I moved into an all Greek house, but I’m not Greek. There are six of us living in one small college house, sharing one small college kitchen. When I made the decision to move in, I was excited to see what kind of food I would be introduced to, having dabbled in some feta and gyros from chain restaurants around home. What I was not prepared for, was the complete immersion of Greek culture at the Columbus Greek Festival.
In early September, the Annunciation Cathedral in Columbus, Ohio hosted their yearly Greek festival. For my roommates and I, the festival was not just a day of food vendors and dancing, but an all weekend long holiday. I didn’t know what I would be getting myself into in terms of music, food, and dancing, and no matter what my roommates told me, I was not prepared for how much I would love going.
As someone who has never been around much Greek culture, I was unprepared for the welcoming sense of community. Hundreds of people showed up to celebrate the culture and even more volunteered to help make everything run smoothly. My friends spent the evening serving up baklava sundaes or pouring drinks at the bar to support the church and the festival. Even though I spent hours in a circle dancing the Ikariotiko and having conversations with new people, what really sold me on Greek fest, was the food.
There were multiple food sections at this Greek fest. There were grab-and-go style gyros, souvlaki, and sundaes; gourmet food lines of chicken and lemon potatoes, keftedes, and spanokopita; pastries vendors with karidopita, macaroons, and baklava; and a bar with signature Greek wine, Mythos beer, Mataxa sours, and Ouzo shots. Now, if you’re anything like me, a lot of those names are unfamiliar, so I am going to take you through everything I ate at my local Greek festival.
Gyro
Starting with a meal, I had to try an authentic gyro. All of my other experiences with gyros have been from chain pizza places or my family’s own Americanized version. Their pita had the same ingredients I was used to, but packed with ten times more flavor. A gyro is seasoned lamb meat wrapped in a pita and topped with tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, and onions. Tzatziki sauce is yogurt based with cucumber, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and fresh dill. I was most excited by the seasoning on the meat and how it was refreshed by the tzatziki sauce. If you’re someone who likes a lot of meaty flavor, the gyro is definitely for you.
Baklava
Sticking with the trend of staple dishes, I had to get my hands on some baklava dessert. This is a pastry with layers of flaky phyllo dough, butter, walnuts, and a sweet syrup. The dough is made with only a few ingredients and meant to be very thin, crispy, and flaky. At first, I wasn’t sure if I was actually going to like this dessert because of the walnuts, but I was very surprised by the flavor profile. It was both sweet and savory at the same time because of the syrup and nut combination. For anyone that wanted an elevated experience, they offered baklava sundaes, which was vanilla ice cream topped with a slice of baklava and chocolate syrup.
Galaktoboureko
As my final dessert of the weekend, I tried the galaktoboureko, a baked farina custard between multiple phyllo dough layers and a syrup topping. The whole pastry was very flaky and the custard gave a consistency I was not expecting. Farina custard is a sweet dessert made by cooking together wheat farina, which is similar to Cream of Wheat, milk, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. The entire dessert tasted like a creamy vanilla pudding with a flaky topping.
Loukoumades
For another dessert, one of my roommates brought me loukoumades. These were by far my favorite food of the night and something I will be going back to next year. Loukoumades are little honey dipped doughnut puffs with cinnamon and nut toppings. They are not overly sweet, which is what I liked so much about them. Honey and cinnamon together will always be a winning combination for me.
Kalamari
After enjoying all of my desserts, I wanted a salty snack so I grabbed a plate of kalamari. This is lightly fried squid served with a lemon wedge- a popular dish in many restaurants. Of course, I was not disappointed by this appetizer and almost went back for more. The squid was just crispy enough and the squirt of lemon over top added a sourness that I really enjoyed.
Other dishes worth mentioning that I got to sample or steal a bite from my friends were souvlaki and horiatiki salad. Souvlaki are marinated meat sticks- usually pork or chicken- that are marinated and served with pita bread. Just like the gyro meat- the flavor of the souvlaki was unmatched. For something a little more simple, the village (horiatiki) salad with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, feta, olives, and Greek dressing was light and delicious.
Even though your local Greek festival may feel like foreign territory, the community, dances, and tasty food all make it worth it. I walked into the festival only knowing what a gyro was and walked out with an unexpected new favorite dessert. Without my roommates, I never would have been a part of this food-awakening experience, so if you ever see advertisements for your own local Greek fest, stop in and get yourself some loukoumades.