Cyclades: The Star Of This Year’s “Gastronomy Days” Festival In Athens

Visitors at the recent “Gastronomy Days” festival that took place in the Greek capital got a good “taste” of the delicious local products, tasty dishes and interesting recipes of the islands of the Cyclades group.

For three days, the premises of the Benaki Museum introduced 300 Cycladic products – from islands including Amorgos, Andros, Milos, Naxos, Paros, Tinos, Santorini and Syros – from 19 participating producers who highlighted the benefits of the Cycladic land, while 30 parallel events and cooking demonstrations focused on the region and Aegean Cuisine.

Cyclades was the honored culinary destination at this year’s “Gastronomy Days” festival, which attracted prominent representatives of the industry and the region of the Cyclades: reknowned culinary experts, journalists, wine makers, chefs, food bloggers, restaurant owners, researchers, academics and filmmakers. All together they presented the actions and projects that are currently in the works aimed to highlight the richness of the Cycladic land and civilization.

The experts made special reference to the Cyclades through 19 interactive parallel events that focused on the region, the flavors, the initiatives, the innovations, the traditions, the culture, the wines, the cheeses, the herbs and honey products.

A special presentation was held to introduce the “Aegean Cuisine” quality label, an initiative launched by the Chamber of Cyclades to promote the wine and gastronomy of the Aegean. The quality label is given to restaurants and hotel restaurants that follow certain standards set by the certification and inspection body TÜV HELLAS (TÜV NORD).

The “Gastronomy Days” festival included over 70 themed events in four areas of the museum in three days with the participation of 30 producers of Greece’s top products, 180 speakers and celebrities, 24 chefs that took part in 16 panel discussions, six master classes, 10 workshops and three themed evenings.

This year’s festival was visited by some 7,000 people.