The event will feature traditional Greek fare such as souvlaki, gyros and lamb shank as well as a special fish dinner on Friday. Also available to eat in or take home will be pastries and sweet breads.
Pictured left to right preparing for the Taste of Greece are: Maria S. Poulos of Feeding Hills, cooking workshop chairwoman; Eleni Nikolis of Windsor, Conn., baking workshop chairwoman; and Vicki LaRoche of Ludlow, co-chair of the Taste of Greece.When members of the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Luke prepare for their annual Taste of Greece, they buy the best ingredients and use recipes that have been handed down for generations.
“We don’t skimp on anything,” said Meghan E. Dasco, a member of the East Longmeadow church. “I think people can taste the love.”
The 11th annual Taste of Greece will take place on Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the church’s Pappas Fellowship Hall.
The event will feature traditional Greek fare such as souvlaki, gyros and lamb shank as well as a special fish dinner on Friday. Also available to eat in or take home will be pastries and sweet breads.
All food is prepared and cooked at the church with traditional homemade flavor and attention and will be served either a la carte or to go.
Trays of frozen spanakopita (spinach pie) will be sold for $30; each feeds 16 and comes with cooking instructions.
As in previous years, traditional Greek beverages (beer, wine and ouzo) will be available along with coffee and desserts.
“Part of the culture of Greece, part of the culture of our parishioners here is that we love to share our culture,” Dasco said. “It’s all about family and community.”
Three generations of many families join in the preparations for the Taste of Greece. Workshops take place at the church kitchen in the weeks preceding the event, and church members prepare the foods that will be sold. “There are trays and trays of delicious food;” many of the ingredients are imported from Greece.
One of the ingredients is grape leaves. Women of the church pick the leaves locally and then wash, dry and store them until the workshop to make doulmades (stuffed grape leaves). Volunteers make two types--one with meat and a vegetarian one—filling, stuffing and rolling the leaves.
In the early years of the Taste of Greece, many of the people who attended had not had Greek food before, but now many are repeat customers who know the event takes place annually on the third weekend of October. “They look forward to having homemade Greek food,” Dasco said. “A lot of people come in year after year and know what they want. The lamb shank is very popular.”
Meal prices range from $3 to $17.
Dasco likes the fish dish called plaki, a cod dish served with a tomato gravy. Her next favorite is the spanakopita: “It’s absolutely delicious.”
What makes Greek food special, she said, is the amount of time, love and effort that goes into preparing it. “We use natural, imported ingredients and recipes that have been handed down. You know it tastes just as good as when your grandmother made it.”
The Taste of Greece will include live Greek music with bouzouki players; the St. Luke Greek Dancers will entertain on both Friday and Saturday evenings.
Olympic souvenirs and imported jewelry and clothes will be for sale in the gift shop.
Admission and parking are free.
In addition to providing an opportunity for church members to bond and a cultural experience for the community in general, the Taste of Greece raises funds for the church’s General Fund from which it supports local and national charities and makes capital improvements to the 33-year-old building.
For more information about the Taste of Greece, call 525-4551.