ABOUT US

Greek Gastronomy Guide is managed by “Greek Gastronomy Treasures”

owned and operated by George Pittas and Bilio Tsoukala

The Greek Gastronomy Guide website (greekgastronomyguide.gr) was created to be a showcase for Greek gastronomy as a whole, in all its aspects and all its dimensions. This is because we believe that the logic that connects the network “Landscape - Environment - Agricultural Economy - Agricultural Produce - Gastronomy - Culture - Tourism” could and should form one of the bases for the country future development.

Our goal is to provide a detailed “census” of the gastronomic identity of every region in the country through a holistic, but primarily human-oriented approach.

The content of our website greekgastronomyguide.gr is the result of on-the-spot research, documentation and photography, with interviews and in-depth visits to each place. The project started with George Pittas'travels over the past 25 years to every corner of Greece and deals with formerly untouched subjects related to Greek gastronomy - some of which are included in his six books - and with the research of Bilio Tsoukala, who from 2003 was the first to present local producers and their products in her television broadcasts for ERT (the Greek National Radio and Television Network).

 

George Pittas

George PittasGeorge Pittas was born in Athens in 1954. By profession he is an interior decorator and designer of furniture.

From 1977 to 1980 he studied political economy and sociology at the University of Paris 8 (Vincennes). He was a founding member of the Neo Katoikein group in 1980 which for 20 years played a leading role in Greek furniture design and production.

Since 1995 he has been dividing his time between Athens and Paros, where he runs the model hotel complex Lefkes Village in the mountain settlement of the same name.

He served on the board of the Union of Greek Tourist Professionals (SETE) and of the Chamber of Greek Hotels and was active in matters related to cultural and alternative tourism.

Since 2010, as a board member of the Chamber of Greek Hotels, he has been head of Greek Breakfast program, which aims to connect hotels with the gastronomic wealth of their own districts. In this role he travels all over the country creating original local Greek breakfast dishes with the most representative tastes and produce of each region.

His books (in Greek)

Ta Simadia tou Aigaiou (Signs Of the Aegean) (2007)
Paros - Odoiporiko ston Topio kai to Chrono (A Walk through Place and Time) (2008)
Athinaiki Taverna (The Athenian Taverna) (2009)
Ta Panigyria sto Aigaio (Religious and Folk Festivals in the Aegean) ((2011)
Ta Kafeneia tis Elladas (The traditional cafés of Greece) (2013)
Thisavrous tis Ellinikis Gastronomias (Treasures of Greek Gastronomy) (2014)

 

Bilio Tsoukala

Bilio TsoukalasBilio Tsoukala studied economics in Greece and then continued her postgraduate studies in Paris. She studied journalism at the Institut Français de Presse at the University of Paris II, and went on to do political science at the Sorbonne (Paris II), where she received her postgraduate degree (DEA). At the same time, she took university level courses in English literature, cinematography and political economy.

Since 1984 she has worked as a journalist for newspapers and magazines such as ENA, Anti, Gynaika, Klik, Ego, Mesemvriani and Kerdos, and from 1994 to 2006 she was a columnist for Madame Figaro.

In 1985 she was a member of Channel 15, the Initiative Group for Free Radio, and played a leading role in breaking the state monopoly of the country's radio and television networks with the opening of the first independent radio stations. In 1986 she gave radio broadcasts on the first public radio station, Athens 98.4, and later on TOP FM, Ant-1 and Alpha Radio.

She has been working in television since 1995, presenting programs on culture, like "Plus and Minus" (Syn kai Plin), one of the first cultural "magazines" on public TV.

From 1993 to 2013 she hosted a show on ERT called "It has Taste" (Ehei Gousto), a daily, two-hour, live TV cultural program.

She is married to George Pittas.

 

Books

Thisavroi tis Ellinikis Gastronomias (Treasures of Greek Gastronomy) - © 2014

The Treasures of Greek GastronomyThe book, The Treasures of Greek Gastronomy describes 100 typical products from various regions in Greece and representing all kinds of edible commodities. Some of these have become identified with Greek life both in the present and in the recent past, but also in the distant past, stretching back in some cases to Greek mythology. Other foods are associated with a grand history, such as for example the Corinthian currant, which in the 19th century played a major role in the country's economy, accounting for 70 percent of Greek exports and bringing tremendous wealth and prosperity to the places where it was grown and marketed. Other plants, like the caper and the prickly pear, while not so much in demand, are particularly characteristic of the often harsh Greek earth.

Ta Kafeneia tis Elladas (The traditional cafés of Greece) - © 2013

The Cafes of GreeceMy acquaintance with the cafes took place in an unconscious and effortless way. For so many years I have been traveling and writing, cafes have always been an important station of my research. Here I would rest when I arrived in a village and here I would get my first information. Here the action plans would be made and here the initial awkward loneliness of the newcomer would be overcome in a little while, as one by one the spectators would surround me to give me the information they knew to help me. And in the evenings after the end of the various missions, when I returned to the cafe relaxed, recounting my "achievements" and confirming the information they gave me and the correctness of their directions, here among appetizers and rakes we celebrated my research successes. But most of all we were celebrating the joy of our acquaintance.

