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The National Herald

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NOVEMBER 17, 2012www.thenationalherald.com

GREEK FOOD & WINE2 THE NATIONAL HERALD, NOVEMBER 17, 2012

The National HeraldA weekly publication of the

NATIONAL HERALD, INC. (ΕΘΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΗΡΥΞ),reporting the news and addressing the issues of paramount interest to the

Greek American community of the United States of America.

Publisher-Editor Antonis H. Diamataris

Assistant to Publisher, Advertising Veta H. Diamataris Papadopoulos

Special Section Editor Sophia Stratakis Huling

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By Sophia Stratakis HulingTNH Staff Writer

Leaves crunching underfoot.The air crisp and biting. Thescent of ripe apples. Perhapsmost grand of all, pumpkins, inall their voluptuous glory, dazzlein their spectrum of colors andsizes: from tiny enough to fit in-side your hand to the kind thatwin awards for their gargantuangirth. The sights, sounds, smellsand touches of the autumn har-vest, even if they are not expe-rienced in reality, thrive in thepopular imagination. They ig-nite the creativity of all artists,especially those whose canvasis the harvest itself: chefs. AndGreek-American chefs are no ex-ception.

It has been said that Thanks-giving is America’s only trulyholy day, the only celebratoryday that has not been influencedby commercialism, one that anyfaith – even the faithless, if theychoose -- can adopt. It is a dayset aside for a single purpose:sharing a meal with loved onesand giving thanks. Read on forideas on how some of the mostaccomplished professionals cel-ebrate this most American ofholidays with their own uniqueHellenic flair. One will take therare opportunity to celebrate athome with his family; anotherwill work in her restaurantkitchen, providing a festive mealfor others; and still another willmark the day far from Americanshores.

MARIA LOI, LOIRESTAURANT

Loi, the self-described“Martha Stewart of Greece,” ar-rived in the U.S. from her nativeland and opened her epony-mous restaurant on New YorkCity’s west side just one yearago.

For her first publicly cele-brated Thanksgiving in herrestaurant, her prix-fixe menuwill offer the traditional Ameri-can repast, “but we have to addour Greek twist,” she noted.

“I will use cranberry sauceand all that, but I will use alsothe pomegranate sauce withhoney, which is very Greek,” shesaid.

Alongside the butternutsquash soup, traditional turkeydinner with stuffing, candiedyams, mashed potatoes, Brus-

sels sprouts, and sage roastedbeets, she will offer a bakedbaby lamb with olive oil, herbsand lemon potatoes.

“I have to respect the waythat they like it here, to makethe turkey, but I have the babylamb because we are Greeks,”she said. There will also be astuffing recipe she said camefrom Mount Athos, the penin-sula off the coast of northernGreece completely dedicated toEastern Orthodox Christianmonasteries since at least theninth century A.D.

It’s all part of her self-de-scribed mission to rigorouslypromote Greek cuisine, in hercorner of the world and beyond.She said she has given many ofher recipes away to customers.

“They love that. And theyadopted these recipes in theirdiet, in their lifestyle. It’s goodnot only for me, it’s good for theGreek cuisine. This is what Iwant to do, to spread the news,actually, that Greek cuisine isthe mother of all,” she adds tri-umphantly.

One of Loi’s signature cook-ing practices is to use no butterin any of her recipes, as a wayof avoiding trans-fats for ahealthier diet. She said she wasinspired to do this by a Greeknutritionist, Iosif Nicolaidis,when he compared eating to fu-

eling an automobile engine.“He says, ‘You have a nice

car,’ and I say, ‘Yes, I do have anice car.’ He says, ‘What are yougoing to put in that car, in thatengine? Do you put grass?’ I say,‘No!’ He says, “Why do you putit inside you?’ So he changedmy life, actually, and now I useonly olive oil.”

Loi’s research into the an-cient Greek diet has also led herto embrace game dishes, suchas duck, venison, and rabbit.The game animals, she noted,were often used as part of paganreligious sacrifices. She quotesthe legendary ancient Greekphrase “παν μετρον αριστον,” or“everything in moderation,” asadded proof of the wisdom ofGreek eating habits, even as farback as antiquity.

DIANE KOCHILAS,CONSULTING CHEF AT

PYLOS (NY), AXIA (NJ), AVLI(CHICAGO)

Beyond merely cooking,Kochilas has made a career ofconsulting and writing aboutGreek cuisine, as well as offer-ing week-long cooking classeson her family’s native island ofIkaria for the last ten years. Ac-cording to her website, di-anekochilas.com, her “life’s mis-sion is to do for Greek cuisinewhat Julia Child did for French

cooking: to bring my deepknowledge and passion for theMediterranean’s healthiest foodto an American audience.”

Kochilas has created quite afew pumpkin dishes, includinga pumpkin moussaka which isfeatured in her newest cook-book, “The Country Cooking ofGreece” (Chronicle Books, Sep-tember 2012). The book has re-ceived critical acclaim from suchGreek-American culinary lumi-naries as Cat Cora and MichaelPsilakis.

“A lot of people don’t associ-ate Greek cuisine with pump-kin,” she said, but in fact thesquash is used quite liberally inIkaria. “One of the best mezedes(appetizers) ever is pan-friedpumpkin with skordalia (garlicsauce). That’s traditional. It’sgot a lot of use in the kitchen.There’s an old traditional dishfor trahana soup with pumpkinin Ikaria.”

She quickly ticked off aseemingly endless list of uses forthe king of the squashes – fresh,of course, not canned -- includ-ing sweet phyllo patstries, a ricepilaf dish, a cornmeal dish withpumpkin preserves, and pump-kin soup with kalamata olivepaste, feta, or yogurt.

”That’s actually a recipe thatI developed at Pylos, and it’s ontheir Thanksgiving menu,” shesaid. “Contrary to what mostnon-Greeks know of Greek cui-sine, pumpkin appears quite of-ten in the traditional cuisine.”

Kochilas divides her time be-tween the U.S., Ikaria, andAthens, and she has spent manya Thanksgiving in Greece, as shewill this year.

“In Greece I rally my Greek-American friends and usuallywe do it at my house,” she said.“Sometimes it’s pot luck andsometimes I do it. Depends onthe mood and the year. Some-times those plans are lastminute. But we do get ourturkeys from the American farmschool!”

IOANNIS BENETOS, PAREABISTRO, NEW YORK

Benetos seems to have beenborn to cook. His uncles haveowned the Famous Cozy Soup& Burger, on 8th Street andBroadway in New York for 45years, and he grew up learningthe art from helping out his fam-ily in the restaurant and his

Maria Loi, Loi Restaurant

A Hellenic Thanksgiving

The prized Assyrtiko grapes of Santorini.

GREEK FOOD & WINETHE NATIONAL HERALD, NOVEMBER 17, 2012 3

mother in the kitchen. “I used to work in the restau-

rant, and then I decided to goto culinary school, and I foundmyself here in Parea Bistro,” hesaid with a smile. “If it wasn’tfor my mother, I wouldn’t behere right now.”

