Crete Serves its Best at the National Geographic Food Festival in London

Thousands of people from the UK were introduced to Cretan cuisine during the National Geographic Food Festival that took place in London during July 16-17.

Held at the Business Design Centre in London, the festival brought the very best flavors from every corner of the globe and attracted some 6,000 British visitors and journalists.

The Region of Crete was among the Greek destinations hosted at the booth of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) and introduced its cuisine and tourism advantages to potential travelers.

During the two-day event, chefs Giorgos Hatzopoulos and Manolis Roumbakis (of the Sympossio initiative) represented the region through cooking masterclasses and introduced local recipes, presented local products and held a wine tasting event in collaboration with Crete’s wine producers’ network.

During Crete’s cooking events, visitors tasted the island’s renowned graviera cheese, apaki (a local cold cut), paximadi (a kind of rusk) and raki as well as fish with greens (known as horta in Greek) and local snails also known as “kohli”.

According to Lassithi Deputy Governor Yiannis Androulakis, the National Geographic Festival was a successful event that gave the region the opportunity to promote Crete’s many offerings to the British market.

“Through the contacts we made at the festival we achieved our goal and promoted our region as a culinary destination,” he said.

Moreover, by participating in the event, the region’s representatives had the opportunity to connect with the National Geographic’s high-level audience.

“National Geographic’s readers have an annual income of over 100,000 pounds per household in the 55-64 age group. The majority are women interested in food, culture, adventure trips and luxury travel,” the region said in an announcement.

The Greek events at the National Geographic Food Festival were attended by Deputy Tourism Minister Sofia Zacharaki and organized with the support of the GNTO UK-Ireland office, headed by director Eleni Skarveli.