I love food from the Mediterranean — happy food from the sunny climates next to the sea. The finest of Greek traditional foods from chef Papadopoulos Giorgos were served at the dusitD2 in Nairobi, introducing Greek cuisine to the city.

And I indulged in a spread fit for the gods — olives, wine, meze and more.

With 20 years of experience in cooking and four Hellenic gold medals to his name, Giorgos produced a delightful meal.

“Mediterranean food has a history of 4,000 years,” he told us.

The first cookbook ever written was in the fourth century by Archestratus, the ancient Greek also known as the master of tasty dishes. He wrote about where to find the best foods in the Mediterranean world.

“The menu has food prepared from traditional recipes,” Giorgos added.

The starters were soon on the table — Kalamata olives (this dark purple meaty tasting olive only comes from the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece), sun-dried Santorini capers from the Aegean islands, and oregano created by the goddess of love, Aphrodite, who tended it in her garden on Mount Olympus. I was in heaven.
And then came the meze.

“The meze is a very social platter at every house. People nibble on the little offerings on the platter while chatting,” said Giorgos.

Capers, hummus, moutbal, tzatziki, tarama and spicy cheese dip accompanied dishes like olives stuffed in vine leaves, marinated octopus, smoked kingfish, beef and halloumi, and a Greek salad.

“Greek food is very healthy and light,” continued the chef. “You can eat a lot.”

Hot chicken soup was served, with beef meatballs and tomato sauce, slow-cooked lamb leg cooked in gastra, chicken, red snapper fillet with lemon butter sauce, basil oven baked potatoes with oregano and lemon, fried mussels and Greek mousaka and pita.

“Greek food is cooked at low temperatures to keep the food moist and the meats very soft. It is simple — a lot of stews and casseroles. And always in olive oil. We have the best olive oil in the world.

“The secret to good cooking is to use fresh products and cook with passion. You have to put your soul in your food. When you cook you have to feel everything — the taste, the colours and the aroma.

“And there are two things to cooking — you have to know the ‘how’ and ‘why’. When you cook aubergines, you boil them for only three minutes otherwise you lose everything from it,” Giorgos said.

We went on to the desserts, which included an assortment of bread and butter pudding Greece style, cheese halva with pistachio, tiramisu Greece style, baklava and walnut cake.

As we ate, we were charmed by the sounds of “opa” from Angelous Agalos Christopus playing his bouzouki — a guitar handcrafted from the chestnut tree and inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

“Greeks love to eat, drink and have a good dance,” said Michael Metaxas, the general manager of the boutique hotel, as he broke into a few steps of sirtaki, a famous Greek dance.

Some of these dishes may remain on the menu at dusitD2.