I saw a poster about the 2nd Koutroufa Tribute-to-Olive Celebration just one day (on Thursday) before it was held - on Friday August 2, 2013, so I went and took many photos and enjoyed watching the display of photos of olive trees, bought a jar of honey made from beehives placed in the Parnonas mountain range, bought some art pieces drawn on a round beach stone and a roof clay etc.
For a small community like this, I have to say it is a well-organized event. Koutroufa is a small rural village in Arcadia, in the north side of Parnonas Mountain range with 182 permanent residents according to the 2001 population census. I do not know its altitude, but according to the wikipedia in Greek language, it is 1,120 meters above the sea level.
Greek wiki has a brief introduction of the village: Τα Κούτρουφα είναι ορεινό χωριό της Αρκαδίας. Είναι χτισμένα στις βόρειες πλαγιές του Πάρνωνα σε υψόμετρο 1.120 μέτρων και είναι ένα από τα ορεινότερα χωριά του νομού Αρκαδίας. Διοικητικά ανήκουν στον δήμο Βόρειας Κυνουρίας και σύμφωνα με τηναπογραφή του 2001 ο πληθυσμός τους είναι 182 κάτοικοι.
It sets a perfect example for other Greek villages that no matter how small a community is, through cooperative and voluntary effort, an event can successfully attract visitors to the area and more local products can be sold and promoted in the market.
Some award-winning Greek chefs were invited from Athens to prepare simple yet delicious olive menus such as olive paste with cream cheese (I guess?) on bread, rusk, bread sticks etc. I sampled only one piece of rusk with olive paste, I think the white layer is either some cream cheese or a blend of yogurt with some herb, but I could be wrong. Anyways, it was a tasty combination.
This is the agricultural news announcement of this event in Greek.
Below are some of my photos from this event, to see the whole set of 72 photos, please click this link.
Related post: Some facts about Greek olive oil.
old tools used in olive oil processing
a picture of traditional ways of collecting & processing olives
soaps made from olives
a very old olive tree (could be nearly
2000 years old) in Koutroufa's square
Mr. Stavros (far left) is a skillful electrician and a honey producer, many people in rural areas are multi-talented, they work different jobs in different seasons
busy bees are working as shown in an enclosed glass
handmade pastas
Greek mountain tea
spoon sweets & liquors made from fruits
an outdoor basketball court was used for the photo exhibition of olive trees, I was impressed that they could organize a successful event without renting any expensive space
The story about ancient olive trees in the Thireas Θυρέας plain - Koutroufa is within the Thireas region
an artist posed with a smile
you can sample olive oils immersed in different herbs by dipping bread in the oil
people lined-up to sample food made from olives
a tray of olive paste on bread mixed with perhaps cream cheese topping
the whole exhibition was held outoors
a modern bee frame, and behind it is an old beehive (in Greek it is called
Κουβέλι)
olive tarts
bread sticks with various olive dips
"donkey olive" is the biggest variety of olive, up to about 4 to 5 cm in diameter
Many people think the "Kalamon" olive variety is the tastiest, it is the name of a variety, but not necessarily grown in the Kalamata geographic region
must be volunteers, selling lottery for this event
award-winning chefs who made tasty samples of olive-related finger food
a young artist Eleni Boutsikaki Ελένη Μπουτσικάκη
She draws on woods, clays, and metals
an olive branch drawn on wood
Mr. Soulis was helping out on selling roast pigs, which he raised
I like γουρουνοπούλα με πέτσα roast pig with skin very much, but it is a pity that I didn't buy it because my father-in-law is fasting between August 1st and 14th, and my kids don't like, I cannot buy 1 kilogram and consume it all by myself while it's fresh.
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