Parea Bistro will be closed onThanksgiving Day, giving Bene-tos and his staff some rare holi-day time to spend with theirfamilies. He will help his motherprepare the traditional feast –

with a Greek flair, of course. “We always like to add our

moussaka dishes, our spinachpies, our roasted lemon pota-toes, a lot of appetizers, a lot ofGreek cheese, so that’s how wedo our Thanksgiving,” he said.As a cooking family, he said, “weactually look forward to Thanks-giving because they actuallyclose down the restaurant, andwe all get together.”

Does the old saw “too manycooks spoil the broth” apply to

the Benetos clan?“Listen, if you have good

communication, that shouldn’tbe a problem,” he said. “It’s allabout communication, having agood time, cooking.” On theother hand, he quipped, “it alldepends on how big the kitchenis.”

Benetos’ ancestors camefrom the village of Elata inChios, so the island’s signatureproduct, masticha, plays a sig-nificant role in his cuisine. Mas-ticha is the natural and rare treeresin of the skinos tree, whosebotanical name is pistacia lentis-cus. Although the tree grows inother parts of the world, only inChios does the tree produce theuniquely flavored resin, prizedfor centuries by Byzantine em-perors and Ottoman sultansalike. The resin is harvested bycarving into the tree until theresin flows from it like tears. Al-though the resin is used to makedozens of products, includingchewing gum, liqueur, lotion,soap, toothpaste, and skin careproducts, it is also available inits “raw” form and used as acooking and baking spice.

“I use masticha here in therestaurant. You can actually takethe masticha teardrop itself, andyou grind it up with a littlesugar, and you can use it indesserts,” he said, such as a lus-cious masticha-flavored crèmebrulee, offered on the PareaBistro menu until just recently.“It was on the menu for a while,so I had to give it a little break.”

The masticha flavor is quitestrong, so a little goes a longway. The resin is used to makea sweet liqueur. Benetos uses itin a shrimp dish with fetacheese, which Parea Bistro calls“Garides Hios (Chios Shrimp).”

“The masticha liquor itselfgets very sweet, so we add a lit-tle lemon juice to break thesweetness,” he said. “It’s a very,very good dish for the winter-time.”

Benetos particularly enjoysworking with the herbs thatgrow wild on the mountains ofChios, such as thyme, rosemary,and oregano that is so fragrant,its aroma is detectable for miles.

Like many Greek chefs, Bene-tos prizes his mother’s andgrandparents’ expertise in thekitchen and hopes to keep thetradition alive.

“With me being a chef, I canlearn from her the traditionalGreek dishes, how my grandpar-ents cooked, and they passed iton down to their daughter, andnow she tries to pass it down tome,” he said.

Diane Kochilas, Pylos/Avli/Axia

Ioannis Benetos, Parea Bistro

Masticha Crème Brule(Ioannis Benetos, Parea Bistro, New York)

Serves 16• 32 ounces heavy cream• 16 ounces half & half• 12 ounces sugar• 2 fresh vanilla beans• 15 egg yolks• Pinch of salt• 5 pieces Masticha, crushed• Raw sugar, for sprinkling

Procedure:1. Preheat oven to 300F. If using con-

vection oven, use a low fan.2. In a sauce pan, over medium heat,

bring cream, 1 cup of the half & half,masticha and scraped vanilla beans to asimmer.

3. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg

yolks and 1/2 cup sugaruntil light in color.

4. Temper the egg yolkmixture into the hot creammixture, through a finemesh sieve and place in anice bath to cool completely(at least two hours)

5. Pour the mixture into16 2 to 3-ounce ramekinsand bake in hot water bathcovered with aluminumfoil until it sets, about 45minutes. Transfer theramekins to a sheet panand place in the refrigera-tor to cool for at least 6hours.

6. Dry the tops of thecustards and sprinkle withraw sugar and burn with atorch until caramelized.


By Danielle Parish

Seeing the picture of snorkel-ers in the Subway system, at theTimes Square stop on 42ndStreet amazed me, while bring-ing back memories of when Ilived in New York City. I wasthankful when I found out the

picture was a facade. However,the piece of news that seemedto be even more amazing to mein the aftermath was the factthat only about 13-18 peopledied right after the chaos ofHurricane Sandy. That quitepossibly is the most amazingfact to me. Seeing the devastat-ing images of Hurricane Sandy,made me glad that New Yorkerswere at least aware of HurricaneSandy. (Unfortunately, over thelast four days the death toll hasrisen to 113 people.)

Hugh trees were ripped outof the ground, and HurricaneSandy wreaked havoc upon theconcrete jungle; but so muchmore lives could have been lost.I have many friends in New Yorkand I am blessed that they areall okay. Many of my friendshave been sharing stories of theeffects of Hurricane Sandy, andstories of prayers in the midstof the storm.

As one who is living all theway on the other side of theUnited States in Los Angeles, Iam surprised and taken abackby the storm. Yet through it all,I am forced to realize just how

blessed I am. While we seek toplan and control our lives, thereality is that sometimesweather and life throws stormsat us. We really can’t preparefor them. At times we may noteven be aware a storm is com-ing. However, what matters themost in moving forward is how

we pick up our life after thestorm passes, and who comes into help pick it up.

As we continue to watch theHurricane Sandy devastationand aftermath, let us help thosein New York pick up their livesafter the storm, while also pick-ing up ourselves from thestorms in our own lives. Howdo we do that? One word:Thankfulness.

If we survive the storm, nomatter what was lost, we shouldbe truly thankful. If there is onething a hurricane or a storm canteach us is true thankfulness.Continue to bask in thankful-ness and see how things changearound you. Count your bless-ings and write them down.Fallen trees will be picked up,the subway system will soon beback online, and the hardshipsand struggles in your own lifewill past. My prayers and sup-port are with you New York.

It is a good thing to givethanks unto the Lord. Psalm 92:1

Originally published at theex-aminer.com on November 4,2012.

A great way to give thanksfor our blessings is to help thosearound us. For volunteering ordonating opportunities, here isa listing of some local philan-thropic efforts around the coun-try to help those less fortunatecelebrate the day of givingthanks.

Greek American Homeown-ers Association annual Thanks-giving meal in Astoria, N.Y.--For the 23rd year, the GAHOAwill open its doors in Astoriaand welcome people from allbackgrounds to enjoy a Thanks-giving meal together. The eventis open to the public. Those in-terested in helping out can con-tact the Association, which willhost the event, at 23-49 31stStreet, Astoria, or call them at718-545-4046.

Project Helping Hands inDracut, Mass., is holding its19th annual Thanksgiving fooddrive. It’s a project of the Mano-lis Foundation, run by NickManolis and his wife, Voula, andsons Tim and Elias at their placeof business, Dracut House ofPizza and Seafood Restaurant,1067 Lakeview Ave., Dracut. Toparticipate, call the Foundationat 978-957-4210.

Holy Trinity Church, Char-lotte, N.C., Agia Elpis Philopto-

chos chapter adopts severalneedy families at a local school,Sedgefield Elementary, and pro-vides their Thanksgiving dinner.They also give 15 turkeys to thelocal food bank called Loavesand Fishes. Church office: 704-334-4771

Two Local Philoptochoschapters in the Metropolis ofChicago will offer a Thanksgiv-ing meal at the AnnunciationCathedral, 1017 North LaSalleDrive, Chicago. For more infor-mation, call the Cathedral officeat (312) 664-5485.

