Greek Fest This Weekend

This weekend Sts. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church’s Greek Fest returns for its 45th year in Middletown.

'Gyros on the Go' will be available for part of the fest, but if you're looking for authentic Greek cuisine, a Grecian dinner menu can be enjoyed as well.

Live music will be provided by George Karras and Themi Kakias, along with various dance troupes, throughout the weekend.

Vendors will be selling jewelry and paintings, and church tours will also be available.

Below are the festival's hours:

Friday July 27 - 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Saturday July 28 - 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Saturday July 29 - Noon to 5 p.m.

http://www.stsconstantineandhelengreekchurch.org/default.asp

Interesting info on Greek Cooking

The first cookbook was written by the Greek food gourmet, Archestratos, in 330 B.C., which suggests that cooking has always been of importance and significance in Greek society.

Modern chefs owe the tradition of their tall, white chef's hat to the Greeks. In the middle ages, monastic brothers who prepared food in the Greek Orthodox monasteries wore tall white hats to distinguish them in their work from the regular monks, who wore large black hats.
To a large degree, vegetarian cuisine can be traced to foods and recipes which originated in Greece.

Many ingredients used in modern Greek cooking were unknown in the country until the middle ages. These include the potato, tomato, spinach, bananas, and others which came to Greece after the discovery of the Americas – their origin.

Greek food is simple and elegant, with flavors subtle to robust, textures smooth to crunchy, fresh and timeless, nutritious and healthy. Preparing and enjoying Greek food, anywhere in the world, is an adventurous journey into the cradle of civilization and the land of the Gods of Olympus. Discovering, tasting, experiencing Greek food: truly one of the joys we can all share.

http://greekfood.about.com/od/discovergreekfood/a/food_intro.htm