"Food festivals for $800, Alex," is perhaps how the contestant chose his clue when Jeopardy! aired Feb. 3, 2010.
"The largest ethnic festival in Arkansas highlights foods from this country, like gyros & souvlaki," came the response.
Gyros and souvlaki give it away a bit, but how novel! A Bible Belt Southern state with more Tex-Mex joints than pharmacies (it seems) and our big ethnic food festival is ... Greek!
And did you know it's the second biggest cultural festival in the state behind Riverfest? Yeah, and back-to-back weekends.
So says Jason Chacko, who was born the exact same year -- 1984 -- as the food festival. Chacko's soul is connected to the festival, and today, as chairman, he's the face of it. But Chacko is ... um ...
That's right, ethnically Indian. The subcontinent, that is. Kerala, to be exact. (Thiruvalla is still more exact.)
Dad Joe and mom Deena came to Little Rock about 1980. And with them they brought a leather-bound book, the entire history of the Pakalomatom family, third edition, which traces Joe Chacko's line back 41 generations, back to the time of St. Thomas in the first century, who, according to this genealogical ur-text, started the family on Christianity when he, the apostle Thomas, converted some Brahman families to Christ's new church.
Well, that's another story. But what's relevant is that the Greek church is just the most popular American incarnation of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. There are in fact many "autocephalous" branches of Orthodox Christian churches in Ethiopia, Syria, Russia, India and elsewhere.
And if the Chackos had discovered an Indian Orthodox Church in Little Rock 35 years ago, this might be another story. But they didn't, and so we return.
Jason, one of two boys, was president of the youth group at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church as an upperclassman at Catholic High School for Boys. He is an Eagle Scout. He graduated from Westminster College in 2002 with degrees in biology and business and eventually found his way to the medical school here in his hometown.
After three years of rigorous medical studies, he came to the belief that the human body and all of its vicissitudes "was and will continue to be my passion and interest," but that his talent lay in finance. He joined his father's Morgan Stanley Little Rock office, where he has been since 2009. Today, he's a financial advisor.
What's his advice for the food festival?
Well, first, this is charity in the keenest sense. The church doesn't need the festival's weekend haul to throw its balance sheet into the black. It actually gives a lot of it to other, wholly unaffiliated charities, such as Wolfe Street and Easter Seals, Harmony Health Clinic and Youth Home. And yet, its chief coordinating body and volunteer army is composed of parishioners.
"The Orthodox faith is a small faith nationally, as far as the Pew study goes," Chacko says, referring to the Pew Research Center's regular survey of American religious affiliation, which puts adherents of Eastern Orthodox Christianity at roughly 0.6 percent. "But it's amazing because we're a unique blend of so many nationalities. We have 17 different nations represented in our church, and all of them contribute in some way" to the cuisine at the festival.
It's not just gyros and baklava, though amid the top sellers by type, those are numbers 1 and 2. There's tabbouleh and hummus and tsoutzoukakia -- so, all right, it's really mostly Greek. Hey! This year they've added saganaki. That's the Opa! cheese. It's melted cheese and pyrotechnics -- two things Arkansans adore -- in one festival dish.
There'll be parking up and down Napa Valley, but it won't be enough, so the festival transportation subcommittee has arranged a transit network from parking lots as far afield as Pulaski Academy. What's more, the last few years the church has been running a drive-through from the circle drive on the church's south side. And this year, for the first time, you can order food sent to your door with the help of Chef Shuttle, the local food delivery service -- ChefShuttle.com and (501) 712-8700 -- which is committed to putting 18 drivers out hustling Hellenic hot meals during the festival.
What's next, a smart phone app?
That is exactly what's next.
The festival has begun talks with development companies here in the states and in India, Chacko says.
In college, Chacko says, he went through a crisis of faith. His parents had raised him Orthodox and, "You know, I think everybody feels pressure when they change from the belief in their parents to the belief in themselves." What else is out there?
An ambitious student, he read the chief texts of other world religions like Hinduism (Bhagavad Gita) and Taoism (Tao Te Ching). "I explored other churches and found that this was the best fit for me."
Back in the kitchen for some photos, Chacko holds out a baking sheet of maybe 200 or 300 little baklava parallelograms. Behind him are eight or nine women and one man -- when they're finished, they'll have made maybe 20,000 or 30,000 parallelograms. If Chacko is the left brain of this food festival organism, then here is the muscle. And don't tell them gyros are the siren call.
"I think baklava is what brings them here and keeps them here," says Christina Hronas, who has been a member of the church as long as Chacko's parents
"Amen!" shouts another one.
And Hronas has news for the motherland -- Arkansas baklava is better!
Surely she can't be ... yes, she is. See, until recently, Greeks didn't have pecans with which to make the chopped nut mix sprinkled beneath sheets of phyllo. They had only pistachios and walnuts. Pecan, as anyone will tell you, is the superior dessert nut.
But now is not the time for division. The food festival is a time for sharing the message of Orthodox Christianity, which is one of diversity and inclusion.
"We all work together here, all the ethnicities," the Greek-Irish woman, Hronas, says.
And the generations of Pakalomatom -- working together. All two, for now.
The Greek Food Festival is 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, on the church grounds, 1100 Napa Valley Drive. Admission and parking are free. To see a complete menu and attractions, visit GreekFoodFest.com or call (501) 221-5300.
High Profile on 05/10/2015