Gastronomy is a big issue in Amorgos, and the Gastronomy Club of Amorgos was established in 2017 by Irene Giannakopoulos, an elected member of Municipality of Amorgos island Council. Everyone on Amorgos recognizes the importance of gastronomic tourism to the economic development of the island, as the art of gastronomy is recognized as a mean of bolstering the economic prosperity of a place.
The Greek Language has given the name to "gastronomy" and its meaning is "the law of regulating the stomach". The word gastronomy includes the concept of "food knowledge", while at the same time is considered both as the science of cooking and the science of eating.
Gastronomy was part of the identity of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.
The biggest agreements and the biggest decisions have been succeeded over a nice dinner. Travelers, take with them the best memories of a great taste of local food they enjoyed. The food is very important, bringing people and families together around a table, to celebrate the gift of life.
Such a celebration of a gift of life, is the book "My Amorgos" by Irene Giannakopoulos, a soul deposit, and a great cookbook, with marvelous photos of her own, with history of food, of people and of landscapes.
For the front cover, the author chose a picture of a large dish of fava, with lots of olive oil, capers and onion, while for the back cover, she chose fruit, herbs, an artichoke flower, a Cycladic figurine and her picture.
"Culinary experiences", are Life experiences! It is a great luck, to be born on a beautiful island, like Amorgos, and to be raised in a loving and hospitable family, with a caring mother like Mrs. Kalliopi, Irene's mother. A mother who struggled for the family's meal not only to cook it, but also to produce its ingredients, creating it all from scratch, by cultivating at the little family farm. Later on, Irene's mother had to cook for the first guests/tourists of the very few primitive rooms in Lakki, by the seaside, that Irene's pioneer father had the idea of constructing. Mrs. Kaliope, made delicious pies and split yellow peas-fava dishes and honey puffs, the famous "loukoumades" of Lakki. Everything was made with love. Irene, as her eldest child, always next to her mother, became her right hand and was absorbing and learning everything. The love for what she was doing was already inside her. Irene was a natural hospitality's "Filoxenia" child.
Then, came Irene's new life with husband Nikitas to the other end of the big ocean, to the United States. Several years there, with lots of work, a new beautiful family, and the return back to the island, always with the vision of creation.
It is not surprising, that the entire family hosts their guests with pride, in their beautiful 5* Aegialis Hotel & Spa today and Irene started her cooking classes, wanting to share a big part of her Amorgian heritage. Then the idea of the book came along, needed for the students of the cooking classes, and it is so beautiful, that it has become a necessity for everybody.
Written in English, it begins with good thoughts and wishes from famous people from the fields of gastronomy and tourism.
George Pittas, Founder of "Greek Gastronomy Communities" says: "From the first moment I was fascinated by her enthusiasm and dynamism"
"Irene is a treasure-trove of knowledge of these ancestral recipes" says Julia Ingersoll, Founder, of "Soulful handcrafted travel experiences"
Thanos Papadimitriou, "travel guide, Media Max productions", confesses that "Irene is the face of Amorgos".
In the following pages of the book, Irene starts narrating her own touching story, which includes her close relationship to food. "I was constantly surrounded by family and food" she says. Then, she takes us thru the island's food environment. A brief history of Amorgos and the Cyclades, vineyards of Amorgos and the wine production, olives and olive oil, the famous herbs of Amorgos and honey.
After that, the real culinary adventure begins. She starts with appetizers, salads, soups, vegetarian dishes, fish, poultry, meat, pasta, sweets, smoothies, icecream and a weekly Mediterranean diet. It contains recipes, step by step instructions of about one hundred and twenty recipes. For some products, she includes cultivating details and local festival descriptions, from her own memories. All the dishes, food and drinks, look delicious, and are authentic, with a personal touch.
In its last pages, the book "My Amorgos" takes us to a tour of "Aegialis Hotel and Spa" and ends with the author's biography, family pictures and achievements from all her life endeavors, succeeded with hard work.
Besides the "Gastronomy Club of Amorgos", Irene Giannakopoulos, is the founder of "Women Cultural Association of Amorgos", and of "Amorgos Film Festival".
Gastronomic tourism can be compared to a mirror, through which we can see the history, the people and get a better understanding of local customs and local culture. Gastronomic tourism is a sub-category of cultural tourism, since gastronomy is considered to be an expression of culture. Thus Irene's Giannakopoulos' book is a step forward to gastronomic tourism of Amorgos.
"My Amorgos" is not a formal gastronomic book, but a complete Greek Cookbook of high quality presentation, with delicious traditional dishes, straight from the island of Amorgos and Greece!
This book can give everyone ideas, and can cover all cooking instruction needs.
Enjoy!