Smyrneika-meatballs-in-tomato-sauce - Kopiaste

The word soutzoukakia derives from the Turkish soujouk, which is a dry, spicy, sausage and the Greek suffix -akia, meaning «small». The fact that it derives from the Turkish word does not mean, of course, that this is Turkish, as in Wikipedia we often see various things named as Turkish, when in fact they are not. Smyrneika describes the origin, which is Smyrna.

Smyrna was situated on the eastern shores of the Aegean Sea, opposite Chios in Asia Minor, with mainly Greek population.

In the early 20th century; Smyrna used to be a large, rich and cosmopolitan Greek community, who were renowned for their trading achievements, mainly dealing in tobacco and was famous for its cuisine.

After the invasion of the Turkish army into Smyrna in 1922 and the burning of the city by the Turks, the entire Greek population was ejected from Smyrna and forced to seek refuge, originally to Greece and then to other countries.

Most of the refugees came to Greece; some went to Cyprus and some all over the world. It is estimated that only in Greece more than a million refugees came and settled here. We can recognize places where the refugees settled, by the names they gave to these places, where respective cities there in Asia Minor had the same name i.e. Smyrni became Nea Smyrni, (Nea meaning new) Nea Ionia, Nea Makri, Nea Philadelphia, Nea Chalkidona, Nea Erythrea, Nea Mychaniona, Nea Kallikrateia, Nea Malgara and innumerable other places.