The weekend before Jenn and I boarded a plane for our culinary adventures in Vancouver, Abby, one of Jenn's former housemates and a friend of foodiePrints, joined us for our first ever outing to the Ottawa GreekFest. It was a spectacular event.

We spent a glorious afternoon on the grounds of the Hellenic Community Centre, enjoying the music, the dancers, and, of course, the Greek food.

I am of the opinion that there is no better way to immerse yourself in a foreign culture than partaking in its traditional cuisine. Besides, I love food and I have always wanted to taste foods from one of the oldest Mediterranean cultures.

Firstly, here is a picture of one of the entertainers:

Guitarist and Singer
I dun think he was too amused at my taking his picture...

Here are pictures of the food tend and main food counter:

Food Tent

Extremely Popular Food Counter
It was crowded.

Genuine Greek Gyros (pronounced "Year-Oh") Baby! :

Lamb Gyros Columns

Gyros Platter (cost: $10)

Gyros Pita (cost: $5.75)
Arguably, the origins of the modern kebab (shawarma and donair kebab) can be linked to the Greek Gyros. Unlike the Turkish or Middle Eastern variants, however, gyros meat consists shaved slices of a spiced and processed lamb loaf that is shaped into a column and rotisseried. Shawarma and donair meat usually consist of shaved slices of whole meat that is layered into a column and rotisseried. What I found amazing were the mechanical shavers servers used to shave slices of meat for gyros.

This being my first exposure to gyros, I ordered a platter. It consisted of a mountain of thinly sliced gyros meat, a small salad with feta, some olives, and a nice container of garlic sauce. The meat was gently spiced, savory, moist and fine textured. It was amazing.

My better half opted for a chicken souvlaki platter:

Chicken Souvlaki Platter (cost: $8.00)
Souvlaki is a popular Greek fast food consisting of piece of seasoned meat that is grilled on a skewer and typically served in a pita sandwich.

Greek Desserts from the Dessert Table!:

Dessert Table

Walnut Baklava

Apple Pie

Loukoumades follow:

Here is something that was completely new to me, but was one of Abby's favourite Greek desserts: Loukoumades (aka: Greek Honey Puffs).

Lady making a batch of loukoumades

Two Plates of Loukoumades

Loukoumades Cross Section
Loukoumades are deep fried pieces of yeast leavened dough that are glazed in a honey syrup and sprinkled with fine brown sugar. The batch we tried were very fresh. They happened to be the desert table's first batch of the day. We were warned that they disappear quickly. Given their light texture, crisp crust, and sweet glaze, I am not surprised.

Stuffed with Greek foods, we hadn't the appetite to sample any of the spit roasted lamb, one of the main attractions of the Greek Festival. Nevertheless, the heady scent of roasting meat lured us towards the lamb roasting tent.

Roast Lamb Tent

Skilled Master Tending to the Roasting Lamb

Whole Lamb, being roasted


BTW, those bells that are being rung around the spit roasting lamb are for good luck. At least, that's what the gentleman roasting the meat told me. Onlookers were all encouraged to ring the bells.

I'll definitely be heading back to GreekFest in 2008 to try the lamb...

BTW, here is a copy of the menu:

Menu

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