Old World’s classic recipes at Orthodox Church Food Festival
10/12/2009
In the small kitchen of St. George the Great Martyr Orthodox Church, three women spend the morning preparing the pasta and spiced meat for several batches of pastitsio, a Greek dish that will be one of dozens of international foods served up at the church’s annual International Festival and Open House in Pharr.
“Every part of the world has its own sabor, its own flavor, and depending on what things were grown there, part of the agriculture, part of the local customs, and part of the liturgical customs, too,” said Elizabeth Perdono, who has helped organize the festival for the past eight years. “It all reflects the ingredients that were on hand, the comfort foods for those cultures, the foods that say, ‘this is home’ to them, and it’s wonderful to be able to share that.”
In addition to pastitsio, Ukranian borscht, Lebanese lentil stew, Russian pierogis and Greek stuffed grape leaves will be for sale at the Dec. 12 event. The menu is as diverse as the parishioners who help prepare it. Church members include first- and second-generation Americans from Greece, Romania, Bulgarian, Serbian, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Lebanon and Mexico.
“We have people from pretty much every continent and ethnic background where Orthodoxy is still commonly practiced along with the American converts, so the international festival is a perfect way to share the foods and cultures of the diversity of cultures brought together by one church,” Perdono said.
Though a wide range of meat dishes, soups, breads, teas and desserts are offered, the baklava has consistently been the star of the food tables. This Mediterranean dessert is made with 12 layers of paper-thin, buttered phyllo dough with a layer of sweetened nuts in the middle.
“It’s our gold,” Perdono said of the dessert, the preparation of which is usually led by Greek and Lebanese members of the church who grew up making it.
When about 12 volunteers gathered at the church to make this year’s batch of baklava, they left nine hours later with 35 trays of the pastry cooked.
“Because some of it is already sold, we’re going to have to get together again and do some more with the ingredients we have left,” Perdono said.
St. George’s baklava has earned a reputation among church members and visitors as being a must-have at the festival, and Perdono would easily put it up against versions from large chains like Starbucks.
“I have a friend who calls every year and asks, ‘When is the festival this year so I can get some baklava?’” said Susana Canizal, who is in her third year with the church.
A fairly new addition to the menu is the soup selection, originally prepared for the volunteers who refrained from eating meat while fasting.
“People who would come to the festival smelled these delicious soups and they said, ‘Can we buy some? That smells so good,’” Perdono recalled. “So we have mainly vegetarian soups, but we do have some soups with meat in it for people who prefer that. Especially on years when it’s cool, the soups are really nice.”
For Canizal, choosing a favorite among the offerings is not easy task.
“We have a Ukrainian lady who makes a mean borscht,” she said before contemplating the stuffed grape leaves and assortment of Middle Eastern cookies. “We have cooks from around the world, so I really couldn’t say what I like best.”
In addition to food, the festival will also have children’s activities, cookie decorating, dances, a choir singing Eastern European carols, readings of international Christmas stories and church tours. Funds raised will go toward expanding the church’s hall, which serves as kitchen area, dining area, food pantry storage, and book and gift shop.
“The hall that we have right now is very teeny, so we’re hoping to have a new extension where we’ll have new church school rooms for the children, a bigger space to have festivals, to have events, to have receptions, community clubs, meetings, and also a bigger kitchen so we can cook more,” Perdono said. “It’ll just be a real blessing for everything that we do.”