Ta Panigyria sto Aigaio (Religious and Folk Festivals in the Aegean) - © 2011

The Festivals in the AegeanDuring my travels, whether as a pilgrim, or as a visitor, or as a researcher, I have had the pleasure of attending over two hundred festivals. I met hundreds of musicians, violators, lyre players, tsambounierides and I was left captivated for hours by their music. I listened and sang songs whose lyrics broke my heart, and others that took it to the next level. I danced and had fun, sometimes until the very end, learning on the spot several lesser-known traditional dances. I met many important clergy who, in addition to their religious role, played a leading role in the social life of the place, but also in feasting and entertainment. I met dozens of cooks who were each fed from an entire village. I was lucky enough to be trusted with their recipes and the secrets of their work.

Athinaiki Taverna (The Athenian Taverna) - © 2009

The Athenian TavernThe Athenian Tavern is tied to the history and culture of the city of Athens as in a historical course it nurtured and developed the most characteristic cultural goods of Hellenism. Here the Athenian chant flourished, the rebetiko became manly, the folk songs were sung by the internal immigrants. In the Athenian tavern, the fleeing Asia Minor celebrated for the first time, the outcasts and the marginalized found refuge, the Athenians enjoyed the Carnival and the Carnival and finally the students sang the songs of Mikis Thodorakis during the Dictatorship. It is no coincidence that there is no genre of Greek music that has not dedicated great songs to the tavern.

Paros - Odoiporiko ston Topo kai to Chrono (A Walk through Space and Time) - © 2008

Paros: Journey to Place and TimeParos does not have the high mountains of Naxos, the strong winds of Mykonos, the wild but seductive landscape of the cliffs of Santorini. The Parian mountains and hills are low, fading sweetly to the shores that are rarely rugged and ripped by the winds. The meltemia seem to have made an informal agreement with Paros. They blow enough to extinguish the summer capsule, but not enough to cut down the island. The beaches of Paros are full of secret attractions, like women who do not want to show all their skills. Its nature is interesting and rich, as long as you want to discover it, to search and drink from what it seems, to see things that you do not even imagine. Its villages are beautiful and lively but they want a tourist approach and not a tourist to open their arms and let you get to know them. But the island that I fell in love with in 1975 when I first met it and made it a part of my life, in the past 40 years has changed and transformed.

Ta Simadia tou Aigaiou (Signs of the Aegean) - © 2007

The Signs of the AegeanThe book "The Signs of the Aegean" traces and imprints the signs of the Archipelago: The physiognomy and the importance of its ports, which thanks to the demon and the naval skills of its people created the Greek maritime miracle, as well as the history of sea routes they are connected by the boats, the trehantaria, the chernikia specimens and the liveliest carpentry tradition of Europe. The rich flora of the Aegean islands is described in detail that unfortunately in summer we find few traces of the variety of its vegetation. Then the monuments of the past, Antiquity, Byzantium are presented and finally the publication focuses on the monuments of material and intangible culture of modern times.

Philosophy

While giving detailed information about each of our subjects, our approach has been to focus on acquainting our visitors with the people involved in producing them, in developing them. We want their stories to be known. These people, creative, hard working souls in the countryside, are providing the answers to the challenges of our times. Many of them are single individuals making a difference on their own, others may have small family enterprises or even in a few cases large companies. Receiving minimal if any support from the state, choked by red tape and official indifference, they struggle against extremely unfavorable conditions. And yet they still win the battle for the domestic market and often even earn recognition abroad.

Young people, most of them well educated, juggling the roles of producers, manufacturers and merchants, are shaping a new business model. With their devotion to their homeland, respect for the environment, flair and passion for their work, insist on quality and Faith in the value of their products, they are building a new image of contemporary Greek entrepreneurship in the hinterland.

The same is true for those chefs, restaurant and taverna owners who ignore the siren call of city life and western style food fads and manage to present us with contemporary versions of Greek gastronomy by giving new interpretations to local products and local recipes.

Our stories are accompanied by beautiful photos taken by George Pittas on his trips, with the occasional exception, usually photos of special dishes provided by restaurant owners. Some of the photos on this website were first published in George Pittas' books. They were taken spontaneously, with no prior adjustments or “stage management”. No formal tableware, professional kitchen equipment or any other kind of styling was used. Indeed, some of our subjects - depicted in the course of their work - even got cross with us for being underfoot and in the way.

Writer-traveler-photographer George Pittas was also thoroughly enjoying himself on these expeditions, so that some of the photographic material may be leave a bit to be desired from the artistic point of view. But for us it was much more important to capture the mood of the moment without any attempt at beautification or enhancing the subject, whether it was a religious festival, a café, an assortment of products or a plate of food. So do not be surprised if, for example, you spot a soiled tablecloth littered with crumbs. That's life, not perfect.

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