Inspired by a traditional cuisine based on fresh, high-quality ingredients, chefs are creating a new gastronomy perfectly in tune with contemporary lifestyles and concerns.

Greek cuisine is about more than just moussaka, souvlaki, and retsina, contrary to the beliefs held for decades by millions of tourists drawn by the country’s natural beauty. Perception may be as good as reality, but both are changing rapidly where Greek food is concerned.
In recent years, Greek gastronomy has often resembled a culinary battlefield on which Greece’s rich tradition has clashed with fads–a situation Antonis Panayiotopoulos sought to address in 1997, when he founded the Greek Academy of Taste, a non-profit association based in the Cretan town of Ayios Nikolaos.   
 “The ‘flavors’ of Greece are the product of an entire people, with shared interests and a common past,” he says. “Today, we know these flavors are timeless. Breaking bread at the table creates a bond to the past, grounds you in the present, and propels you to a common future with your fellow diners. If we lose our gastronomic culture, we will have lost a large part of our culture.”
Chef Yiannis Baxevanis, an exemplar of contemporary Greek cuisine, shuns the sophisticated techniques he learned while training in the French culinary arts as he pushes the limits of experimentation with native Greek produce and herbs. He says his most valuable lessons, tips, and culinary insights have been gleaned from private kitchens in hundreds of homes he has visited while traveling around Greece.
Lefteris Lazarou, who earned a Michelin star for his restaurant Varoulko, is in the vanguard of Greek chefs putting a contemporary spin on modern Greek cuisine. “Greek cuisine can create miracles if it exploits its treasures,” he says. Lazarou’s culinary creations are ample proof: even the humblest fish from the Aegean is transformed into a gourmet treat in his capable hands.
 The Olympic Games deserve some credit for bringing Greek cuisine into the international spotlight. Kostas Tsingas, the executive chef of the Olympic Village during the Games, drew on his extensive experience to meet the nutritional needs and tastes of athletes from around the world. He sees more than a passing fad in Greek chefs’ turn away from truffles and cream in favor of mint and grape leaves.
“In recent years, Greek cuisine has popped up where you least expect it, “ he says. “The Olympics, by virtue of their sheer magnitude, forced us to rethink ‘our’ foods. Greek cuisine has, indisputably, made huge leaps. It ranks high in pure sensory satisfaction–and that is the ultimate recognition for an ethnic cuisine.”
Milos Restaurant arrived in Athens in early 2004, riding on the wave of the successes of its sister-establishments in Canada and New York. Owner Kostas Spiliadis highlighted the simplicity of traditional Greek cuisine. “If your raw materials are of impeccable quality, the worse you can do is to cover them with sauces and strong flavors. You should aim for absolute simplicity in cooking so you can bring out the aromas and flavors so generously endowed by nature,” Spiliadis says.
But Greek restaurants and chefs are doing more than making inroads into the international culinary landscape. Greek food has emerged as a powerful weapon in Greece’s tourism arsenal.
“The Mediterranean diet is an important vehicle in this effort, and we intend to establish Greek gastronomy as its basic archetype,” says Panayiotis Drossos, managing director of Greece’s Exports Promotion Organization (ope). To prove his point, ope has launched the “Kerasma” (literally, treat) program and will host an international conference on Greek foods and beverages in Athens in March.
“We will promote the unique characteristics of Greek foods and beverages by highlighting products such as olive oil, wine, olives, cheese, fruits, honey, ouzo, mastiha, and saffron, ” he adds.
 It’s too early to predict whether Greek cuisine’s coattails are long enough to carry such heavy loads as tourism and exports. But Greek officials–who until recently seemed oblivious to the existence of Greek gastronomy–are learning, and so are consumers, both in Greece and abroad.

Issue: Jan/Feb 2006