Orthodox Action, the out-reach ministry of the HellenicOrthodox Church of the Annun-ciation, at 146 West UticaStreet, Buffalo, N.Y. will offer its6th Annual Thanksgiving DayDinner from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00p.m.. A full turkey dinner willbe served. Coordinator is MaryDanakas. Church office: 716-882-9485

Holy Trinity St. NicholasGreek Orthodox Church inCincinnati Ohio, Maids ofAthena and the church Philop-tochos will hold a ThanksgivingMeal Collection. Volunteers areneeded to help package themeals for Thanksgiving. ContactMaids of Athena adviser MatinaTrivett at [email protected]

Chris Tsimikas, Nick Manolis’ cousin, carries a box while Mano-lis’ 90-year-old father helps deliver meals at last year’sThanksgiving food distribution of Project Helping Hands inMassachusetts.

Giving Thanks Is A GoodThing: Hurricane Sandy

Aftermath

Cars are submerged at the entrance to a parking garage inNew York's Financial District in the aftermath of superstormSandy, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012.

AP Photo/RichARd dRew

Community ThanksgivingPhilanthropy



In ancient Greek mythology,Athens was named to honor thegoddess Athena in gratitude forgranting them the olive tree.Since then, olive oil has beenone of Greece’s most preciouscommodities, and whether theyare in Greece or not, Greekstake their olive oil very seriously.

According to the NorthAmerican Olive Oil Association,Greece is the third largest oliveoil producing nation in theworld, behind Spain and Italy.But a recent National Public Ra-dio report noted despite thatfact, Greece “has never devel-oped any big companies of itsown.” The report continued,“There are several reasons whyGreek companies remain small,and they point to some funda-mental problems in the Greek

economy. Greek olive oil is moreexpensive. It tends to be grownon small family farms that stillharvest olives by hand,” com-pared with Spanish olive oil pro-ducers who harvest by machine.

Are we so sure that is a badthing?

Extra-virgin olive oil, by def-inition the first pressing of theolives after they are harvested,is the healthiest olive oil onearth because of its antioxidantproperties, and these are pre-served because the method ofextracting the oil from the olivesis by a mechanical cold press,with no chemicals or heat-gen-erating machines whatsoever.

“Once you apply heat to ex-tract the oil, or solvents, itchanges the chemical composi-tion of the oil,” and thus dis-rupts the fragile balance of nu-trients in the oil, said KyriakosVergiris of Krinos Foods.

In addition, however, a first,cold-press olive oil must alsomeasure below .8 percent acid-ity in order to be designated ex-tra-virgin. If, for some reason,the acidity rises above that level,or the aroma is bad, the oil can-not be called extra-virgin. Itmust then be refined to extractthe acidity, which renders ittasteless, colorless and odorless– like water, said Vergiris. Atthat point, actual extra-virginolive oil is added to give it color,aroma, and taste. That fluid isthen designated “pure olive oil,”one grade below extra-virgin.

“Then the next grade downis they take the leftovers, thepomace, they press it further,they may use chemical extrac-tion, they may use heat, and it’scalled pomace crude,” Vergirisexplained. That in turn is alsorefined to remove the acidityand impurities, and needs to beblended with extra-virgin to itto give it color.

But here is the kicker. Al-though it is third in overall oilproduction, Greece actually pro-duces more extra-virgin olive oil(first, cold-pressed, below .8percent acidity with no chemicalor heat additives) than anyother country.

And since every olive oil pro-ducer needs extra-virgin oliveoil in order to produce otherkinds of olive oil, they will buyit from Greece to make theirown product salable, Vergirissaid. He estimated 60 percentof Greece’s oil is extra-virgin, al-though that figure could not beverified.

Could it be that the reasonGreece produces such high-qual-ity oil is that its producers are,as NPR calls them, “small familyfarms that still harvest olives byhand”?

Vergiris said he has heard ofmachines that “shake” the olivetree to induce the fruit to falloff on its own, making the workless labor-intensive. But he won-ders whether olives that fall offeasily might be overripe.

ACIDITY LABELINGSince extra-virgin olive oil is

a “living” product, as NAOOAExecutive Vice President ErynBalch noted, its acidity level willbe affected by heat, air, or light,and time. Vergiris remarked thatthere are olive oil producersfrom many different countries,including Greece, who have

been mislabeling their productsas having a much lower acidlevel than they actually have.

“Oil changes over time; theacidity will increase,” he said, soeven if an oil was able to achievea .3 percent level of acidity atthe time of bottling, by the timeit reaches a grocery store shelf,its acid level has increased toabout .4 percent. This is the rea-son most reputable sellers of ex-tra-virgin olive oil will designateit as having “less than .8 percentacidity” rather than claiming aspecifically lower number like .3percent, which is misleading.“Be a little wary of somethinglike that,” Vergiris said.

SELECTING OLIVE OIL(FROM THE NORTH

AMERICAN OLIVE OILASSOCIATION)

Follow these simple tips tohelp guide you and ensureyou’re purchasing a quality oliveoil that’s right for your cooking

needs. Knowing your intendeduse will help narrow downwhich type and/or flavor bestfits your need. Purchase bottlesizes you’ll use within 8 to 12weeks of opening.

Learn to read and interpretolive oil labels. Olive oil fromquality sources will contain keypieces of information on thepackage, including:

1. The distributing or pack-aging company’s name and con-tact information;

2. An ingredient statementthat only mentions grades ofolive oil. Note that extra virginolive oil contains no other in-gredients, so sometimes thestatement is not repeated on theback label.

3. A country of origin state-ment. This is required by federallabeling laws and is typicallyfound on the back label near thenutritional information and in-gredient statement. Oils fromdifferent countries are often

blended in order to produce aspecific flavor profile, so don’tbe alarmed if more than onecountry is listed here.

4. A best-by date. Look forone that is as far out as possible,though with proper handling,olive oil can keep in a sealedpackage for up to two years.

5. A lot code. This allows thebottler to trace the place, dateand time the oil was bottled.

6. Global Quality/Authentic-ity Seals, such as: NAOOA Qual-ity Seal, Origin/Specialty Seals,PDO (Protected Designation ofOrigin), PGI (Protected Geo-graphical Indication), USDA Or-ganic, USDA Quality MonitoringProgram or USDA CertifiedQuality Seal.

7. Dark bottles or tins arebest at reducing potential dam-age from light, especially for ex-tra virgin olive oil.

Avoid packages that show signs of improper han-dling or storage. This includesdust on the bottle; broken/looseseal on the cap or evidence ofoil drips/leaks; orange tint tothe oil — this would indicateoverexposure to fluorescentlighting and/or that heat hasdamaged the oil.

COOKING WITH OILOlive oil is one of the few

popular cooking oils producedthrough natural extraction ver-sus chemical extraction. Whencooking with oils and fats, eachreacts to heat differently. Thehotter they get, the more theybreak down and start to smoke.Oils and fats have differentsmoke points. Since the smokepoint of extra virgin olive oil isthe lowest of all the oils (be-tween 320-375 degrees F), it isnot recommended for cookingbecause the heat will destroythe antioxidants, which are thehealthiest components of extravirgin olive oil.

