Ό,τι κι αν μαγειρεύω, μόλις βάλω σκόρδο, η κουζίνα μυρίζει ωραία.

Ό,τι with a comma means whatever or anything that.

• Ό,τι κι αν μαγειρεύω = whatever I cook
• ότι without a comma usually means that

Compare:

• Ξέρω ότι μαγειρεύεις. = I know that you cook.
• Τρώω ό,τι μαγειρεύεις. = I eat whatever you cook.

So in this sentence, Ό,τι introduces a free relative idea: whatever I may be cooking.

κι αν is a very common combination after words like ό,τι, όπου, όποιος, etc. It adds the sense of no matter what / whatever may...

So:

• Ό,τι μαγειρεύω = whatever I cook
• Ό,τι κι αν μαγειρεύω = whatever I may cook / no matter what I cook

Here, κι is just a shortened form of και.

You will often see this pattern:

• ό,τι κι αν... = whatever...
• όπου κι αν... = wherever...
• όποιος κι αν... = whoever...

It makes the statement more general and emphatic.

In this sentence, μαγειρεύω is in the present indicative form, even though the whole expression ό,τι κι αν has a broad, indefinite meaning.

Greek often uses the present indicative in this kind of general statement:

• Ό,τι κι αν κάνω... = whatever I do...
• Ό,τι κι αν λέει... = whatever he says...

So μαγειρεύω here simply means I cook / I am cooking, but in context it gives the sense whatever I happen to be cooking.

A learner may expect a subjunctive because of the meaning, but Greek does not always mark that meaning the same way English does.

Here μόλις means as soon as.

So:

• μόλις βάλω σκόρδο = as soon as I add garlic

Be careful: μόλις can also mean just / only / barely, depending on context.

Examples:

• Μόλις έφτασα. = I just arrived.
• Μόλις βάλω σκόρδο, ... = As soon as I add garlic, ...

So the meaning depends on the structure around it.

Βάλω is the aorist subjunctive form of βάζω.

After μόλις meaning as soon as, Greek normally uses the subjunctive, and very often specifically the aorist subjunctive when referring to a single completed action:

• μόλις βάλω = as soon as I put/add
• μόλις φύγω = as soon as I leave
• μόλις τελειώσω = as soon as I finish

Why aorist subjunctive? Because the action is seen as a whole event: the moment I add the garlic.

If you used βάζω, that would be present indicative and would not fit this structure.

That is a very common question. Normally, learners meet the subjunctive together with να, but some words and expressions trigger the subjunctive without να.

μόλις is one of them.

So:

• Θέλω να βάλω σκόρδο. = I want to add garlic.
• Μόλις βάλω σκόρδο, ... = As soon as I add garlic, ...

In other words, βάλω is still subjunctive in meaning and form, but μόλις itself introduces that structure, so να is not used.

Greek often leaves out the article with substances or things meant in a general sense.

So:

• βάλω σκόρδο = add garlic
• βάλω το σκόρδο = add the garlic (some specific garlic already known in context)

In this sentence, the speaker means garlic in general, not a particular garlic already mentioned. That is why σκόρδο has no article.

This is very similar to English, where we usually say add garlic, not add the garlic, unless we mean a specific one.

Here η κουζίνα means the kitchen, the room.

Greek κουζίνα can mean:

1. kitchen as a room
2. cuisine in some contexts

But with μυρίζει in this sentence, the natural meaning is clearly the kitchen smells nice.

So:

• η κουζίνα μυρίζει ωραία = the kitchen smells nice

Literally, μυρίζει means smells and ωραία means nicely / nice.

So:

• η κουζίνα μυρίζει ωραία = the kitchen smells nice

Greek often uses ωραία in a broad way to mean nicely, pleasantly, well, or simply good/nice, depending on context.

You could think of this structure as:

• smells pleasantly
• more naturally in English: smells nice

Because ωραία here is functioning adverbially.

Compare:

• ωραίος / ωραία / ωραίο as an adjective: nice, beautiful
• ωραία can also be used like an adverb: nicely / pleasantly

In this sentence, it describes how the kitchen smells, not what kind of kitchen it is.

So:

• η ωραία κουζίνα = the nice kitchen
  (adjective modifying κουζίνα)
• η κουζίνα μυρίζει ωραία = the kitchen smells nice
  (adverbial use)

Greek word order is more flexible than English word order. The sentence begins with two time/condition-like clauses, and then gives the main result:

• Ό,τι κι αν μαγειρεύω,
• μόλις βάλω σκόρδο,
• η κουζίνα μυρίζει ωραία.

This order highlights the general situation first:

1. whatever I’m cooking
2. as soon as I add garlic
3. the kitchen smells nice

An English speaker might expect a more rigid structure, but Greek often places introductory clauses first very naturally.

The commas separate the introductory subordinate clauses from the main clause.

The structure is:

• Ό,τι κι αν μαγειρεύω, = introductory clause
• μόλις βάλω σκόρδο, = another introductory clause
• η κουζίνα μυρίζει ωραία. = main clause

So the commas help the reader hear the pauses and understand the sentence structure.

It expresses a general repeated truth or habitual situation.

The idea is not just one single event, but something like:

• whenever this happens,
• the same result follows.

So the sentence means something like:

• No matter what I cook, as soon as I add garlic, the kitchen smells nice.

Greek often uses present forms for this kind of general statement.

Yes, in many contexts as soon as I add garlic and when I add garlic are both acceptable English translations.

However, μόλις specifically emphasizes the immediacy:

• μόλις βάλω σκόρδο = as soon as I add garlic / the moment I add garlic

So when I add garlic is possible as a looser translation, but as soon as is closer to the Greek.

Yes. In fact, Greek normally omits subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows the person.

Here:

• μαγειρεύω already means I cook
• βάλω here also clearly refers to I add

So Greek does not need εγώ.

If you said εγώ μαγειρεύω or εγώ βάλω, that would usually add emphasis or contrast. In this sentence, no emphasis is needed, so the subject is left unstated.

Yes. Several parts are very natural Greek:

• Ό,τι κι αν... for whatever / no matter what...
• μόλις + subjunctive for as soon as...
• βάλω σκόρδο without an article
• μυρίζει ωραία for smells nice

So this is a good example of everyday, idiomatic Greek rather than a word-for-word copy of English.