Fancy foods from Greece and Cyprus
Greece and Cyprus featured prominently at this year’s Fancy Food Summer Show, held this summer at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.
The impressive Greek pavilion, organized by HEPO (Hellenic Exports Promotion Organization,) consisted of 47 booths, representing a total of 26 exporting companies. At the same time Greek Mediterranean gastronomy was highlighted through the «Kerasma» initiative, with tasting bars where visitors had the chance to try Greek dishes. Those delicious treats were accompanied by daily live presentations of a well-known chef who cooked in front of the audience using authentic Greek products.
In the framework of the European program «Choose the Original Cheese» that covers dairy products with a special emphasis on feta, additional promotion of the Greek businesses took place with simultaneous video coverage by a special crew from the national Greek television station.
President of HEPO P. Papastavrou with CEO P. Drosos also attended this year’s Fancy Food Summer Show.
Halloumi cheese was Cyprus’ flag carrier again this year, accompanied by an impressive representation of the island’s wineries that continue a tradition going back millennia.
Commandaria, the oldest wine with appellation of origin in the world, is still in production, made in Cyprus by the same method since at least 1,000 B.C.
Halloumi® and Cyprus’ other fine cheeses are still made following traditional methods. They can be found in the gourmet cheese bins of retail Specialty Food Stores, like Gristede’s, Fairways, Zingerman’s, Zabar’s, and other fine stores.
In addition, other specialty food products were represented, such as Honey Spread derived from the combined mixing of rare varietals of natural bee honey and organic herb extracts and Hand-Harvested Natural Flavored Cyprus Sea Salt Flakes. No other salt looks like it or feels like it.