STORING OLIVE OILIn order to keep your olive

oil at its best, it is very impor-tant to handle and store it prop-erly. Even a fantastic olive oilwill go bad when it is mishan-dled. The three key enemies ofolive oil are heat, light andair. Limit exposure to all threeand olive oil can keepwell for up to two years in theoriginal sealed package. Onceyou open it, try to use it withintwo to three months.

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(λ /lambda/ is a limited-production olive oil producedby Speiron, an Athens-basedfood company helmed byGiorgos Kolliopoulos, whomarkets his oil as the firstultra-premium extra virginolive oil in the world. It isavailable in the United Statesthrough Sperion’s website,www.sperioncompany.com)

By Ari Papadopoulos

TNH: You created the ultrapremium category for oil basedon organoleptic [taste, appear-ance, and aroma] characteristicsthat you specify. How did ex-perts accept that category?

Giorgos Kolliopoulos: Oliveoil for years has been considereda commodity. You know that amedium-quality oil may be con-sidered a commodity; but a topone: not necessarily. Becausewhat is top is scarce and there-fore ceases to be a commodity.And because not all oils arealike, there are very significantdifferences that should be dis-cerned by our brain and oursenses. λ /lambda/ was the firston a worldwide scale which cre-ated the category ultra pre-mium, a higher category of ex-tra virgin. And this, as youknow, was the perfection I canoffer to the global market: aGreek olive oil of essentially topquality. It has, year after year, aconstantly Ιntense Μedian ofFruitiness (mF: over 6.0), par-ticularly low acidity, regularlychecked chemical analysis, andbottling is entirely handcrafted,bottle by bottle. Gradually now– motivated by the advent of λ/lambda/-- a category of pre-mium has begun to be createdin olive oils. It was not easy, noris it, but it is happening. Andexperts are beginning to realizethat the category of extra virginis now saturated and mainly fullof olive oils satisfying the chem-ical specifications of extra vir-gin, but was organolepticallymediocre.

TNH: Your olive oil – it issaid – is more expensive thanperfume. What response has it

had from abroad, since weimagine that in Greece it cannotreach store shelves?

GK: There are cars sold for

10,000 euros and also thosesold for 300,000 euros. Both,however, have four wheels andexist to transport us. For both,there is a corresponding pur-chasing public. Therefore, thereis something common to bothclasses and of course for themiddle class. Indeed, some-times, the public from all thesecategories overlap each other.We have analyzed the target au-dience, we are doing particu-larly well, the worldwide aware-ness for λ /lambda/ is on veryhigh levels, and direct projectsinclude the development of abroader global network, withcharacteristics of luxury market-ing (selective selling points, co-operation with other luxurybrands, below-the-line promo-tion, no discount policy, main-taining standards and crafts-manship importance toperfection).

TNH: Does the consumerbuy it as a collector’s item or asa luxury table product?

GK: I would say both. Andespecially for the first, I would

say it is an honor for me andfor our Greece. The brand valueof λ /lambda/ and its contribu-tion to the perception globalmarkets have about Greek oliveoil is incalculable. Here, how-ever, I want to mention my ownreason for creating λ /lambda/.Bottled water (a product thatneeds no human effort to pro-duce) has stood for 15 years(since the launch of premiumNorwegian water Voss) as a lux-ury product upon our tables. Icould no longer tolerate to seeour liquid gold, olive oil (which,moreover, every year requiresan intense effort to produce) tobe permanently hidden in thecupboard, in the dark, and toemerge shyly and timidly onlyduring cooking. No, that had tochange and the top olive oil tofinally acquire a top position onour tables.

TNH: Can the ordinary con-sumer understand the differencein quality?

GK: Naturally. He just needsto have a basic knowledge ofwhat defines a good olive oil, to

have a satisfactory enough noseto smell the aroma, and free hissenses at testing. Unfortunately,in Greece we are accustomed tothink of the modest olive oil aspremier. The fruity, the bitter,and the pungent, and the result-ing balance of these are whatcreate an unprecedented diningexperiences, complex in thenose, intense in the palate.

TNH: We have always saidthat the Greek product is a goodone, but in a bad “package.”How would you advise ex-porters?

GK: Unfortunately, Greekfood products are not always inline with the demands and theaesthetic expectations of con-sumers worldwide. The startingmaterial is only one parameter.The stability of its quality is asecond parameter. A third andmost important, in my view, isthe branding. Branding is whatwe call the perception the con-sumer has of a brand. It is thosepsycho-kinetic factors within usthat draw us to choose it overanother product. The timeless-

ness of a brand, that it wouldremain unmoved in its vision,its renown through a differenti-ated corporate identity, thebrand equity, the marketing, allthese make up the branding.And in this regard, we have notdone well until now. But, in re-sponse to the recession, I wishand I hope to do even better inthe future.

TNH: You have access to thelarge U.S. market through theInternet. Are you thinking ofother ways to have greater ac-cess to that market?

GK: The majority of our on-line customers are from Amer-ica. As you can understand,therefore, it is one of our pri-mary goals to find the appropri-ate premium distributor for theAmerican market. It will also bethe first time that a Greek foodproduct company has had thevision to penetrate such a largemarket, not based on mass dis-tribution, but based on the spe-cific characteristics of the luxurystrategic approach that I men-tioned before.

Luxury Greek Olive Oil Producer Markets “Liquid Gold”

www.GreekKitchennyc.com

By Chef Gregory ZapantisKellari Taverna, New York, NY

Serves 4Ingredients:1 quart water

1 cup Retsina wine1 medium sized onion, sliced2 carrots, peeled and sliced1 fennel cut in quarters2 bay leaves2 potatoes, sliced ½ inch thick

4-5 springs fresh dill4 10-oz steak cut pieces ofsalmon – ask your fishmongerto cut the salmon into 10-ounce steaks, with the bone leftin

2 lemons8 ounces plain yogurt1 teaspoon fresh mint, chopped

Preparation:Mix the yogurt and fresh

mint well and refrigerate for atleast one hour.

In a large sauté pan, heat thepoaching liquid (water andretsina wine) and all the veg-etables to medium heat, notboiling, and keep it simmeringuntil the fennel is barely tenderand the broth well flavored.

Add the salmon steaks andsimmer for 15 minutes. Afterthe salmon is cooked, squeezethe juice of 2 lemons over thefish.

To serve:Place each salmon steak in a

large bowl over the cooked veg-etables and divide the brothequally between the four bowls.Just before serving, add 1 table-spoon of the yogurt mint sauce.


By Diane KochilasPylos, Axia, and Avlirestaurants

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:• 4 cups water• ½ teaspoon salt• 1 cup finely ground yellow

cornmeal• ½ cup sugar• 1 teaspoon finely grated

orange or lemon zest• 8 tablespoons butter

(divided) • 1 ½ cups pumpkin,

eggplant, quince or orangespoon sweet*, or any wholefruit preserved in syrup

• Fresh mint leaves for garnish

1. Bring the water and saltto a boil in a medium-sizesaucepan. As soon as it comesto a rolling boil, stir in the corn-meal in a slow, steady stream,mixing with a wire whisk as yougo.

