The traditional charity dinner took place yesterday, with more than 70 chefs from all over the province of Famagusta cooking for the Apostolos Pavlos Special School.
The products they used in the recipes were provided free of charge by various Cypriot companies, and the chefs included more Cypriot recipes in the buffet recipes.
The established charity event "Dinner of Love" took place yesterday for the 15th consecutive year with more than 70 chefs from all over the province of Famagusta, who cooked for the Apostolos Pavlos Special School in Liopetri. The "Dinner of Love" took place in the reception hall of Z.DI.PA. in Avgorou. In it, more than 70 members of the Association of Chefs of the province of Famagusta made dozens of delicious creations for the charity dinner for the Special School Apostolos Pavlos.
There is no state aid
According to the District Chef of the Cyprus Association of Chefs in the province, executive chef Christos Matsis, the chefs of the Famagusta province for 15 consecutive years, in the absence of any state aid and without any financial benefit, make a buffet consisting of more than 20 , promoting the traditional Cypriot cuisine and supporting people with special abilities in the province of Famagusta. The net proceeds will be used for the needs of the Apostolos Pavlos Special School in Liopetri. The school accommodates people with special abilities, aged 19 and over, from Famagusta.
It started as a small event
Chef Christos Matsis spoke to "Simerini" and gave us all the information about yesterday's dinner, as well as how this institution started and how it evolved. "The Charity Dinner was started 15 years ago by some chefs of the Cyprus Chefs' Association. This institution started as a very small event, which took place in the hall of the Apostolos Markos Special School and continued to grow year by year and this year is the 15th year that it is organized ", said Mr. Matsis.
"I, he continued, have been a volunteer for this event for the last six years." The chef said that the attendance of the people is increasing every year. Last year, more than 1300 people attended the dinner, supporting both the volunteer chefs' initiative and the school itself. "This year this institution surpassed all previous ones, as the number of people who supported this event was greater than every year," said chef Christos Matsis.
Around 70 chefs participated
For this year's event, Matsis said that around 70 cooks from the province of Famagusta took part in it, who participated on a non-profit basis. He also explained that the products they used in the recipes were provided free of charge by various Cypriot companies, "and in this way we included in the buffet recipes more Cypriot recipes with Cypriot products, in order for us to promote the local products in our own way. a better development ", explained Mr. Matsis. The menu, said Mr. Matsis, was decided by the committee of the Cyprus Chefs Association and this year was a Cypriot Fusion menu, which included everything from potatoes to courgette.
The institution started almost by mistake
Asked about how this institution started, Mr. Matsis said that 15 years ago the first event was organized by three people and was done almost by mistake. As he explained to us, 15 years ago a Gala Dinner was organized in the Province of Famagusta, but due to the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York, the Gala Dinner was canceled and the products they had for the event were used by the chefs, who had the idea of creating this institution to offer to children with disabilities.
"From what I was told in the first year the attendance at the event was very low, but the chefs did not give up and continued the effort and this can be seen this year, where there were more than 70 chefs and more than 1.300 people present at the event." said the chef.
Finally, the President of the Cyprus Chefs Association in the province of Famagusta said that "it is very important to help everyone, each in his own way, children with special needs and whoever comes to our event will be able to see and understand the joy offered to these people, who need our help. This institution has already started in other provinces and this is very encouraging and we hope to be able to continue every year but also to help raise public awareness for other similar charitable events.
Source: SotiraNews / Today / Photos: ELMIC Photo & Video