Spanakopita: a spinach footnote
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We have had so many posts dedicated to Popeye's favorite vegetable (see "Selected readings" below), but we haven't yet done justice to one of my favorite spinach dishes: spanakopita.
Spanakopita (/ˌspænəˈkɒpɪtə, ˌspɑː-, –ˈkoʊ-/; Greek: σπανακόπιτα, from σπανάκι spanáki 'spinach', and πίτα píta 'pie') is a Greek savory spinach pie. It often also contains cheese, typically feta, and may then be called spanakotiropita (Greek: σπανακοτυρόπιτα "spinach-cheese pie"), especially in northern Greece.[citation needed] In southern Greece, the term spanakopita is also common for the versions with cheese.
The reason I am inspired to write about spanakopita at this time is because last weekend at our Farmers Market, when I approached the Greek food stall and said to the attendant, "May I please have some spanakopita", she exclaimed, "Wow! You pronounced it correctly!"
Having completed the purchase, I walked away from her stall on a cloud of linguistic satisfaction.
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My next spinach footnote will be about the Japanese word for the vegetable.
Selected readings
- "Spinach smorgasbord" (7/15/25)
- "Spinach: Mongolian rhapsody" (7/10/25)
- "Spinach: Indian interlude" (7/10/25)
- "Spinach: the Persian vegetable" (1/19/21)
- "Spiny spinach" (7/9/25)
Jim said,
September 16, 2025 @ 8:01 am
[Brock Samson voice] "Spanakopita!"
Is stress typically on the antepenultimate syllable in Greek? Seeing it end up in the same location despite adding -tiro- surprised me.
Nick Kaldis said,
September 16, 2025 @ 9:00 am
I think you're right James, the stress moves when you add feta: Spanakotiròpita
Bob Ladd said,
September 16, 2025 @ 9:05 am
Stress in Greek is complicated, but one thing you can count on is that it is never earlier than the antepenultimate syllable. Hence σπανακοτυρόπιτα.
Laura Morland said,
September 16, 2025 @ 9:47 am
Hmmm…. your anecdote worried me, and so I rush to check out the pronunciation on forvo.com:
https://forvo.com/word/%CF%83%CF%80%CE%B1%CE%BD%CE%B1%CE%BA%CF%8C%CF%80%CE%B9%CF%84%CE%B1/
To my relief, I *have* been pronouncing it correctly all these decades. (Accent on the antepenultimate syllable.) How are others (mis)pronouncing the name of this delicious dish?
Michael Watts said,
September 16, 2025 @ 2:25 pm
Presumably in the way the wikipedia pronounciation guide indicates, as /ˌspænəˈkoʊpɪtə/.
That is to say, by using the wrong vowel, not the wrong stress.
ernie in Berkeley said,
September 16, 2025 @ 2:55 pm
Next try "galactoboureko", γαλακτομπούρεκο, phylo with a semolina custard filling.
Coby said,
September 16, 2025 @ 6:10 pm
Michael Watts: English Wikipedia typically gives the English-speakers' pronunciation(s) first; it may (or may not) additionally give the native pronunciation as well. In this case the full pronunciation guide is (/ˌspænəˈkɒpɪtə, ˌspɑː-, -ˈkoʊ-/, giving four alternatives.