Greekgastronomyguide.gr celebrated his first birthday Guide to Greek Gastronomy, and on this occasion we at TVXS, sat at a table that smelled of Greece with its creator, George Pittas, and asked him questions. Through the discussion we learned that GGG is not just a site. It is much more a place where places are captured. Perfumes. Tastes. Stories. People. In order to highlight the treasures of Greek gastronomy worldwide, GGG informs its readers about the values ​​and goods of our culture by traveling to taverns, cafes and squares. We could decipher what he told us about its creation, its philosophy, its possibilities and what one can find wandering in the country. But it is better for him to tell you himself.

Folklore of flavors, documentarian of Greek culture, explorer of the beauty of Greece? What are you after all?

I am a Greek who loves his country very much. From a very young age I traveled all over Greece and I had the habit of taking notes of what impressed me. Later, the curious traveler I was, became a systematic recorder, and I began to record specific topics that I did in books (Athenian Tavern, Fairs in the Aegean, Cafes in Greece, Treasures of Greek Gastronomy). Recently, that is, a year ago, I said to gather all my experiences and research that I have done on a website, and, together with new material that I am constantly completing, to make a complete Guide to Greek Gastronomy. Thus was created the www.greekgastronomyguide.gr

What does one find wandering in the paths of Greek gastronomy?

The demons and the soul of every place. Wandering the paths of Greek gastronomy necessarily leads you to explore Greece through another look.

The Greek Gastronomy Guide was created in order to inform its visitors about all the values ​​and goods of our gastronomic culture. Places and landscapes, history and tradition, festivals, events and rituals, products and people, markets and business, flavors, recipes and local cuisines, cafes and taverns unfold through this site in such a way as to create a mosaic that changes the meaning of gastronomy and from a simple gastronomic experience it becomes a unit of life.

What did you see, what did you hear, what did you smell, what did we taste and what did you touch during the exploration of Greek gastronomy that will be unforgettable for you?

What comes to mind… From the cafes the shocking Panhellenic cafe in Amfissa, where a scene from the movie "The Troupe" by Angelopoulos was shot, the Forlida cafe in Lafko of Pelion, where Papadiamantis drank his coffee a century ago. From the markets, the Prekas store in market of Ermoupolis, the wonderful closed Municipal Market of Chania, the only one Tzimblakis grocery store in Naxos. For food her high kitchen Moon in the Tower of Santorini, to its folk cuisine Rosa in Vourvoulos, a village a few kilometers below, the Greek creative cuisine in Tudor by King George Athena's. From Yard in Rethymnon, until the Flour in Metaxourgeio, but also local delicacies in Claimant in Naxos the in Dounia in the White Mountains of Crete.

All these years traveling to Greece, I saw landscapes and places of incredible beauty, I saw the toil of those who try to create by fighting with the obvious (against state indifference / hostility), I touched moments and people who made me better and wiser. This is what remains to me as an unforgettable aftertaste of my travels.

That there is another Greece that despite the difficulties is struggling to do the right thing. And he will succeed. As long as we gain cultural self-confidence and start cooperating with each other.

At a time when cooking has become fashionable and plays in identical programs on television, you have proved with this website that cooking is a culture. Explain to us the philosophy of GGG and its purpose.

Fashions are ephemeral, while gastronomy carries behind it collective memories of centuries that concern not only gastronomy but life itself.

GGG takes the visitor by the hand and leads him to everything that has to do with the Greece of Creation. In the main guide we can find the gastronomic interests of the place we are interested in (history-traditional cuisine-products-producers-delicacies-taverns-restaurants-cafes-fairs-markets-sights), while on the first page of the site you can be informed about gastronomic news and find opinion topics and other gastronomic news.

Is the solution to the crisis on our plate? 

Yes, from whichever side you look at it.

If you look at the big picture, I am convinced that the environment, agricultural production and livestock, agri-food processing, gastronomy, tourism and exports are the links in a chain that can be an important pillar of economic growth, which in unlike others, it spreads throughout the Greek territory.

In terms of the small image now. Let's look at an example. Schinoussa is an island of 150 inhabitants, which in the past, like all the Cyclades, was self-sufficient in food. In the 1990s the primary sector was deserted. In recent years, two young people have re-cultivated it split peas. They took sorting machines, packaging plants and now produce around 50 tons of local fava beans. This fava is a bite and a home. It is sold in Athens but also served in the two taverns of the island. But the main thing is that he created a good example for the place, but also for Greece.

And so little by little the small images will build the big picture.

After all these trips and tastes, where would your dream table be and what would be on it?

The table of my dreams becomes "in place and in time". It is not done "in a vacuum". Each place has its own gastronomic culture, which includes dining!

So I dream of a meal at sunset, on its Caldera Santorini, in front of spectacular landscape of the volcano, with delicacies based on split peas, the tomato, the white dry aubergines, the caper. Offer me local recipes such as meletini, rabbit tyragoulo, garlic macaroni, salad with tomatoes, capers and of course tomato meatballs. Let two or three recipes come from the young chefs of the island who use the tradition in a creative way and have in front of me to choose wines from 18 wineries of the island that have taken off the local varieties of assyrtiko, aidani and atheri! Let the violins and lutes be heard in the background.

And if this is a majestic dream, I would feel the same joy, in Epirus in Zagorochoria overlooking the gorge of Vikos, with the corresponding local products and delicacies such as pies, galotyria etc. and in the background the clarinets, or even if I was in a popular fish tavern on the shore and I tasted seafood and fish of the day with music this The splash of the wave, the crackling of the seagulls, and the characteristic monotonous noise of a fishing boat's engine.

(reposted from tvxs.gr - source)