Good Things Happenin’

Chalk this week and being pretty damn good: I attended a reception at the residence of the Consul General of Greece here in Toronto to meet and have a conversation with the new Greek Ambassador to Canada, His Excellency Eleftherios Angellopoulos. I was delighted to be invited among other Greeks in the city who conduct trade with Greece. I was invited to attend this reception as this blog is recognized for inspiring Greeks and non-Greeks to eat more Greek dishes, use more Greek ingredients and I’ve even received notes from readers who were inspired to visit Greece or a particular part (or place) in Greece that I’ve written about here.

It’s nice to know the Greek state recognizes one’s passion and acknowledges this blog is doing good things. I love Greece, I believe Greek cuisine to be the best and there’s more to be discovered! Since this post is all about tooting my own horn (just a bit), I’m also delighted to share a brief interview that appeared in one of Greece’s daily newspapers, Ta Nea ( The News). Included in yesterday’s Ta Nea is the magazine called Tachydromos (Postman) and the interview that Greek cookbook author, chef, internationally known food writer & columnist, restauranteur and culinary tour organizer.

I’ve known Diane Kochilas from her many cookbooks (included in my collection) and even tasted her food at the restaurant she co-owns in New York City called Pylos. Last year I connected with Diane through social media and began to have a pleasant rapport that developed into a friendship tied by our love of Greece and ultimately it’s food. This past Autumn, Diane found herself having to visit Toronto and asked if we could meet during her brief stay to chat and get acquainted.

I accepted (DUH) and we had a wonderful chat over breakfast in a downtown diner and although the breakfast lasted over 2 hours – it felt like five minutes. It’s one of those feel-good chats that ‘foodies’ have when they just geek-out and talk about “all things food”. In our conversation, Diane offered to give me an interview that would appear in her Tachydromos column. The interview that was printed was edited-down and it is in Greek. Those of you who can read Greek may read the actual piece here but I also wanted to share this interview with the many friends of this blog who do not know Greek (yet).

My Interview in Taxydromos (Ta Nea) with Diane Kochilas

Diane introduces me as someone she met through Facebook and shares the fact that my site receives between 50,000-60,oooo hits a month.

DIANE: What are the best & worst moments in the course of blogging?

PETER:  The best is when someone sends me a message that he liked my recipe or better yet brought them memories of their childhood.  The worst is when you find that photos and recipes have been used by others without permission or used without giving due credit.

DIANE: What does a  blogger have that a journalist may not possess and vice-versa?

PETER:  A blogger doing what it does out of love – not paid. I started from scratch and slowly gained a fan-base that waits for the next recipe, the next trip, the next tavern.  Like in any category of people or caraeers, there are good and bad bloggers, like good and bad journalists.
DIANE:  What is your contribution to the realm of  ‘Greek cuisine’?

PETER: I think I’ve shown the non-Greek how diverse, rich and delicious Greek cuisine is. It’s very accessible and most of the recipes are straightforward, relying more on quality ingredients and the application of some traditional Greek cooking methods.

DIANE: Which of your posts were most popular?
PETER: There’s a blog post where I made homemade phyllo.
DIANE: You have a daytime job, what do you do for a living and do you have any future plans to make the blog into more of a career?

PETER:I work by day as a financial advisor and much of my spare time is spent (with delight) on my blog. I wouldn’t mind publishing a book or a show that showcases the food of Greece and the Greece that I know.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at  https://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

© 2007-2010 Peter Minakis