Greek cuisine impressed London

Authentic Greek cuisine and the diversity of gastronomy in Greece had their due last week in London.

About 6,000 British visitors of the exhibition of culinary interest organized July 16 and 17, 2022 in London, the popular British magazine National Geographic Traveller they got to know the tourist destinations of our country through the prism of gastronomy.

With the aim of getting to know the Greek local products and the rich flavors of Greece, the EO serviceThe United Kingdom and Ireland organized an inspiring and original presence for the Greek participation in the exhibition, provoking many positive comments and questions about Greece’s tourist destinations. The exhibition “National Geographic Traveler Food Festival” was aimed at an audience who are lovers of gastronomy and interested in culture, travel and luxury.

“Greece and EOT could not be absent from the National Geographic Traveler Food Festival held in London. The promotion and promotion of Greek gastronomy abroad and of culinary tourism in general is one of the main axes of the EOT’s strategy for the promotion of Greek tourism. The enhancement of experiential tourism highlights our unique tourist product and much more the authenticity of our place. I would like to congratulate the UK and Ireland EOT service, the chefs who took part with their creative recipes, and all participants for the success of the Greek presence. All together, with good cooperation, we can achieve even more for Greek tourism“, said the General Secretary of the EOT from Athens, Dimitris Fragakis.

Two EOT booths – Entries

For this year’s participation of Greece, two stands were secured by EOT, as well as the sponsorship of the “Cinnamon Theater” (one of the two masterclass presentation theaters of the exhibition) where Greece had the opportunity to present Greek recipes with local products and the public to try the Greek dishes. The masterclasses presented during the exhibition were framed by the following participants:

• Region of Crete, through the chefs of the hotel group Aldemar Hotels
• North Aegean region through chef Argyros Barbarigou
• South Aegean Region through the chefs of the hotel group Mitsis Hotels
• Thessaloniki Promotion Organization through chef Giorgos Palisidis & Municipality of Thessaloniki, UNESCO Capital of Gastronomy through ERGON chefs.
• Irini Tzorgzoglou, Masterchef UK 2019 chef winner
• Telemachos Argyriou, chef of the Kalimera London restaurant
• Symposio, culinary activity of the hotel group Aldemar Hotels

During the two days of the Festival, twenty masterclasses and a total of thirty-eight different presentations of Greek recipes, local products, Greek wines and drinks were held at the Greek pavilions.

In addition to the masterclasses of the Greek chefs who traveled from Greece for the Festival, the program included the presentation of vegan Greek recipes by the influencer/plant based chef Nikki Webster, the popular Greek restaurants in London The Life Goddess and Ergon, with a special emphasis on the presentation Greek unique recipes such as yuvarlakia, Sfakia pie, Lesbos trachana with ouzo and shrimps, Cretan snails stew, Corfu pastitsada etc. The chef known to the British public and winner of Masterchef 2019 in the UK, Irini Tzorgzoglou, in addition to the masterclasses with eggplant barley, gave tasting lessons on the differentiation of Greek virgin olive oil and Greek honey, while at the stand designed as a Greek deli, feta was offered Dodonis, giants from the Greek products company Odysea, melekounia from Rhodes, Cretan dakos, Chios mastic, Macedonian halva, Thessaloniki bougatsa and Greek watermelon.

At the same time as the cooking masterclasses, in the specially designed area of ​​the bar of the pavilion, a wine tasting of Cretan wines was held with the support of Wines of Crete by the sommelier Clearchos Kanellakis, degustation of tsipouro, traditional Greek coffee with Syros delights, frappe with Thessaloniki tsoureki and mastic cocktails from Axia and a cocktail masterclass from mixologist / Ambassador of Metaxa, Haris Gerakis.

During the exhibition, visitors could enter a competition with a prize for two lucky winners of a trip to Corfu courtesy of Tour Operator Sunvil and free stays in Chios, from the North Aegean Region.

In addition to the representatives of the local government of the participating Greek destinations, the exhibition was also attended by the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Sofia Zacharakis, who actively participated in all the actions of the Greek pavilion, held interviews and spoke with a multitude of journalists and influencers, further promoting Greek gastronomy and the wine tourism.

Special mention was made by the public and the co-exhibitors for the visual art of the stand, which was created exclusively for Greece by the graphic artist Silja Goetz, promoting Greekness and its connection with gastronomy. The great impact of the Greek participation in the exhibition was clearly evident from the great coverage on social media of the Greek dishes by influencers who visited the exhibition.

RES-EMP

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