2. Add the sugar, orange zest,and half the butter. Stir contin-uously over low-to-medium heatuntil the sugar dissolves and themixture starts to come away

from the sides of the pan, about40 minutes.

3. Let cool completely.

To serve:Either spread into a smooth

circle or mound, or dip 2 table-spoons into the remainingmelted butter and scoop out aheaping spoonful of the corn-meal, working it with the twospoons to shape like quenelles(dumplings). Place 2-3 suchmounds on each serving plateor spoon them all on a large,round platter.

Top with the preserves of

your choice. Drizzle some of thesyrup on top. Garnish with freshmint leaves and serve immedi-ately.

* Spoon sweets are a staplein the Greek country pantry.They are basically preserves ofeither whole or chopped fruit,the rinds of citrus fruits, imma-ture nuts and some young veg-etables put up either in simplesyrup or grape must molasses.They are available in Greek andMiddle Eastern food stores allover the United States and Eu-rope.


Serves 4Ingredients:4 � lb small pumpkins1 cup water4 teaspoons butterSalt and fresh ground whitepepper to taste

Pumpkin Preparation:Cut the top of the each

pumpkin and spoon out all theseeds. Rub the inside of pump-kin with room temperature but-ter, salt and white pepper. Placethe pumpkins upside down in a6”x10” pan with one cup of wa-ter. Bake in a 450 degree ovenfor 15 minutes. Remove and setaside.

Lobster and Pasta Stuffing Ingredients:

2 lobsters (2 ½ -3 lb each)½ cup extra virgin olive oil2 shallots, peeled and diced2 garlic cloves, sliced� cup sun dried tomatoes cutinto strips

1 cup white wine2 cups waterSalt and fresh ground whitepepper to taste1 pound hilopites pasta

Preparation:Cut your two lobsters length-

wise and remove the grain sack.Snap and twist off the clawswhere they join the lobster body.In a roasting pan, sauté the lob-ster in the extra virgin olive oilfor 4-5 minutes. Add the dicedshallots and sliced garlic. Stirfor an additional 3-4 minutes.Deglaze the roasting pan withthe wine and add the water andsun dried tomato strips. Bringto boil. Adjust the seasoningwith salt and freshly groundwhite pepper. Add the hilopitespasta and place the roasting panin a 400-degree oven for 25-30minutes. After removing the panfrom the oven, put it aside for10 minutes. Remove the lobstermeat from its shell and cut intochunks. Fill the mini pumpkinswith the lobster meat and pastaand serve.

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Buttery Northern Greek Cornmeal Cream with Pumpkin Preserves

By Konstantinos PitsillidesChef owner, KanellaRestaurant, Philadelphia, Pa.

Serves 4Ingedients 1 cup of panko or 1 or 2 slicesof stale bread made intobreadcrumbsFinely grated zest of 1 lemon4 teaspoons cumin seedstoasted and crushed1 teaspoon kosher salt1 tablespoon thyme leavesfinely chopped (use rosemaryas replacement)1/4 cup plain flour6 eggs (organic if possible)1 tablespoon milk4 thick lamb chops80 ml of olive oil (preferablyGreek)8 slices pasturma (anArmenian cured beef)1 tablespoon sweet (unsalted)butter1 teaspoon ground blackpepper2 tablespoons flaked almonds,lightly toasted2 tablespoons lemon juice1 tablespoons roughly choppedItalian parsley

Combine the breadcrumbs,lemon zest, cumin, salt andthyme in a bowl. Place the flouron a plate. Whisk together 2eggs and the milk in a bowl.

Using the palm of your hand,

beat out the lamb chops so themeat is thin and even. Dust thechops in the flour, shaking offany excess, then coat them inthe egg mixture, being carefulnot to get any on the bones. Fi-nally, firmly press the chops intothe breadcrumb mixture.

Heat 50 ml of the oil in alarge frying pan over mediumheat. Add the chops and cookfor 2 minutes each side untilcooked through and goldenbrown (be careful not to burnthe crumbs). Make sure to frythe chops slowly so they wontburn. Remove and rest in awarm place for 5-10 minutes.

Wipe out the pan with papertowel and return it to the heat.Add the remaining oil and whenwarmed through. cook the pas-turma for a few minutes untilcrispy. Remove from the heat.

Using the same oil you usedfor the pasturma, fry the 4 eggssunny side up. Divide the eggsinto 4 warm plates.

Discard the oil. Put the panback on the heat, add the butterand melt over medium heat.Add the black pepper and al-mond and cook for 30 seconds.Add the lemon juice and parsley.Remove from heat.

Divide the lamb chopsequally into 4 plates with theeggs, and garnish with the pas-turma and almonds, spooningthe butter over generously.


Serves two as a main course Ingredients:• One 2-pound whole Tsipoura

(You can substitute AmericanRed Snapper or any type ofwhole fish)

• 4 ounces extra virgin olive oil• 3 garlic gloves• 2 medium shallots• 1 sprig fresh thyme• 1whole tomato.• 1/3 cup capers• � cup lemon juice• 10 ounces white wine• 8-10 fingerling potatoes• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:Wash and dry the whole fish.

Dress the fish with the lemonjuice, salt and pepper and setaside for 30-45 minutes. Heatthe olive oil in a sauté pan, addthe fish and sear it on bothsides. Slice and add the shallots

and garlic in the pan and sautéfor an additional 3- 4 minutes.Add the sliced tomato, and freshherbs.

Deglaze with the white wineand add the potatoes. Place thepan in the oven for 45- 50 min-utes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit.Serve immediately.

Cumin crumbed Lamb chops withpasturma, fried egg and almondsMini Pumpkin stuffed with Lobster and Hilopites Pasta

Poached Salmon in Retsina Wine with Yogurt Mint Sauce

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Greeks are obsessed withmoussaka. It’s their culinaryflag, a patriotic symbol of allthat’s Greek. This obsession withmoussaka is expressed by mod-ern cooks in endless searches forways not so much to better theoriginal as to change it. Thisdish is one of my contributionsto the moussaka archives, arecipe I first developed for Pylosrestaurant in New York City(where I have a small stake anda lot of freedom to experiment),and then adapted for use in myown home kitchen. It has be-come a favorite in late fall,when pumpkins and sweet pota-toes are easy to find. Sweetpotatoes have been available inGreece for a few hundred years,and are cooked in myriad waysthroughout the Ionian islands.Pumpkins have been around forabout as long, and Greeks love

to use them in the fall in bothsavory and sweet dishes. (DianeKochilas, from her new book,“The Country Cooking ofGreece”)

