Ο George Pittas is the man behind it greekgastronomyguide.gr. On the occasion of the first birthday of the site AthensVoice talked to him.

In a few words, describe your work to us.
Author of 6 books, little hotelier, inspirer of Greek Breakfast, creator of Greek Gastronomy Guide. And all this alibi, to travel to Greece!

Does it fit in a guide, even if this is the Greek Gastronomy Guide, the taste of the homeland?
Bitter sour, sweet, comforting flavors that reveal the aspects of a Greece that must fit in the heart of each of us. GGG is the mediator.

What exactly is GGG?
GGG is a website that aims to inform its visitors about all the values ​​and goods of our gastronomic culture. Places and landscapes, products and people, history and tradition, events and rituals, markets and entrepreneurship, flavors, recipes and local cuisines, unfold before us in such a way that each place is presented as a gastronomic destination.

You travel from north to south and from west to east all over Greece. How well did you manage to see and record this first year of GGG operation?
I saw beautiful landscapes (vineyards, olive groves, orchards) worked with sweat, selected products, producers struggling in the Greek chaos, tavern owners honoring Greek cuisine, young conscious chefs trying to take off Greek gastronomy.

What do you discover while wandering?
The soul and the demons of every place.

Two examples…
Oh, yeah lemon houses of Folegandros. Towers that protect the lemons from the winds. A fortress to ensure the sour of the year. And the pigeons of Tinos. Buildings that host pigeons for the meat of the year. Works of art, because the Tinians liked to live in beauty. Two examples to reconsider our relationship with ourselves and nature.

After all, are there many Greeks?
The criteria are many to approach. For me, two Greeces are at war: the Greece of the least effort, the greed, the sloppiness, the others are to blame for everything, and the Greece of creation, trust, responsibility and an open heart.

And what do you think is the most promising of all that you have seen?
Without a second thought, the emergence of collectives, gastronomic communities create a promising dynamic. Examples such as Tinos, Syros, Kalamata, Drama show the way.

What are the Greek products that are ready to travel to an international career?
From the standard oil, olives, wine, honey, yogurt and feta. Do not forget that in fish we are European champions, we are also high in kiwis, peaches and other fruits and vegetables.

Today we live in a "spring" of Greek products. There are many who have turned or even returned to the primary sector. Given the small production, how can we talk about exports?
But large productions are not necessary. Small local productions from every region of the country in small international specialized gourmet networks. The disadvantage of fragmentation of production to become an advantage. However, the complex Landscape, Agricultural Production, Processing, Gastronomy, Tourism, Exports can be a strong pillar of the Greek Economy.

If you were a Minister of Gastronomy for one day, what would be the first thing you would change?
The attitude of the public towards Greek Gastronomy. Knowledge and pride for our gastronomic wealth. Everything else follows.

What do you miss about the taste of your childhood?
The longing and lack of guilt with which I ate my favorite foods.

In the end, in the taste of the homeland, is it good to stick to tradition or better to walk on more modern paths?
We must not look at things in the opposite direction. Greek gastronomy has room for all its products and goodies cooked in all ways. Local traditional cuisines, urban cuisine, creative, fleeting, all have their place as long as they are characterized by taste and identity.

What would you advise the current Greek producer?
If in the past isolation and keeping a secret was the recipe for a producer's success, today opening up to knowledge, exchanging views with partners and competitors, mutual information and synergies is the only way to gain a foothold in the markets.

What do you think are the most basic characteristics of Greek gastronomy?
What is the noticeable difference between Greek and other cuisines? The selected raw materials, the measure, all our gastronomic stock and of course the unique and casual way in which the Greek shares his food.

What more optimistic can you think at the moment about the future of Greek gastronomy?
First let us Greeks love it and then let it become an international trend!

One and only Greek taste that you would put in the… "World Museum of Taste"?
A barley nut with grated tomato, three drops of protolado, afrina salt, xinomyzithra and a pinch of oregano. The quintessence of the Greek diet. Mediterranean!

How do your friends describe you? We expect you to be honest (laughs…)
Persistent, patient, visionary, kind-hearted and reverent, but also obsessive, stubborn, one-sided, rude that I have a woman who loves me and tolerates me for so many years…

Where and how do you imagine GGG in 10 years?
To be a perfect guide who has not left all the gastronomic beauty of the country in the lurch… and I know to have the strength to continue to travel and record!

(from the interview of George Pittas to Nenela Gorgele AthensVoice)