ARCHIVE NEWS

The Educational Gastronomy Seminars aimed at food service professionals, co-organized for the second consecutive year by the “Captain Vassilis and Carmen Constantakopoulos” Foundation and the Messinian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, have been completed with great success.
The seminars, which were received enthusiastically by Messinian professionals, took place in Navarino Dunes, Costa Navarino, on May 5, 6 and 7, under the auspices of the ATHINORAMA magazine and the "Chrysos Skoufos" (Golden Cap) awards. The aim was to promote Messinian cuisine and support local products.
The three-day seminar gave the opportunity to more than 150 food service professionals to become acquainted with distinguished chefs such as Nena Ismyrnoglou, Lefteris Lazarou, and Doxis Bekris, to take notes on practical instructions and suggestions, and also to hold discussions, exchanging knowledge and invaluable tips. The three distinguished chefs cooked alongside the participants, presenting local dishes and giving practical advice.
The combination of tradition and select local products, the new trends in gastronomy and the expectations of the visitors to the area were decisive factors in choosing the recipes to be presented by the three chefs: Messinian village-style “bahçe” with organic seasonal local vegetables on a bed of olives and lalangi, with oven-baked “xerosfeli” cheese and pickled vegetables, noodles with octopus, synglino (cured pork meat), grated talagani cheese and Maniot-style salad with orange, synglino and olive truffles with fig and orange flavored olive oil and lemon sauce; these were only a few of the dishes prepared by the chefs and the participants.
Moreover, during the theoretical part of the seminars, carried out by George Kalostos (Business & Marketing Consultant) and Yannis Kritsotakis (Economist & Communications Consultant), there were discussions regarding the conditions for success, depending, among other things, on the carving of a specific policy based on the company’s philosophy, the appropriate preparations, the proper education of the staff and the services that focus on the customer.
As the Director of the “Captain Vassilis and Carmen Constantakopoulos” Foundation, Mr. Xenophon Kappas, said, “The ‘Captain Vassilis and Carmen Constantakopoulos’ Foundation’s activities' warm reception by the local professionals was a great reward for us, and one that filled us with joy. This gives us the strength to continue our efforts, striving towards constantly improving the visitors’ culinary experience in our area, thus promoting and supporting local agricultural products.”

Completed with great success and participation of students and teachers, the educational activity entitled "Doing it right - Tasting it right: promoting sensory quality of olive oil to high school students" was designed with the initiative of the "Captain Vassilis and Carmen Constantakopoulos" Foundation in collaboration with the International Olive Oil Council and the support of the Technological Educational Institute of the Peloponnese.

The program was attended by 200 students. At the final event, held on March 17 at the Municipal Cultural Center of Kalamata, the students presented their activities. The main purpose of the program is to teach students how to link the quality of olive oil with all life stages of the olive tree and olives.

Particular emphasis was placed on the use of the sensory organs as a tool for obtaining reliable information. The olive oil tasting was adjusted to the students' educational needs by providing experiential learning activities in schools and in the olive oil tasting laboratory of the Technological Educational Institute of the Peloponnese. The educational program will take place in other regions of Messinia, also, in the following academic year, 2014-2015.

During the Environmental Management Studies course, the students in the Program “Biology - Earth Sciences” will be encouraged to conduct their thesis research in Messinia, commencing immediately upon course completion. The students will conduct their thesis work in Messinia under the supervision of the Program instructors and in collaboration with the "Captain Vassilis and Carmen Constantakopoulos" Foundation. The thesis will focus on issues including but not limited to eco and agro-tourism, natural resource management and related topics relevant to rural regional development, and will use Messinia, Greece as a case study. During the nine-week thesis research and writing period in Messinia, students will actively apply scientific theory and method to conduct field studies.

A pilot study on “Place of origin branding” in marketing of food products will result in research conducted in Messinia during the spring and summer of 2014. A researcher from Stockholm University will head the project supported by a number of Greek partners, participating in its planning and execution. The study will explore the prerequisites for the strategic use of “Place of origin branding” when marketing food products from the region of Messinia.

The Agricultural University of Athens, with its extensive experience in research on local varieties, has undertaken the task to record information about the wealth of local varieties in Messinia, in annual and perennial crops, as well as the collection of seeds. The research, supported by the "Captain Vassilis and Carmen Constantakopoulos" Foundation, began in mid-2013 and was completed in early 2014. The traditional local varieties are the result of the farmers' efforts, who selected the plants for hundreds of years according to their personal criteria and experience. They were always in a proactive relationship with environmental conditions, which helped shape the plants’ features. In this way, hundreds of varieties were created in the agricultural sector, in various cultivable plants’ species. Typical local variety examples are figs, buckwheat, the Tsakonian eggplant, and also the select wines made of local vine varieties. The modern agricultural development model made necessary the diffusion of those cultivable varieties that procured the highest return and had the best product consistency. As a result of this procedure, traditional local varieties were replaced to a great extent, leading to a reduction in variation and, as a result, to genetic erosion. These phenomena were exacerbated by one-sided tourism development. Genetic erosion of local varieties is quite extensive, and progresses extremely fast. It should be emphasized that, once a local variety disappears, it is irrevocably lost. Thus, all the conditions have been created for the definitive disappearance of local varieties, whose preservation is of great importance, based on today’s demand for local products. It has been recognized that local varieties have their own unique flavor and aroma, in contrast with commercial varieties, which focus mainly on mass production. Their recording and preservation is a prerequisite in order to be able to utilize them in the future.

