The exhibition was successfully completed HORECA 2022 on METROPOLITAN EXPO which marked the start of Tourism fairs after the pandemic.

As part of HORECA, on Sunday 13-2-2022 at 14:00 in room C2 was presented the book of George Pitta Gastronomic Communities and the program of the same name, and an account of the project was made with the participation of protagonists of the first 11 Gastronomic Communities among of which Corfu, Kefalonia, Skiathos, Amorgos and Pelion.

The "Gastronomic Communities»Is a program created by George Pittas in 2018, and aims to make Greek Gastronomy a lever for the development of the local economy, a springboard for tourism development, but also to play a key role in shaping the cultural identity of each place. The main idea of ​​the program is the organization of professionals in the wider gastronomy sector (production-catering-hospitality) in various parts of the country, with the aim of connecting the agri-food sector with gastronomy and tourism.

The book and at the same time the Gastronomic Communities program presented as keynote speakers:

Paris Chartas, Professor of Tourism Development at Harokopio University, vol. Rector at the University of the Aegean, Nana Darioti, its editor-in-chief Olive magazine, of its monthly gastronomic form First Issue, which were placed each from his point of view, the first from the point of view of Tourism and the second from the point of view of gastronomy.

Then the Bilio Tsoukalas, described the content and structure of the book, while at the end George Pittas presented the program Gastronomic Communities and would make an account of the action with all the experiences extracted from his three years of activity and recorded in his book. In the second part spoke representatives from 5 Gastronomic Communities of the country (Corfu, Kefalonia, Amorgos, Skiathos and Pelion). Representatives of development companies then spoke and finally time was allocated for questions where various areas of Greece expressed interest in creating local gastronomic communities.

George Pittas, presenting the representatives of the Gastronomic Communities, closed his speech with 2 remarks. The first concerned the Gastronomic Communities which he characterized as one pioneering civil society movement which has a national scope without any central support or central funding, and which essentially does a small guerrilla against outdated practices, using the will and determination of the professionals of the region who wish to write their history in the field of Gastronomy.

The second point concerned Kefalonia which was also the honored area and justified the choice as follows: the most combative community of professionals who proceeded with rapid steps. It secured resources from the Municipality for the publication of the printed Gastronomic Guide, develops the digital gastronomic guide by including professionals of production and catering, cooperates with the SOC and the Municipality and has a wide social support and recognition. The soul of the Gastronomic Community of Kefalonia is Konstantina Charitou from Tourist Hotel Boutique Hotel Kefalonia. ”

The president of the Gastronomic Community of Kefalonia Konstantina Charitou and an excellent cook who offers one of the most interesting Greek Mornings in Greece took the floor and said the following:

"For ten years now, a small group of professionals from Kefalonia around the Hospitality and Catering have decided to highlight the gastronomy of our place. Six years ago, on the initiative of the Kefalonia Hoteliers Association, we joined its program Hotel Chamber of GreeceAt Greek breakfast, again with George Pittas, when we presented to the Hoteliers of the island the interesting proposals that the breakfast of Kefalonia could have. It is no coincidence that since then a significant number of hotels offer Kefalonian breakfast. 

 

The Gastronomic Communities now come and tie in with the desire of the Gastronomy professionals of our island (primary sector-hospitality-gastronomy) to highlight our local products and use the richness of Kefalonian cuisine as a tool that will strengthen the cultural and tourist identity of our land. The Gastronomic Communities program came box with our wishes. The "manifesto" of the Gastronomic Communities and in general the logic of the "movement" of professionals that in addition to our individual improvement, urges us to care and shape the overall image of the gastronomic product and tourism product, has created great expectations and enthusiasm for our journey.

In a first phase in 2021 the gastronomic wealth of the island was recorded, and through discussions and collaborations we chose the 10 main dishes that should represent our cuisine, such as (meat pie, cod pie, braised meatballs, cigarettes, cod aliada , the boiled goat, the veal procado, the meat sofifado, the braised tripe with influences from the tripa Fiorentina cuccina povera of Florence and many more). In the printed guide we created, and we have already started to distribute it in exhibitions and in our professional spaces, we described the protagonists of Kefalonian gastronomy, its livestock and its unsurpassed feta, its unique vineyard and its great wineries that can be visited. years accept more wine lovers and travelers, while we did not forget the workshops with its famous sweets, nougat and nougat. In our 28-page publication that is at your disposal, we managed to concentrate the gastronomic wealth of our island with nice descriptions and beautiful photos.

We are now in the phase of recording the professionals who honor Kefalonian gastronomy, and who are part of the program. These will be the first members of our Gastronomic Community that will of course be posted on the digital map of Kefalonia that is under construction. Already in six months, the gastronomic community of Kefalonia has been visited by over 100.000 people, with more visits to the best taverns of the island, wineries and the ten best foods, while the articles for the first members of the community-professionals are in the first places. of Google. Then for this year we have planned training activities, extroversion moves and familiarization trips with Greek and foreign journalists. The Gastronomic Communities together with the newly formed SOK (Association of Winemakers of Kefalonia) of which the winemakers are our members, we expect to bring the Kefalonian gastronomy to the place it deserves.

