Greek food festival celebrates heritage, community

Greek food festival celebrates heritage

By Emily Petsko
Staff Writer
Epetsko@Observer-Reporter.Com 
published jun 3, 2013 at 11:31 pm (updated jun 4, 2013 at 11:43 pm)

   

Joanna Kapelonis, 70, chats with everyone as she sits outside the entrance to the cafeteria greeting guests as they arrive for lunch Monday. The Greek food festival at All Saints Greek Orthodox Church on West McMurray Road near Canonsburg runs through Saturday.
Jim McNutt / Observer-Reporter
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CANONSBURG – Maureen “Mumu” Kusturiss got involved with the Greek food festival at All Saints Greek Orthodox Church when she lent her new food processor to a half-dozen red-eyed women who had been chopping onions by hand.

After a few years, that kind gesture turned into a tradition when the parishioners kept requesting “her machine.” Nearly four decades later – and after the painstaking process of recording recipes for family dishes that had been prepared by heart – she is the head chef of the kitchen.

“I never intended to be heading up this festival, but that’s kind of how it happened,” Kusturiss, 60, of Eighty Four, said humbly.

Kusturiss is one of many parishioners who volunteer time at the weeklong Greek food festival to celebrate heritage, faith and community. The festival, a Canonsburg tradition since 1974, will be held at the church every day through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

While the festival features live entertainment, the main draw is the food – and heaps of it.

The buffet table has a seemingly never-ending supply of stuffed grape leaves (or dolmades, the Greek term), rice pilaf with meat sauce and sweet, nutty baklava. There also was pastitsio, a layered macaroni dish, and moussaka, a dish made with eggplants and potatoes.

The Rev. George L. Livanos, who helped organize the festival, praised the Greek hamburger, which is made with a unique blend of ground beef, onions and mint. Yet when he was asked about his favorite dish, he pondered silently for a minute before admitting he was speechless.

“Everything is made by hand, and we’re using recipes that have been passed down to us from two to four generations, which we keep lock, stock and not accessible to the public,” Livanos said. “It’s something very special for us when it comes from someone’s grandmother or great-grandmother.”

More than 30,000 meals are served during the six-day event, which includes 400 pounds of ground meat for hamburgers, 200 pans of spinach pie and 150 baklava trays.

Kusturiss and other parishioners began preparing the food in January.

“Rolling grape leaves, it takes us six weeks, and we probably make 30,000 grape leaves. It’s really tedious,” she said.

Canonsburg Mayor David Rhome, whom parishioners described as an “honorary Greek,” helped make lamb shishkabobs.

“It’s a great time to come together. The Greek family and I go back at least 50 years,” he said.

The festival features performances from two traditional Greek bands, The Greek Company and Alpha Omega, and dances from youth and high school groups.

Joanna Kapelonis, 69, of Houston, has been a door greeter at the festival since the mid-1990s. The Athens native comes every year to offer kisses, Mediterranean-tinged blessings and optimistic phrases like “no stress, no depress,” accompanied by emphatic hand gestures.

“Another year Mama Joanna here,” she said, grinning and clutching the cross around her neck.

Proceeds from the festival will help fund the church’s local mission, as well as outreach programs in Guatemala and Tanzania. Livanos hopes to hold an official consecration ceremony next year, in which relics of saints will be buried in the altar table.

But more than just a fundraiser, Livanos considers the food festival a blessed occasion.

“For the Mediterranean culture, the table is a sacred place. It is a place of thanksgiving, honor and fellowship,” he said. “It’s a mini-altar, and food is a binding expression of love.”