New Jersey’s oldest Greek food festival shares commonalities with the world

If you’ve never been to Greece, you could have gotten close this past weekend at NJ Greekfest at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Westfield. The event was a celebration of Greek food, culture, history, music, dancing, and hospitality.

“Our food festival has been around since the founding of our church in 1966,” said George Koutsaftes, president of the Parish Council at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. “We absolutely love sharing our food and culture with the people of New Jersey. We have a lot of rich traditions in my country, and this event allows us to tell about those traditions through our delicious food.”

Anthe Angelieta, chair of NJ Greekfest at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, agrees.

“There is so much in common among all people from different cultures,” Angelieta said. “This food festival shows how people from all over the world come together and celebrate what they share. We are very proud that our church has been an inviting part of this community for over 50 years.”

Considered the “Taste of Greece in your backyard,” the three-day festival offered Greek foods such as spanakopita (Spinach and cheese in filo dough), tyropita (Cheese puffs in filo dough), souvlaki (Chicken or pork skewer), Greek fries with feta and oregano, and a meze platter (meatballs, dolma, feta, tzatziki, pita and kalamata olives).

On the sweet side, and boy do they recognize the sweet side in Greece, the menu included the familiar baklava in addition to galaktoboureko (Custard in crispy filo dough), koulourakia (Easter cookies), and finikia (honey cookies).

It was time to try out a few things!

I started with the meze platter (Appetizers), and it was enough food to be the entire meal. The dolma (Stuffed grape leaves) was flavorful with that familiar soft texture, and those cheese pastries were quite tasty with a melted feta cheese inside and crispy filo on the outside. The meatballs were tender and loaded with spices, and the feta with olives and tzatziki sauce were plain decadent.

I also tried the chicken souvlaki and found it flavorful but hard to eat with the tzatziki sauce spilling out of the pita pocket. One thing that stood out was the galaktoboureko. (Try saying that one three times in a hurry!) I could have eaten several of these delicious filo gems. The custard was rich and creamy, and it contrasted with the crispy filo in texture.

As if I had any room left, I had to try the loukoumades (Fried dough dipped in syrup and topped with powdered sugar and cinnamon). I asked for a couple, and I was told I could get either nine or 15.

“Who can eat nine of these things?” I proclaimed to the four ladies selling those balls of sweet heaven.

To which they replied, “You can do it., We have faith in you!”

Well, I got nine loukoumades but only ate a couple. They were decadent, with flavors of cinnamon and rosewater in the syrup.

Speaking of cultural commonalities, we have a similar dessert in Syria called loukmatkady. In Arabic, that means The judge’s small bite.

Guess what the meaning of loukoumades is in Greek? Small bite.

It’s lovely how different cultures intertwine and dance together, each according to their own drumbeat, whether the judge is present or not.