We want to thank the Municipality of Argostoli for the moral and financial support it provided us and of course George Pittas who gave us an opportunity to organize, collaborate, dream and draw up an action plan. Our journey has just begun. ”

The event was attended by members of the Gastronomic Community of Kefalonia, the president of the Hotel Owners Association of Kefalonia and Ithaca Gerasimos Timotheatos, the former head of Tourism Spyros Galiatsatos, o Vice President of the Gastronomic Community Andreas Pantelios,  ο  Angelos Theodorakatos, Alexandros Kopsacheilis from Kefalonia-Ithaca Cooperation Network, and the chef Christos Macheiras  from "Mythos", the restaurant and his team, who offered the public Kefalonian meat pies that won the impressions while at the same time wines from his wineries were offered Kefalonia Winemakers Association, represented by the winemaker Petrakopoulos and who during the meeting presented to the public the Kefalonian vineyard and the philosophy of SOK.

 

Then George Pittas presenting the Gastronomic Community of Skiathos commented on the following:

For years now, there has been a gap between the Papadiamantis tradition of the island and its cosmopolitan modern radiance. Because the creation of an important hotel infrastructure that in combination with its unique sandy beaches, the unique rich vegetation and the hospitable mood of the inhabitants led Skiathos to develop into one of the most sought after destinations of Greek Tourism, with all the specifications of high-demand tourism, but removed the island from its tradition. The strategy of the new municipal authority and the mayor of Theodore Tzouma is the development of conscious and slow tourism and alternative vacations, with two hundred kilometers of organized walking paths and dirt roads off road, through paths of dense vegetation, leading to unexplored beaches, to beautiful beaches. byzantine chapels, and in landscapes where the spirit and the magic of the great Skiathos, Alexandros Papadiamantis is present and active. This gap is also bridged by the emergence of the gastronomy of the island which, although ignored and neglected for years, now comes to the surface with claims because it represents modern values, such as light and delicate cuisine, with the marriage of fish and seafood with mountain herbs and vegetables, as for years was the traditional cuisine of the island.

The mayor of Skiathos Thodoris Tzoumas At the beginning of his speech, he stressed the relationship that Skiathos has with Bilio Tsoukalas, wife of George Pittas, as her father Elias Tsoukalas the war hero, existence of the submarine Katsonis and then author of the book Submarine Y1, was one of the three rescued when the submarine was sunk by Germans on September 14, 1943, in the waters of Skiathos and since then Skiathos honors that day at the relevant monument in the port of the island. "Through Bilios we came in contact with George who introduced us to the Gastronomic Communities program, and in our first meeting he described to us almost all the reports of Alexandros Papadiamantis about the gastronomy of Skiathos and the rural life of the island. It did not take much more to convince us to start the project! Because our goal is to make Skiathos known for what makes it unique, either its nature, or its intangible heritage, or its gastronomy. The task of turning the intangible heritage of gastronomy into a documentary was undertaken by George Pittas, who, in addition to recording and highlighting, gave the impetus to young people to engage and promote not only local recipes but also new crops, or exploits, as the message of shame for tradition turned into a pride came true ”. And leaning the mayor gave the wish, George Pittas to continue to gastronomically cross the country, to create communities so that "the gastronomic communities to make us a beautiful Greek gastronomic galaxy"!

The mayor of Amorgos Lefteris Karaiskos  unexpectedly could not attend the meeting, but sent the following message: "From Amorgos I send you my wishes for the good success of the event, and congratulations to my friend above all George Pitta for the inspiration of the" Gastronomic Communities "through which the actual promotion of our sites is unquestionable. THE Municipality of Amorgos was one of the first to support the Gastronomic Communities. The printed guide, published with the sponsorship of the Municipality, best represents the image and content of the gastronomy of the island and together with the digital guide are an excellent tool for highlighting and promoting the gastronomic identity of Amorgos. We owe it to ourselves to defend and spread Amorgian gastronomy. This will be implemented through the above tools but also through the cooperation of the professionals of the island, so that gastronomy occupies the dominant position in shaping the identity and cultural physiognomy of Amorgos. I wish very quickly to return to travel normalcy and to welcome you to Amorgos so that you can serialize our gastronomic paths step by step! ”

Then George Pittas referred to Gastronomic Community of Corfu, with most of its members - when they joined his team "Corfu produces" -, had jointly presented in 2012 the Greek Breakfast of Corfu and concluded: “Corfu is fortunate to have the head of the Gastronomic Community  Spyros Voulisma, the hotel chef of the Voulgaris Group, former president of the Chefs Club, a man of high morals, who, among other things, with inexhaustible passion and faith in the program prepared most of the delicacies for the needs of photographing the 10 typical dishes of Corfu. Thus, in cooperation with the members of the Community, we were able to concentrate its gastronomic wealth and presented it to the two guides ".

In his speech, Spyros Voulismas spoke about the work of the Community, but gave great emphasis - and this was particularly welcomed by the public. in the social and ecological dimensions of Gastronomy such as the promotion of organic farming, the avoidance of environmental pollution, the proper management of natural resources, the conservation of biodiversity, thus confirming its important role not only in the gastronomic community of the island but is a great chapter of Greek Gastronomy.

The presentation included speeches by representatives of the Gastronomic Community and Of Pelion Andrea Patisti, while the representatives of the Development Companies were placed around the cooperation of the program Greek Flavors Fine, by the Development Company Parnonas Marinis Beretsos, from Iro Tsimpri of Achaia Development and from the Development of Olympia o Nikolaos Theofilopoulos.

At the end of the meeting, George Pittas stated:

"I owe a big thank you to those who participated in the Feast of Gastronomic Communities but also to those who did not manage to come and sent messages. The family of Gastronomic Communities is growing, day by day, and in difficult times we are building relationships of trust, creation, hope and joy. ”

Kefalonia honored Gastronomic Community in Horeca 2022