Although the folk dancers don't start taking their sirtaki steps, and the kebabs don't hit the grill until Friday, there is already a minor controversy simmering — make that baking — at the Panegyri Greek Festival. It's a classic struggle between the generations, and between purists and non-purists.

        And it's all over chocolate baklava.

        Since Holy Trinity-St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Finneytown began hosting the Panegyri Festival 27 years ago, members have baked baklava — that rich, incredibly sweet Greek dessert made of butter-drenched phyllo pastry, honey and cinnamon.

        Among the souvlaki, moussaka and other delicacies, baklava is easily one of the most popular foods sold at the festival. This year, volunteers are making 10,000 pieces of the sweet pastry.

George Sias of Cheviot and his chocolate baklava (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

       

Messing with perfection

       

        Never complacent about past success, though, Panegyri organizers always are looking for new foods to feature. So this year, during a brainstorming session, someone suggested they try selling an unusual baklava dipped in chocolate, made by a local baker. A few were skeptical.

        Could they serve something so non-traditional at the festival? They don't eat chocolate baklava in Greece, do they?

        They asked for samples of the odd dessert. But even when they sampled it — smacking their lips — some still were not convinced chocolate baklava was a good idea.

        “When some of the older women tasted it, it was like, well, maybe not,” says Buzzy Gaz, co-chair of the Panegyri Festival.

        But the decadent flavor won over pastry committee co-chairs Mary Trohanis and Gari Franklin.

IF YOU GO

What: Panegyri Greek Festival     When: 5 p.m.-midnight, Friday 3 p.m.-midnight Saturday and 1-9 p.m. next Sunday.     Where: Holy Trinity-St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, 7000 Winton Road, Finneytown.     Admission: $1 or two non-perishable food items (to be donated to Free Store-Food Bank).     Information: 591-0030; www.panegyri.com.     Miscellaneous: Greek food, folk dancing, music, arts and crafts. Free parking available at St. Xavier High School (600 North Bend Road, Finneytown) with shuttles running every 15 minutes.

        “If you love chocolate, you'll love it,” says Ms. Franklin.

        Adds Ms. Trohanis: “It's delicious, and I thought it would be something different for us to have.”

        Mr. Gaz also voted to give the chocolate baklava a trial run, but he is unsure whether he approves of gilding a lily such as baklava.

        “I can take it or leave it,” he says. “And you need to understand, Greeks are purists when it comes to certain foods.”

        But Mr. Gaz can't be too high-and-mighty about these things. After all, he was the one who introduced baklava sundaes — soft-serve ice cream sprinkled with bits of baklava — to the festival nine years ago. The sundaes have been a big hit, but aren't exactly in the Hellenic Food Hall of Fame.
       

Secret recipe

        At the center of this small, sweet ruckus is George Sias of Cheviot — the young pastry pioneer who introduced chocolate baklava to Cincinnati. Mr. Sias works at Rolling Pin Pastry in Groesbeck, and has been making chocolate baklava for weddings and parties for two years — since he moved here from Greece to marry his wife, Kathy. Before that, he made the unusual treat while working in his native country — so he can't understand what the fuss is all about.

        “We do eat chocolate baklava in Greece,” he says. “But not many pastry chefs make it.”

        A Greek-American, his wife grew up in Cincinnati, honing her sweet tooth on traditional baklava made by her aunts.

        “But anyone who likes the regular baklava will love the chocolate,” she says.

        For the Panegyri Festival, Mr. Sias has volunteered to bake 300 individually wrapped pieces of his chocolate creation. Working alone after his regular shift at the bakery, he will make the baklava in his mother-in-law's basement. He begins with a recipe different from the American-made baklava.

        “It's a secret,” Mr. Sias says, with a giggle.

        Even his wife doesn't get to watch him make the baklava.

        After it's baked and cut, he dips each piece into a mixture of melted dark and milk chocolate.

        Even though some may disapprove of chocolate baklava in principle, everyone who has tasted it swears it is wonderful.

        “Yes, people will love it,” Mr. Sias says. “Absolutely.”

       Contact Chuck Martin by phone: 768-8507; fax: 768-8330; e-mail: cmartin@enquirer.com.
       

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