It's All Greek (Food) To Me

Diples

If the saying is true that "you are what you eat," then I guess that makes me Greek pastries.

And Mousakka.

And Pastitsio.

And Souvlaki, Spanakopita and Tiropites.

On Saturday, we went to the annual Greek Festival at St. Athanasios Greek Orthodox Church in Paramus, NJ, and I ate like it was my last meal…

…and now I feel like a Dolmades (stuffed grape leaf).

Dolmades

The Greek Festival at St. Athanasios is a food-lover's paradise, especially if that love affair is with Greek food. 

Home-made Greek Food. 

Did I say AMAZING Greek food? A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! 

My passion for Greek food started back when I was in college.  My good friend, Chris, is Greek, and when her parents visited her at the dorm, they came with home-made Greek goodies, which Chris generously shared. 

One summer, when Chris went to Greece to stay with her relatives, she brought back some of her aunt's Baklava. That did it for me. 

I was smitten.

Baklava

So when Chris and her family asked us to join them at the Greek Festival seven years ago, we met them there faster than you can say "Galaktoboureko."  Actually, you can pretty much do anything faster than saying Galaktoboureko.

We have gone every year since then, because...it is the best Greek food we have ever eaten.

Better than when we were in Greece.  Really.

νόστιμα   …   nostima

That means 'delicious' in Greek. At least I hope it does…That's what Google told me.

Inside the church, there are trays and trays of Moussaka, Pastitsio, Spanakopita, Shish-ka-bob, Dolmades, Tiropites and more.  We always get some of each, and then share everything, since the portions are gigantic. 

Moussaka

Pastitsio

Spanakopita

Tiropites

Shish-Ka-Bob

It is all served by the nicest ladies from the parish, who take great pride in their cooking, as well they should. 

Outside, there are different areas offering Souvlaki, Octopus, Gyros, Greek Fries and more. There's only so much you can eat in one sitting, which is why so many people go several times over the four-day festival. We may have to do that next year, because there are many things I've yet to try. 

Souvlaki

Gyro Meat

No matter how full we are, there's always room for the outstanding desserts. And, we always buy some "to go." 

Mr. Goo Shoes goes to the festival mostly for the desserts. He discovered Loukoumades a few years back. They are fried dough balls, with honey syrup and cinnamon, and are best eaten right away, while warm. I can smell them just looking at this picture. 

Loukoumades

Galaktobourekos are another one of Mr. Goo Shoes' favorites. They are filled with custard, and covered in honey syrup. What's not to like? He bought a few to take home, and said he'd share them with Junior Goo Shoes, but I think he's secretly hoping to have all of them himself. 

Galaktoboureko

Galaktoboureko

I love all of the desserts equally. I brought home some Baklava, Kataifi and Diples. Baklava is layers of filo with walnuts and honey; Kataifi are rolls of shredded filo, nuts and spices with honey syrup; Diples are finely rolled dough, fried, sprinkled with nuts and dipped in honey.  It's amazing how the same basic ingredients can be made into so many different kinds of pastries. 

Kataifi, Diples, Baklava

Kataifi

The ladies of the parish make all of the food themselves.  When I asked if I could take some pictures for my blog, one of them offered to have me watch them cook next year. "No recipes," she said. "No problem," I said. I'm not so big on cooking, and although I like baking, I'm terrified of filo dough, so no worries there, either. You can bet your Tzatziki that I will follow up on that one!  I've always wondered how they prepare such an enormous volume of outstanding food.

By the way, all of the pictures in this post are from the festival. I just put some of the pastries on my plates at home. I want the parish ladies to get full credit for their beautiful food!

After all this eating, I cannot bear to get on the scale tomorrow.

Or the next day.

Maybe I'll weigh myself next week after a dozen or so zumba classes…but definitely not till after I work my Diples off!

Ms. Toody