The Embassy of Greece in Copenhagen held a unique gastronomical event on May 27, inviting visitors to a taste of ancient recipes. (Photo Gallery)

Chef Georgios Baltzis studies ancient Greek literature and experiments with the same ingredients that ancient Greeks used.

Together with the Copenhagen Hospitality College, the event was an opportunity to highlight the continuity of Greek Mediterranean cuisine. Most of the products used for the banquet have a PDO seal; 'avgotaracho' caviar from Greek lagoons, mastic liqueur, the Greek saffron krokos, katiki cheese, Cretan apaki (pork with vinegar), wild hyacinth bulbs and of course wine from the region of Macedonia. 

Greek gastronomy has a recorded history of approximately 4,000 years; it was poet Archestratos who wrote the first cookbook in history (330 B.C.), offering advice where to find the best food in the Mediterranean world. Centuries later (3rd-century AD), Greco-Egyptian author Athenaeus of Naucratis compiled his legendary edition "The dinner experts" (Deipnosophistae), which is essentially a dialogue in the Platonic tradition for skilled diners and refers to refined conversation expected to accompany Greek symposia. The book is considered an important source of recipes in classical Greek.