The study of the sustainable development of the rural sector in Messinia is completed. This study attempts to contribute to the formulation of a plan for the sustainable development of the agricultural sector in the regional section of Messinia. The study displays the current situation and identifies actions to enhance the potential of agriculture and its related activities, which will contribute to the development and creation of new jobs in the region at a time when financial and social problems are particularly exacerbated.

The organization "Earth" has been sponsored by the "Captain Vassilis" Foundation in order to develop the biodiversity garden at “A. Tritsis” park in Athens. The aim of this cooperation is to promote Messinian products and especially olive varieties.

The “Captain Vassilis and Carmen Constantakopoulos” Foundation and the “George and Victoria Karelias” Foundation co-organized a two-day seminar centering on promoting the export of Messinia’s agricultural products.
The seminar took place on March 11 and 12 at the House of Events conference center in Costa Navarino, with the organizational support of the Panhellenic Exporters Association and the Messinian Chamber of Commerce, under the auspices of the Ministry of Development and Competitiveness, the Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks and the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, as well as the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Commission in Greece.
In addition to supporting and promoting product exports, the seminar aimed to inform Messinian producers and processors about the capabilities and export potential of quality agricultural products. During the two-day seminar the participants also learned about the strategy, legal framework and ways of exporting their products. Moreover, professionals in the field provided information about market possibilities, and also presented and analyzed various successful export examples. After the seminar ended, meetings with professionals from abroad took place.

The "Captain Vassilis and Carmen Constantakopoulos" Foundation and the Messinian Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized the "Educational Gastronomy Seminars for Food Service Professionals in Messinia." The free seminars took place on March 5, 6 and 7 in Costa Navarino under the auspices of the ATHINORAMA magazine and the "Chrysos Skoufos" (Golden Cap) awards. The educational seminars comprised the third and final phase of the program "Promoting and Establishing Messinian Cuisine." The aim of the seminars was to support the effort to promote and establish Messinian cuisine, promote local Messinian products, improve the available agricultural, culinary and tourist products of the area, and also improve the services provided in the food service sector.
During the seminar, many important topics regarding the food service sector were discussed, most notably the promotion of the value and advantages of Messinia's local products and culinary particularities, the connection between gastronomy and tourism, as well as the possibility to create collaborations between local producers and food service professionals.
More than 20 distinguished scientists, in Greece and abroad, professionals, awarded chefs, food critics, and various other specialists in the gastronomy and tourism sector participated in this three-day program. Chefs such as Lefteris Lazarou, Doxis Bekris, Christoforos Peskias, Nikos Fotiadis, Nikos Sarantos and Dimitris Skarmoutsos, and also journalists such as Dionysis Koukis, Niki Mitarea, Dimitris Mihailidis, Christiana Stamatelou and Thalia Tsihlaki, presented modern techniques and procedures for upgrading and improving the services offered, as well as the profitability of the food service enterprises in Messinia.

The ability to distinguish the flavor components of olive oil of different varieties is a necessary skill for a group of tasters. It is also an essential tool for managers involved in quality control and the promotion of olive oil in the international market, as well as for scientists doing research on the quality of olive oil. In this context, the Olive Oil Taste Panel (Technological Educational Institute of the Peloponnese), sponsored by the International Olive Oil Council, the "Captain Vassilis and Carmen Constantakopoulos" Foundation, the Regional Unit of Messinia, and the company “Bläuel Greek Organic Products,” and supported by the cultural foundation “The routes of the olive tree,” organized the international seminar “Calibrating panelists’ minds and palates.”

Characteristics of olive oil varieties of the Mediterranean and of America, familiarity with the tasting techniques used in Italy, Spain and the USA, and analysis of production practices and olive oil management in these countries.

ANGELES CALVO FANDOS - Virgin Olive Oil Taste Panel of Catalunya, Spain
ANTONIO GIUSEPPE LAURO - Agricultural Department of the Region of Calabria, Italy
PAUL VOSSEN- University of California Cooperative Extension - Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, USA

"Captain Vassilis and Carmen Constantakopoulos" Foundation, in cooperation with the Technical University of Crete organized the workshop “Life in each drop! An introduction to olive oil, its qualities and flavors.” Advice was given from the experts about olive oil production from environmentally friendly management systems, its nutritional value, quality criteria and distinct categories. The seminar concluded with tastings of the Greek extra-virgin olive oil.

As part of the collaboration with the University of Rennes (Université de Rennes), France, two graduate students recorded the possibilities existing in the region of Messinia for the implementation and promotion of rural tourism, as well as possibilities for certified and secure provision of products from producer directly to consumer.

The Municipality of Messini was sponsored by the "Captain Vassilis and Carmen Constantakopoulos" Foundation for the preparation of supporting studies regarding the creation of Messini's Municipal Market, under the guidance of the Technical Department of the Municipality and the city council. The aim is to integrate and use these studies to create this space in the city, which will help enhance the region's rural economy and income, since the operation will promote local products.