Greek cuisine celebrated at food festival

The Greek Embassy opened a weeklong food festival, entitled "Food of the Sun," here this week to celebrate the country's cuisine.
Greek Ambassador Ioannis Christofilis opened the event with Riyadh Marriott Hotel General Manager Muin Serhan, and several other ambassadors and diplomats.
Christofilis said that relations with Saudi Arabia were "more than perfect." However, Greece was trying to take it to a new level by holding this event, he said.
The envoy, who took up his post on July 1 last year, said that Greek gastronomy was as old as the country itself.
He said ancient Greeks used meals to indulge in the pleasures of eating, to discuss philosophy, seek spiritual connections with their companions and consider its contribution to an individual's physical and mental well-being.
"These gastronomy-related gatherings usually ended with an exchange of recipes," he said.
He said Archestratus is regarded as the father of gastronomy. "Poet, philosopher and gastronome, Archestratus was born in Syracuse, in the fourth century BC, and introduced the philosophy of culinary art, which left its mark down to the 21st century," the Greek envoy said.
He said Archestratus' rules were very simple, which is a characteristic of Greek cuisine. These include the harmonious use of pure natural products and heavy sauces.
Christofilis said there are differences in dishes based on culture. For instance, dishes from Athens, known for its democracy, was different from those in war-like Sparta, which had a staple meal called "Melas Zomos" which means "black broth."
However, Greek cuisine has remained relatively the same over the centuries, even during the Hellenistic era when Alexander the Great brought rice from India, and when the Romans and Byzantines were in ascendancy. Even the Ottoman Empire had kept Greek cuisine intact, although the recipes were renamed, he said.