St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral Food Festival!

Over this past weekend, St. Georges Greek Orthodox Cathedral held their annual four-day food and Greek cultural festival! They are located on 256 South 8th Street in Philadelphia. Spanakopita, moussaka, gyro’s, souvlaki, ouzo, wine, and loukoumades were available and were enjoyed by all.

Now, for those of you that may not be aware, I am half Greek. I love Greek food, and enjoy making lamb, octopus, and other Greek staples. Orthodox Easter came extremely late this year, but I still made roasted leg of lamb, lemon potatoes, tzatziki sauce, and Greek salad with my own lemon dressing. The lamb was marinated for a little over a week before being roasted in the oven low and slow. It was by far, the best one that we’ve done in the 4 years that I’ve hosted Orthodox Easter at home. Since there were no leftovers for us the next day, that was proof enough.

But I digress. As I mentioned, St. Georges Cathedral once again hosted their festival from May 30th through June 2nd. Angelo Tsarouchas was the featured Comedian Saturday night, and several area Greek Churches in the Delaware Valley came to perform traditional Greek Dances. There was also live music, as well as crafts, jewelry, and authentic Greek foods for sale.

The food was amazing! We sampled dolmades, which are stuffed grape leaves with rice, herbs, and ground meat. We also tried moussaka, which is kind of like lasagna, but with potatoes, and a thick béchamel sauce, in addition to the ground meat, and melted cheese. We also got to try pastitsio, which is a Greek baked pasta dish, which also has béchamel sauce, ground meat, and melted cheese.

One thing that I may have gotten slightly obsessed with was their louzo cocktail. The ingredients were ouzo, lemonade, honey, and muddled mint. It was light, refreshing, and Angela created the drink herself. She is a part of the board at St. Georges, and a wonderful bartender as well.

St. Georges has the distinction of being the oldest Greek Orthodox church in Philadelphia. I was myself baptized there thirty-seven years ago as were my siblings. It had been a while since I had personally attended the festival, but I am so glad I did. It was a lot of fun, and everyone we met were extremely friendly. I highly recommend you put this on your calendar to attend next year.

For any additional information on St. Georges Cathedral, whether it is to join the church, participate in any events, or to visit when in the city, just contact them. Click on this link for more information. Opa!!!