“The South Aegean is now included among European regions with a long tradition in gastronomy. This distinction for our region is our outward-looking and optimistic answer to a difficult period for our country. The islands of the southern Aegean, at the forefront of Greek tourism, can serve and support the title of European Region of Gastronomy in the best possible way, “he continued, referring specifically to the people on the islands who deal with daily food production. It is these people, he said, who remained loyal to the traditional products and practices that make our country unique “when others looked to the West.” 

As mentioned above, the challenge this specific program addresses is that of thematic tourism. This was also reiterated by the International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism (IGCAT), which elevated this scheme by the people of the South Aegean, called “Taste the Seasons”, by describing it as extremely promising. 

The promising potential is based on a number of factors: the establishment of the southern Aegean as a gastronomic destination, the numerous celebrations and festivals that take place even on the smallest islands, the extension of the tourism season, the promotion of unique local products, and the systematic training of local social groups based on the principles of quality and sustainable culinary development. 

As Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura mentioned in her address, as crucial competitiveness and entrepreneurship are for this endeavor, the concept of sustainability is, perhaps, in this case even more important. After all, the core of the Aegean gastronomic identity is to keep it simple, natural and small in quantity. If mass-produced without appropriate qualitative measures, it could completely lose its value. 

As aptly summed up in Hadjimarkos’s speech, “a dish that leaves the kitchen to be served includes, among others, culture, history, human effort and pride.”

*Originally pubished in Kathimerini newspaper