Baklava at the Greek Food Festival

Every year, thousands of hungry guests flock to the International Greek Food Festival at Little Rock’s Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church. There’s dancing and activities for all ages, an international bazaar full of great handcrafted items and, of course, lots to eat.

Gyros, kebabs and pastisio are old favorites… and few leave the festival grounds without at least one package of kourabiethes (those little wedding cookies covered in powdered sugar), sourota (the cigar-shaped nut pastries) or baklava. Recent years have seen additions such as Sundae in Athens, which is vanilla ice cream topped with baklava crumbles. This year’s new choices stand to be very, very popular.

Saganaki, an open-faced grilled cheese sandwich using Kasseri cheese

1. Saganaki. Slices of Kasseri cheese (made from sheep's milk) are griddle-seared and flamed before being laid across grilled pita bread. It’s like a hot-to-order, Greek-style, open-faced, grilled cheese sandwich, and it’s sure to be a hit.

Za'atar Pizza, a flatbread dolloped with herbs in an olive oil base

2. Za'atar Pizza. A leavened flatbread that's been dolloped with a pesto-like substance (za'atar) that includes dried oregano, sumac, sesame seeds and other herbs in an olive oil base. Very simple, yet very exotic.

Mediterranean Chicken Wrap at the Greek Food Festival

3. Mediterranean Chicken Wraps. Grilled chicken cooked in Mediterranean spices and olive oil, tightly wrapped in flatbread and grilled. These are the go-to handheld entrée for when you’ve had enough gyros.

Loukoumathes, or Greek-style doughnuts, at the Greek Food Festival

4. Loukoumathes. Think doughnut holes, except these are done Greek-style. Balls of batter are dropped into searing hot oil, scooped out and drained, then dunked in honey and powdered with cinnamon. They’re easy to eat, crispy and soft, and hard to resist.

See more photos and videos about how these treats are made over at Tie Dye Travels.

In addition to these new foods, you can also for the first time pick up your own take-and-make gyros with a kit that includes enough gyro meat, taziki sauce and pitas for ten servings. And of course, the International Greek Food Festival is Arkansas’s only food fest with its own drive-thru.

This year’s festival will be held May 15-17. For more information, check out the website at GreekFoodFest.com.