Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Fresno Greek Fest 2011

Fresno's Greek Fest 2011
Greek Fest 2010 post here.
Website here.
St. George Greek Orthodox Church
Southwest corner of First & Clinton

I have to really highlight this cheese. My parents, Blake, Mr. & Mrs. I, and I all said that the cheese was really good. I must find it! It's listed in the Greek Fest 2011 program as "Haloumi - $4.00: Cypriot 'Grilled' Cheese - a true treat!" Seriously. This and the loukomades are my favorites here now, along with the spanakopita, the greek salad, ad the moussaka. Anyway, "Cypriot" refers to "Something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus," an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean. Haloumi is made from a mixture of goat & sheep, although some can contain cow's milk. It's kinda similar to mozzarella in that it's white and mild. Sooo good.


Fried calamari. Good stuff.



Greek fries ("Potatoes with Feta, Special Herbs & Lemon"),
--> good but nothing too memorable
Souvlaki ("A stick of bbq Chicken or Pork with Lemon"),
--> a bit too burnt for me
Gyro (The program makes it clear that it's pronounced "YEE-ro,"
--> yummy - minus the raw onions, but that's just me
and Dolmades ("vegetarian stuffed grape leaves")
--> good, but their grape leaves are so tough (like last year's). I know it can be softened because I have these yalanchi at Marat's every single time, which are very similar to these dolmades. For pictures of the insides of these dolmades, see last year's post or
click here for a single picture of the inside.


This salad wasn't described in the program, so I'll just call it a fresh Greek salad. I was afraid to try this last year and again this year, and both times I remembered being surprised because it's not as sour as many Mediterranean salads can be. It's perfect...except I am still not a big fan of salty olives. I love the less salty olives, but these guys are just too much. haha That fresh feta (? I'm guessing) is AWESOME though.

FINALLY...the loukomades. I've posted about these beauties here, but I love them so much (especially with hot coffee!) that I have to share them with you again. This time I have behind-the-scenes pictures of how they make them.





I truly didn't take this picture because the guy looks like he's posing, although it is pretty awesome. Thanks to my friend, Cheri, for pointing that out.



Loukomades with two types of coffee drinks (described below):



The cold one on the left ("Coffee frappe") = "A refreshing foam-covered iced coffee drink, made from spray-dried [?] instant NESCAFE coffee"



The hot one on the right (next to Blake's hand) = "Finely ground 4oz Coffee brewed to order." It pretty thick and VERY grainy--especially at the bottom, which not everyone would like, but my dad and I love that grainy texture!!

 

As you can see, this is a pretty big event, and I didn't take pictures of the kiddo area, which might have looked a bit creepy anyway. They have a few booths at which you can buy artwork, tupperware, clothes, jewelry, etc. I bought my cousin a image-changing Cinderella sandwich container, which I almost kept for myself. Who'd have thought you could get that at Greek Fest?

 
    
 

Here's the "TAVERNA," where you can get your alcohol (Greek beers, mixed drinks, shots, Bud Light, Stella, Heineken, Newcastle, Greek cocktails like ouzo) and water:

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