Saints Constantine and Helen was holding their annual Greek festival (this year's theme: It's chic to be Greek). There was a small bazaar inside where vendors were selling icons, Greek groceries, and jewelry. Tours of the nave were also available, but clearly the main attraction was the Greek food being served in the courtyard behind the church.
The food was served cafeteria style along an outside wall of the church. There was ample seating under a large canopy and, something that as a protestant I'm not accustomed to seeing at a church event, there was a bar serving beer, wine, and ouzo (I love ouzo).
Going through the cafeteria line, I selected roasted lamb, manestra (orzo in tomato sauce), and a Greek salad. The lamb was served wrapped in tin foil in which it seemed to have been cooked. It was just as succulent as I had hoped it would be. The manestra was was fine, but nothing special. I was also able to sample from my friends' plates sousoukakia (meatballs in tomato sauce), and fasolakia (string beans tomato sauce). Both were excellent. I regretted not ordering those instead of the lamb. Later I had a glass of ouzo. I added a splash of water to it and watched it turn milky white.
Later still, because I like to eat and we were making an afternoon of it, I tried two pastries, a galactobouriko, a custard between two layers of phyllo dough, and a baklava. Both were very good.
After lunch a member of the Saints Constantine and Helen congregation showed us the nave and let us peek into the sanctuary behind the iconostasis.
This seems to be festival season in Washington. The previous weekend I went to the Adams Morgan festival. I had some good food from the vendors there.
This Saturday, September 24, Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church on Alaska Avenue is having a bazaar. I may stop by to see if there is any good food.
Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral on Massachusetts and 36th streets is having its annual Fall festival from from Friday, September 30 through to Sunday, October 2. I may go to that on Friday.
The Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist on 17th and Shepherd streets is having a bazaar on October 1 and 2. I won't be able to go to that one as I will be out of town visiting The Boy.
1 comment:
Post script - Our Lady of Lebanon's bazaar was a small affair and I heard a lot of arabic being spoken, from which I inferred that there were not many people from outside the congregation stopping by. The food was good, in particular the kibbe, an oblong-shaped fried ball of seasoned ground meat and pine nuts. I also enjoyed a meat pie, a small pastry stuffed with the same seasoned ground meat and pine nuts. I didn't care so much for the spinach pie, another small pastry but this time stuffed with dark green, bitter, chopped spinach. The baba ghanoush, hummous, and yoghurt were all good. For desser, I had a small doughnut soaked in honey and I tried a sip of a very small and very strong cup of coffee. I find it amusing that such strong coffee is called Lebanese coffee by the Lebanese, Greek coffee by Greeks, Turkish coffee by Turks, etc. by each of the nationalities in Southeastern Europe and the Middle East.
I was fascinated by the hookah pipes being smoked by the young men at the bazaar. Despite the fact that we were in a small room, I didn't smell tobacco smoke. There was a story in the Washington Post's Sunday Source this morning about cafe's in the area that offer hookah pipes. I'm not a smoker, but I'd like to try one sometime soon.
Post a Comment