Horta Culture

Or: How to Eat Your Greens and Live to Tell About It.

There's an unassuming little dish we used to serve at our big, upscale Hellenic-inspired restaurant. It wasn’t printed on our menu, but most people seemed to know it was there if they wanted it.

The Greeks asked for it by its proper name: horta. Non-Greeks requested "a side of braised greens" because they either didn't know the correct term or maybe they…