Cheesy Béchamel:• 4 tablespoons unsalted but-

ter• 1/4 cup/30 grams all-pur-

pose flour• 4 cups/960 ml milk, room

temperature• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten• 1 cup/150 grams grated or

crumbled Greek feta cheese• 1/2 cup/60 grams grated

Parmesan or kefalotyricheese

• Salt and pepper• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Vegetables:• 2 tablespoons olive oil for

sautéing, plus extra

• 4 large red onions, coarselychopped

• Flour for dusting• One 1/2 lb/680 gram pump-

kin, peeled, seeded, and cutinto 1/4-in/6-mm slices

• One 1/2 lb/680 gram yellowsquash, trimmed but notpeeled, and cut lengthwiseinto 1/4-inch/6-mm slices

• One 1/2 lb/680 gram sweetpotatoes or yams, peeled andcut lengthwise into 1/4-inch/6-mm slices

• Salt and pepper• 1 cup/60 grams chopped

fresh mint• 1/2 cup/30 grams chopped

fresh flat-leaf parsley

To make the béchamel: Melt the butter in a large pot

over medium heat and when thebutter stops bubbling, add theflour. Cook, stirring with awhisk, until lightly colored. Pourin the milk slowly, whisking con-stantly, and continue whiskinguntil the sauce thickens, 10 to12 minutes total. Remove fromthe heat and pour in the eggs,whisking vigorously. Stir in thecheeses. Season with salt andpepper and stir in the nutmeg.Set aside.

To prepare the vegetables: Heat the 2 tablespoons olive

oil in a large, nonstick fryingpan over medium heat. Add theonions and cook slowly untilsoft and lightly caramelized, 15to 20 minutes. Remove from theheat.

While the onions are cook-ing, put the flour in a shallowbowl, and heat about 1/4inch/6 mm of olive oil in a sec-ond large frying pan. Dust thepumpkin slices very lightly withflour, shaking off the excess.Sauté until lightly browned,turning once, and drain on pa-per towels. Repeat, dredgingand sautéing the yellow squash.

Pour off the oil and wipe thefrying pan clean. Add a littlemore oil and sauté the sweetpotatoes, turning, until lightlycolored around the edges. Re-move and drain on paper tow-els.

Preheat the oven to350°F/175°C. Lightly oil a 12 x8 x 2-inch or 30.5 x 20 x 5-cmbaking pan. Layer the sweetpotatoes in the bottom of thepan. Season with salt and pep-per and sprinkle with one-thirdof the mint and a little parsley.Spread a scant layer ofcaramelized onions on top. Pourabout one-third of the béchamelover the onions, spreading itevenly with a spatula. Repeatwith a layer of pumpkin, saltand pepper, herbs, onions, anda little béchamel. Repeat oncemore with the yellow squash,topping that, too, with salt andpepper, herbs, onions, and thefinal coating of béchamel. Bakefor 35 to 40 minutes, until thebéchamel is puffed and goldenand the vegetables are tender.Remove from the oven and letrest for about 10 minutes beforeserving.

Serves 8

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In the early 1980s, a fellow-ship of about 20 women at St.Barbara Greek Orthodox Churchin Durham, N.C. hatched a sim-ple idea: gather up their moth-ers’ and grandmothers’ tradi-tional recipes and assemble acookbook that might bring a lit-tle extra money to their churchcommunity and help preservesome of the time-honored tradi-tions of their ancestors. After 18months of testing, tasting, andperfecting the almost 300recipes, Wimmer Brothers ofMemphis, Tenn., one of thelargest publishers of communitycookbooks, published their bookin November 1984.

That was 28 years and tenprintings ago. Since then, “TheGrecian Plate,” has won twoprestigious national awards, soldalmost 50,000 copies and col-lected nearly $250,000 in salesproceeds, which has helped funda Byzantine-style church builtfive years ago, fund their SundaySchool program and contributeto all manner of local philan-thropic causes.

“It was just a labor of love by

this little church,” said co-editorHelen Paliouras, who was presi-dent of the Hellenic Ladies So-ciety of St. Barbara in the early1980s. “We didn't have any morethan 80 members in our church.And we just decided to do thisand put enough time and effortin it to make it worthwhile. Wereally did a lot of research and

decided that we were going todo the very best job that wecould do, and it paid out.”

“The Grecian Plate” is somuch more than a collection ofrecipes. It presents the eatingand drinking traditions that havedeveloped through the cen-turies, the why’s and how’s ofGreek eating habits, many ofwhich are intimately connectedwith the Orthodox ChristianChurch cycle of feasts and fasts.

For example, the secondchapter, titled “Soups, Saladsand Sauces,” contains a recipefor Fakies, or Lentil Soup. Butright under the title is this briefnote: “This soup is the only foodeaten by devout Orthodox Chris-tians on Good Friday. The vine-gar is symbolic, recalling that itwas given to Christ on theCross.”

The Mediterranean Vegeta-bles chapter begins with a de-tailed list of fresh vegetablescommonly used in traditionalGreek cuisine, along with prac-tical instructions on how tochoose them and some basicpreparations. More detailedrecipes follow in that chapter.

There are menu suggestions

for all types of occasions, aGreek-English glossary, a metic-ulously cross-referenced indexin both Greek and English, andhistorical notes about the signif-icance of the traditions sur-rounding Greek food and howit is used to enhance daily lifeand mark special occasions.

The book is an effective ex-ample of the value of substanceover style. There is nary a pho-tograph, every page uses thesame simple paper and everyword is printed exactly the wayit was typed on a typewriter bycommittee member Erie Coco-las, who typed the entire 253pages.

But besides being an instruc-tion book, “The Grecian Plate”is fascinating reading: eachchapter is introduced with athoughtful summary of the pur-pose of the dishes within dailyand special-occasion Greek cui-sine. And despite the lack ofphotographs, cover artist and co-editor Lena Mousmoules’ draw-ings simply and cleverly illus-trate how to assemble stuffedgrape leaves, phyllo dishes,cookies, and decorated breads.She designed the elegant “plate”

which adorns the front cover, aswell as the round drawings thatprecede each chapter, maintain-ing the “plate” motif throughoutthe book.

Small wonder, then, that theRT French Company, whichsponsored cookbooks awardsevery year, named “The GrecianPlate” the National Winner of itsTastemaker Cookbook Award atits awards ceremony in NewYork in February 1985.

“My co-editor and I went upthere, and we were just gigglingand acting like little girls be-cause we were so excited in NewYork City, and rubbing elbowswith all the famous cookbookeditors and the magazines,books, and so forth,” Paliourassaid, chuckling at the memory.“We went to the awards lun-cheon, and we had no idea if wewere going to win; we were justtold to arrive there. I startedlooking at some of the tables,and I noticed that there was apress release. And I took a copyand I saw that we won first placein the nation as the best com-munity cookbook! We were veryexcited. Then we were featuredas the cookbook of the month in

Good Housekeeping in March1988.”

A website called “Matt Bar-rett’s Travel Guides” describesthe book this way, “This bookdoes not have the fancy colorphotos of many of the glossycookbooks available but in termsof recipes which were collectedfrom the mothers and grand-mothers of just about everyonein this small Greek church it isprobably the most honest andtraditionally Greek cookbookyou will find anywhere.”

“The Grecian Plate” is still be-ing published by Wimmer Broth-ers and is available for $21.00,including postage, through thechurch by calling Erie Cocolasat 919 942-6883, emailing herat [email protected], orsending a check made out to TheGrecian Plate, 1298 WildwoodDrive, Chapel Hill, North Car-olina 27517.

