Greek Food Festival
Serving Friends, Family and Community

A pan of baklava, a favorite Greek pastry, contains more than forty layers of buttered filo dough, with nuts and spices, drizzled in honey syrup. Though this year's Greek Food Festival is still weeks away, the parishioners of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church have been working for months, preparing the pastries from decades-old family recipes scribbled in Greek and Arabic. Baklava being the hottest seller of the festival, they will prepare 260 pans of "original" baklava and 85 pans of chocolate baklava. Do the math; that's 13,800 layers of filo dough.

Take a walk through the kitchen at the Greek Orthodox Church these days and you will find a handful of faithful and hardworking parishioners giving their time to prepare the pastries months in advance of the festival. A long, wide worktable covered in powdered sugar awaits the Greek wedding cookies that will come straight from the oven and be dropped and coated in the sugar. An oversized stand mixer is whipping pounds of butter into cream, and an apron-clad woman is cracking dozens of eggs into a large mixing bowl.

Though the mouth-watering pastries can be made in advance, event co-chairs Tina Alley and Raouf Kassissieh will have to wait for their favorite food item; pastitsio is a type of Greek lasagna made with special noodles, ground beef and topped with cheesy egg custard. "You can't get a lot of these foods this good anywhere in the state," Raouf says. "I don't know where you can get pastitsio in the whole state of Arkansas. These recipes have been handed down generation to generation."

"They're written in Greek, written in Arabic," co-chair Tina pipes in. "We're not able to read them, and we're parishioners!"

"There's a lot of love that goes into this food," Raouf says. "These ladies don't have to be up here. They're up here from January till May baking pastries every day. We always say the easiest three days of the festival are the three days of the festival. It's all the work that goes into it beforehand that really makes it what it is."

This year, those three days - May 21-23 to be exact - will consist of much, much more than delicious homemade foods. The outdoor festival takes place at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church and offers live entertainment including Greek, Middle Eastern, Irish and Indian dancers, fashion shows highlighting attire from different countries, and an old world market that features handmade craft items, jewelry, specialty food items and paintings. Children can enjoy face painting, a rock wall and a tent with activities sponsored by the Centers for Youth and Families. Admission and parking are free and the food is reasonably priced.

While the Greek Food Festival's main objective is to promote awareness of different ethnicities in Little Rock, the two fundraising events associated with the festival have given back nearly $1 million to local Arkansas charities. Golfers can give back by participating in the 9th annual Greekfest Easter Seals Golf Classic on Monday, May 17. And anyone may enjoy gourmet Mediterranean cuisine with luxurious wine pairings, live and silent auctions, and festive entertainment at Taste of the Mediterranean, a dinner to benefit Easter Seals on Friday, May 14.

As for this year's Greek Food Festival, Tina and Raouf are expecting larger crowds than ever. They recommend coming early, before the food sells out. And for folks on the go, there's always the drive-thru. "You would be amazed how many people want to avoid the crowds but get their food," Raouf says. "You order online, come pick it up, or you can just drive up, tell them you want a K-bob or a gyro, and go home! We take all major credit cards at every booth."

Regardless of whether you plan to drive through or stay and enjoy the festival, this is one event that shouldn't be missed. "The fact that we're able to give back and we're all working together for a common cause makes this festival important to the Little Rock community," Tina says. "Our church ministry works alongside other deserving charities and together we raise money, we raise awareness, we give back to the organizations that benefit Arkansas, our kids, and our families."

For more information on the Greek Food Festival, Greekfest Golf Classic or Taste of the Mediterranean, visit www.greekfoodfest.com. Plus, be sure and check out the Inviting Arkansas blog to see photos of our behind the scenes tour of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church.