The 14th Annual Greek Festival hosted by Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church is planned for Oct. 7 through 9 at Francis Field, 29 W. Castillo Drive, next to the downtown Visitor’s Center Parking Garage.


Enjoy nonstop entertainment with live Greek music and dancing by costumed Greek dance troupes. The Greek Fest Family Run held in conjunction with the First Coast YMCA (www.firstcoastymca.org) will begin at 9 a.m. Oct. 8. Admission is $2 and free for children 12 and younger.

For information about all the weekend events, call 829-0504 or go to www.stauggreekfest.com.

Greek cuisine

Greek cooking offers an incredibly rich and diverse array of foods and beverages that are the culmination of thousands of years of living, cooking and eating. While each Greek meal is fresh and inviting, it is also a trip back through Greece’s history.

Did you know...

n The first cookbook was written by the Greek food gourmet Archestratos in 330 B.C., which suggests that cooking has always been of importance and significance in Greek society.

n Modern chefs owe the tradition of their tall, white chef’s hats to the Greeks. In the middle ages, monastic brothers who prepared food in the Greek Orthodox monasteries wore tall white hats to distinguish them in their work from the regular monks, who wore large black hats.

n To a large degree, vegetarian cuisine can be traced to foods and recipes that originated in Greece.

n Many ingredients used in modern Greek cooking were unknown in the country until the middle ages. These include the potato, tomato, spinach, bananas and others that came to Greece after the discovery of the Americas — their origin.


Preparing and enjoying Greek food anywhere in the world is an adventurous journey into the cradle of civilization and the land of the Gods of Olympus.

Discovering, tasting, experiencing Greek food: truly one of the joys we can all share.