“I thought it brought a lot ofthe women together,” Cocolassaid. “It was fun to work withthe different women and to ap-preciate each other's together-ness. I tell everybody it's one ofthe best Greek cookbooks on themarket.”

Award-Winning Cookbook Celebrates 28 Years, 10 Printings

Cover of “The Grecian Plate”cookbook, 28 years old thismonth.

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“Wines are just like humanbeings, you always learn aboutthem.”

– Dimitris Haronitis, winedirector at Kellari Taverna

“A bottle of wine is actuallyalive.”

– “Sideways,” 2004 film dir.by Alexander Payne

Nearly 500 Greek wines,many of them hand-crafted andunavailable anywhere else inthe U.S., are getting the solospotlight at one restaurantwhose wine list is 100 percentGreek. Molyos in New York, N.Y.boasts an impressive offering ofwines – and every single one ismade in Greece, said Wine Di-rector and General Manager Ka-mal Kouiri.

Kouiri, who remembered be-ing struck with amazementwhen he first tasted nativeGreek wine 20 years ago in San-torini, admitted choosing to of-fer only Greek wines on his listwas “a bold decision” three tofour years ago.

“I really felt that Greek winescan challenge any other winesin the world. Also the fact thatwe are a Greek restaurant andwe represent Greece, we shouldstay true to that, and here thechef also created dishes that gowell with the Greek wine,” hesaid.

Kouiri a Moroccan nativewho is married to a Greekwoman, has been traveling to

Greek winemakers and visitingvineyards every year in his workat Molyvos, which is owned bythe Livanos Restaurant Group.He has been impressed withyoung Greek winemakers, andtheir “passion, love of the coun-try and the indigenous grapesand the great job they’re doing”and felt it was important to givethem a chance to shine. Henoted it’s quite common forFrench bistros to offer onlyFrench wines, or Italian tratto-rias to offer only Italian wines –so why not have a Greek restau-rant that does the same for itsnative land?

“I get some wines that arevery rare and very small pro-duction, so a lot of wines in ourlist you’re not going to find in aliquor store, that’s for sure,” hesaid, noting that he has culti-vated relationships with some

winemakers whose products areonly available in two place:Greece and Molyvos.

For example, he found avineyard in Drama, Macedoniacalled Ktima Pavlidis which pro-duces a red wine from the tem-pranillo, a grape which growsmostly in Spain. Another vine-yard called Alpha Estates in Flo-rina, Macedonia, makes a redwine from the tannat grape, anative of southwestern France,but Kouiri said it grows fantas-tically in Florina’s climate, andMolyvos customers “are in lovewith that wine,” he said.

“Sometimes the wine showsyou the character of the grapevarietal, and some of them show

you the territory of the grape,and some show you the styleand the knowledge and the so-phistication of a winemaker,”said Kouiri. “So every one has apurpose on the list.”

Dimitris Haronitis, the winedirector at Kellari Taverna inNew York and Washington, D.C.,noted that Greek wines followedwhat he called the “revolution”in Greek cuisine in the 1990s,when Greek chefs began offer-ing more gourmet and sophisti-cated choices in food. Greekwinemakers eventually “wokeup” and began realizing the po-tential they had, he said, but itwasn’t until after Greece joinedthe eurozone and subsidies weregiven to farmers, and they be-gan learning new methods ofhow to cultivate and maintainwine and how to market it thatthe Greek wine industry reallybegan to make a name for itselfon the world stage, even win-ning prestigious internationalawards.

“Evangelos Gerovasiliou, forinstance, brought out theMalagousia,” the white winegrape with an elegant, full-bod-ied flavor, said Haronitis. “Theywere always in Greece from theancient years. But Gerovasilioutook this wine and became thefirst to bring back malagousia.Today malagousia is one of thetastiest wines in the world.”

Red wines, said Haronitis,are even more acclaimed thanthe white ones are. They can beblended with cabernet, and withthe indigenous Greek limnioand xinomavro grapes.

“There are also other vari-etals in northern Greece, likestavroto, krasato, rapsani,” hesaid. “And they don’t have thattartness like a cabernet. Theyare very soft wines, not toomuch alcohol, soft tannin, alovely aroma like raspberries.”

Nikos Mastorogiannakis ofHellas Import Ltd. of Brookline,Mass., also noted that the ex-pansion of the wine industry inGreece was encouraged by thesubsidies coming from the Eu-ropean Union. But the country’scrumbling economy will havethe same effect on small wine-makers as it has on other smallbusinesses, he said.

“I don’t think most of themare going to survive given thesituation in Greece right now,”Mastorogiannakis said. “If thereare 150 wineries in Greece, Ithink maybe 30, 40, 50 percentof them are going to go out ofbusiness, so as a result, the sup-ply in the U.S. might increase,but it will be narrowed to fewerwineries.”

Haronitis is concerned aboutthe same thing, and notedsmaller winemakers are sellingtheir businesses, which they

cannot afford to run, to largeroperations.

“With the economy andwhat’s going on in Greece rightnow, we have very good winer-ies but they’re very small andthey’re really in danger to closedown because they can’t affordto sell the wines,” he said.

Wholesale prices have fallen15 to 20 percent, Haronitisadded. At this point, he believesthat in order for Greek wines toimprove and spread to othercountries in the world, theyhave to reduce their prices. Indoing so, he said, they will fol-low the example of Chile andNew Zealand, which are easilyfound in nearly every liquorstore as ““entry-level,” or to putit another way, “inexpensive.”

“If the Greek wine is sold ata reasonable price, it will domi-nate the world,” Haronitis pre-dicted. “Already it has made aname as one of the best winesin Europe. Why should it not bethe same here and every-where?”

Marko Divine, the sommelierat Loi Restaurant in New York,relishes his position as advocatefor Greek wines, which he calls“the best kept secret.”

“When I started workinghere I started tasting all theGreek wines and I realized thatGreek wine is probably the gen-esis of all wines,” said Divine, a

native of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Like Haronitis, Divine’s face

lights up when he approaches acustomer who is curious aboutGreek wine. Most people maynot understand all the differenttypes of grapes, varieties or lo-cations, but they know whatthey like when they taste it.

“Most of the time I’ll go tothe table and I offer them ataste. That’s the most convincingaspect,” he said.

Mount Olympus, home of theHellenic Pantheon, stands impe-rial and imposing. On the slopes,up to 800 meters high, the pic-turesque village and the vine-yards of Rapsani are nested; in-deed an ideal place forsafeguarding a unique viticulturetradition which gives birth to anequally exceptional wine: the fa-mous RAPSANI, the nectar of theGods.

The history of Rapsani isdeeply interwoven with viticul-ture and wine making; the vil-lage was known since the 17thcentury as a powerful commer-cial center, famous for that splen-did red wine with the luscioustaste and the distinctive methodof cultivation already. The repu-tation was soon to be spread allover Greece and the Balkans. In1932 the wine of Rapsani wasofficially recognized as an Ap-pellation wine and almost 40years later (1971) as an “Appel-lation of Origin of High Quality”.That status set the strict guide-lines of production only withinthe viticultural zone of Rapsaniand by the co-vinification of thethree indigenous grapes of Xino-

mavro, Krassato and Stavroto.However, from the 80s thatunique tradition started to de-cline and the first signs of aban-donment and fatigue were morethan evident.

