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CHARKOMAERISSA

Copper pots, known as charkomaerisses or maerisses charkomatenes, were used extensively for preparing the family’s daily meals. Cooking pots of this type had a flat or slightly rounded base, high vertical or concave walls, an everted flat rim with an outer border, and a conical lid. The pots differed per their size and the food quantity needed. In general, their diameter ranged from 38 to 76 centimetres (15-30 inches).

At the time of her marriage, a woman’s dowry had to include a small, a medium and a large-sized maerissa along with their lids. The small-sized pot was used for the daily meals of the family. In the medium-sized pot, known as mesomaerissa, they prepared bigger quantities of food during family feasts. In the big-sized pot they boiled wheat used for bulgur, and they also melted the fat after slaughtering the home-reared pig. Apart from everyday meals, charkomaerisses were also used for the preparation of traditional sweets from fruits and vegetables, preserved in sugar syrup.

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