A taste of India in Greece

Kochi, Mar 19: Greeks, known for their love of spices such as cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper, will get a taste of Indian fare during the 'Indian Spice and Food Festival' in Athens from March 21.

The ten-day fiesta is being jointly organised by the Spices Board, the Indian embassy and Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens.

''The use of spices in Greek cuisine, perfumes, medicine and religion remains as important today as it was to ancient Greeks,'' the Spices Board said in a statement here.

Tracing the age-old spice trade between Greece and India and Sri Lanka, the board said that spices were so precious for the Greeks that they exchanged them for gold or slaves at one time.

The festival is being organised to generate interest in Indian food and spices. Hotel Grande Bretagne is one of the best five star hotels in Athens, located close to the Greek Parliament, many government offices and commercial establishments. The Spices Board is deputing the corporate chef of Saj Flight Services and Deputy Director P S Sreekantan Thampi to conduct the festival, the board said.

Greece imports Indian spices valued at about Rs two crore every year. The composition of spice imports into Greece shows that there is good scope for increasing the share of Indian exports to the country, including spices such as black pepper, chillies, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and saffron, which find wide use in Greek cuisine, it added.

UNI