RAPSANI WINERY PASSES TOTHE TSANTALI FAMILYFortunately a brighter future

was reserved for Rapsani. Pas-sionate for unique local terroirs

and innovative pioneer, Evange-los Tsantalis acquired the wineryin 1991 and implemented a mas-sive plan of rejuvenation and sus-tainable development. Thanks tothe Tsantali family’s vision, thevineyards of Rapsani became theonly zone in Greece that was noteradicated occupying today morethan 100 hectares. Access to thevineyards is only possible via dirtroads, an adventurous, yet re-warding ascent; when there, theoverwhelming feeling of innerpower and absolute freedom isenhanced by the wondrous sur-roundings and the breathtakingview. After all, you are at the ex-act same point from where theancient gods surveyed and ruledthe world. The TSANTALI win-ery, located at the valley of theTempi, is a wonderful exampleof authentic local architecture, atribute to the Rapsani traditionpreserving cemented tanks andsome of the very first barrels.CREATING RAPSANI BRAND

Fully believing in the seduc-tive story of Rapsani, TSANTALIbecame the devoted narrator.The main elements were there:the glorious location and thebeautiful landscape combined topure tradition, authenticity andof course a highest quality, dis-

tinctive wine. Today the TSAN-TALI RAPSANI family consists ofthree labels, highlighting the ter-roir expression within time. TheTSANTALI RAPSANI wine is ac-companied by RAPSANI RE-SERVE and GRAND RESERVEageing for two and four years re-spectively.

RAPSANI TAKING OVER THE WORLD

Xinomavro, Krassato,Stavroto: the odd names of thegrapes did not stop RAPSANIfrom conquering the wine loversfrom around the globe. Theamazing story telling and thefull-bodied wine were bottled ina luxurious modern packagingdesigned by EZI Evolution, aCanadian advertising agencywith an outstanding wineries’

portfolio. Through the broadTSANTALI commercial networkin 55 countries, the Greek brandwas promoted and attractedmassive attention. Today, winelovers from USA to Canada andBrazil, from Russia to China,raise their glass filled with thatdark red wine and taste the nec-tar of the Olympian Gods.

Join the TSANTALI worldwww.tsantali.gr – FACEBOOK/tsantali.gr - TWITTER @TSAN-TALI_wines


APPETIZERS • HOMEMADE SOUPS & SALADSHOMEMADE CHARBROILED BURGERSUNCLE PETE’S ORIGINAL PAN-STYLE PIZZAUNCLE PETE’S FAMOUS GYROSJOANNE’S AUTHENTIC SPECIALTIESSEAFOOD • GREEK FAVORITES • AMERICAN STYLE SPECIALTY WRAPS • JOANNE’S HOMEMADE DESSERTSSIDE DISHES • KIDS’ MENU • WINE/BEVERAGES

27 WOODBURY ROAD, HICKSVILLE, NY 11801Tel.: (516) 827-5033 • FAX: (516) 827-5032

WE DELIVER (FAST AND HOT)HOURS: MON-SAT 10 ΑΜ - 9 PM • CLOSED SUNDAY

WE DO CATERING

Catering on & off premise for all your party needs

OPEN for LUNCH and DINNERMonday - Friday 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.Saturday and Sunday 4 - 11 p.m.

37 Great Neck Road,

Great Neck, NY 11021Tel.: (516) 773-8010Fax: (516) 773-8012

www.MykonosRestaurantofGreatNeck.com

Καλή σαςόρεξη

THE GRECIAN PLATE

3 carolina Meadows, Apt. 207chapel hill, Nc 27517

ORDER NOW this detailed guide to• orthodox beliefs, weddings, and holidays...• Greek customs, foods, songs and proverbs...• the history of orthodoxy, the Greek diaspora,

and useful websites

• online at: www.greektraditions.org• by phone: 301-469-4733 by fax: 301-610-9524• by mail: Send check payable to “Nea Attiki Press”

to: P.O. Box 34008, Bethesda, MD 20827cost: $30 per book plus $6 shipping for first book $1 each additional book to same address. iSBN #09638051-1-8

offer for USA only 2012

Greek Wines Get a Solo Showcase As Smaller Producers Face Possible Shutdowns

Kamal Kouiri, wine director ofMolyvos.

Marko Divine, sommelier of Loi Restaurant.

TSANTALI RAPSANIRaising our glass to the Olympian Gods

The Rapsani vineyards

WR

Westfield’s Newest Dining Experience Opens to Raves

www.limaniwestfieldnj.com

Proprietors: George & Gigi Vastardis

Open Tuesday to Sunday for Lunch and Dinner

off and on premise catering for special occasions and corporate affairs

BYoB • Greek coffee

For reservations call:

(908) 233-0052

235 North Avenue westwestfield, NJ 07090

we wiLL Be cLoSed oN thANKSGiViNG dAY


CALIFORNIAHARVEST OLIVE OIL

our california harvest olive oil, both natural variety and oRGANic, is produced from carefully handpicked olives

chosen at the ripest point of the season to produce a wonderful full flavor olive oil. our oil is 100% eXtRA

ViRGiN FiRSt coLd PReSS which comes fromthe one and only first pressing.

our oil is not mass produced but pressed in an age old method in which the picking of the olive dictates

the quality and quantity. we hope you enjoy all of our california harvest olive oil

and pass on the Petrou name to your friends and family as one you can trust for great quality.

Olive Oil Products:BLood oRANGe oLiVe oiL

cALiFoRNiA oLiVe oiLdiPPiNG oLiVe oiL • GARLic oLiVe oiL

LeMoN oLiVe oiL • oRGANic oLiVe oiL

OLIVE OILBASKETS

our two beautifully custom made gift boxes come with your choice of our california harvest olive oil and

california balsamic vinegar along with a gorgeous sunlight or sunset picture

of San diego's world famous bay/downtown view.

our other box comes with your choice of 2 types of california harvest olive and olive oil

or a california balsamic vinegar.

Great as a gift all year long.

Gift Basket Products:oLiVe oiL GiFt BASKet (BLUe)

oLiVe oiL GiFt BASKet (oRANGe)

OLIVE PRODUCTSKALAMAtA oLiVeSSUN dRied oLiVeS

MiXed oLiVeSLeMoN oiL cURed oLiVeS

7960 Silverton, Suite 120, San diego, cA 92126telephone: (858) 458-1981 • Fax: (858) 638-0006 • e-mail:[email protected]


Krinos Foods, LLc. is the largest importer,

distributor and manufacturer of Greek specialty

foods in North America.

Krinos offers only the finest frozen, refrigerated and

dry Mediterranean foods to both the retail and food

service trades through its modern and efficient

plants in New York, chicago, Santa Barbara (USA),

Montreal, toronto and Vancouver (canada).

Krinos Foods, LLc.

47-00 Northern Blvd., Long island city, NY 11101

www.krinos.com

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