Greek Festival Pointers
– Part 2 – by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
The
dimotiká folk songs provide music for the folk dances performed by
Greek-American teenagers hailing from Salinas, Carmel, and Oakland. Performing at Greek festivals throughout the
state helps the teens keep their Greek heritage alive.
The
popular circle dances like the kalamarianos resemble those portrayed on ancient
Greek vases. Line dances encourage
everyone to participate.
The
large, white napkin that the line dance leader holds is absolutely necessary to
signal authority in a culture of strong individuals whose members jokingly
describe themselves in the saying, “Twelve Greeks equal thirteen captains.”
Yelling,
“Opa!” and line dancing through the crowd should make festivalgoers work up an
appetite for even more Greek food with the following 9 items offered:
-village
salad – featuring tangy feta cheese made from sheep’s milk and plump kalamata
olives
-grape
leaves stuffed with rice or beef and flavored with mint
-spanakopita
– spinach phyllo pie with pine nuts
-tyropita
– phyllo pie made with feta and ricotta cheese
-pastitio
– Greek lasagna with beef, macaroni, tomatoes, and a cream sauce seasoned with
cinnamon that gives this dish a delicate taste
-moussaka
– layered tomato and eggplant cooked in a tomato sauce flavored with cinnamon
and nutmeg
-the
famous gyro sandwich – made with garlic seasoned pressed beef in pocket bread
(pita) with cucumber and garlic sauce
-souvlaki
– lamb or pork kebab
-barbecue
chicken
As
your server wishes you, “Bon Appetit! (Kali Orexi),” it is easy to see how
Greek women discreetly rule the home through the stomach.
Wine
adventurers might want to try the white Retsina wine made from Savatiano grapes
grown in the Attica region around Athens.
Legend
recounts that the ancient Greeks added pine resin to this wine to discourage
invaders from drinking it. When I drink
Retsina with feta cheese, black olives, and bread, I think it is refreshing
just like the modern Greeks do.
Monterey’s
Greek community invites festivalgoers to enjoy festival kéfi, joyful
exuberance, at their Greek Festival held over Labor Day Weekend in Monterey,
California.
End
of Article
Notes:
2019
Idea – Maybe a pre-paid “reserve and pick up” dessert and cookie box areas
would increase festival sales. Suggested
areas: one in the festival area and another in a far parking lot that would
allow drive-thru pickups for the disabled, elderly, or families with babies.
Maybe
those dessert and cookie boxes could be sold throughout the year at Demetra
restaurants as a dessert and take out item.
FYI
– I saw a sign for a gyros restaurant in Seaside, California. I have not tried the restaurant yet, but it
might be worth a try.
By
Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
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