamp, FDC, cancel
4 colour offset

Experience the oil-making tradition in your own way | I feel Slovenia
A recipe for Jota, bean soup (croatiatraveller.com)
The Fonda fish farm | Fonda
Top Slovenian Wine: Refošk – THE Slovenia (the-slovenia.com)
Malvasia Grape Variety & Wine Profile: Taste & Food Pairings • Winetraveler

Designer: Edi Berk
Photographer, stamp: Tomo Jeseničnik
Photographer, FDC: Dragan Arrigler 

Release date:  July 13, 2020

Spain – Espeto

1 stamp on sheet of 6, FDC, cancel
Offset + cold foil + die-cut

One of the most popular culinary delights to be enjoyed on the Costa del Sol in Malaga is the ‘espeto’ or skewered sardines. A simple, easy-to-prepare dish based on sardines skewered on a bamboo spit that, after being cooked over a barbecue, are eaten in the natural environment offered by the beaches that surround the Mediterranean. Nonetheless, this simplicity hides a special technique that has been perfected over the years by traditional culture so that the fish, most often sardines, are skewered well and not lost while being cooked. 
EuroMed Postal – البريد الاورومتوسطيالبريد الاورومتوسطي (euromed-postal.org)

Release date: July 13, 2020

Turkey – Turkish Culinary Culture 

3 stamps on souvenir sheet, FDC, cancel
digital

Turkish Coffee Culture and Tradition (ktb.gov.tr)

Designer not listed

Release date: July 13, 2020

Check out the EUROMED 2021 series. The 2021 series focused on Traditional Handicraft Jewelry from the Mediterranean. 

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