The Next Fusion Cuisine? : At St. Sophia’s festival this year, Greek and Mexican flavors intermingle.

Carne asada tacos topped with feta cheese and either Mexican pico de gallo or Greek tzaziki, a cucumber-yogurt dip. Feta and wedges of pita with gazpacho, and tzaziki replacing sour cream as the topping for a taco salad.

At St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral’s annual festival in Los Angeles this weekend, there will be something unexpected: Mexican food with a Greek twist.

Greek-inspired lamb tacos will have a Latino twist of lime juice (Greeks prefer lemon juice). And a coctel de pulpo (octopus cocktail) will look pretty much like a Greek seafood cocktail. Desserts will include flan and arroz con leche, which is the Mexican equivalent of the Greek rice pudding rizogalo.

All of this is perfectly appropriate for the multicultural neighborhood. As the Very Rev. John S. Bakas, dean of St. Sophia, points out, food can play an important role in drawing the community together because “food is the intimate encounter between cultures.”

St. Sophia, which serves a far-flung Greek community, is on Normandie Avenue at Pico Boulevard in the heart of a Latino neighborhood. Mexican and Salvadoran restaurants and bakeries line Pico in the vicinity of the cathedral, and a Greek market and deli stands across the street. Other Greek shops have long since departed, but Bakas hopes such business will return.

The area--roughly from 11th Street south to Venice Boulevard and from Hobart Boulevard east to Alvarado Street--is known as the Byzantine Latino Quarter and is the focus of a revitalization effort that aims to clean up and beautify the streets, attract new businesses and draw visitors.

It is a “part of town that has been overlooked by many,” says Bakas, who walks the neighborhood with a device to pick up trash. He also speaks Spanish fluently.

Now that Pico will be a main corridor to the new Staples Center, there is a need for Greek and Latino restaurants and other attractions for event-goers, he points out. Bakas would also like to see the area become an arts community.

“This is evolving slowly,” he says. “Is it idealistic? You bet.”

The festival, the Great Greek Cathedral Fest ‘99, will take place for the first time on the cathedral grounds, which have recently been renovated. Tours of the cathedral, an historic and cultural monument, will be conducted hourly from noon to 7 p.m.

The festival “is also intended to be community-building and to overcome negative stereotypes,” Bakas says. “It is a bridge to bring people to this part of town.”

In a gesture of neighborliness, the booths will include one for donations to the rebuilding fund of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, which was burned out in June. St. Thomas, the second-oldest active parish in Southern California, adjoins St. Sophia, and the Greek Orthodox cathedral is lending its facilities for Catholic weddings and funerals. Both structures are listed in a map of Byzantine Latino Quarter landmarks.

The Greek-Latino festival dishes will be prepared by caterer Nick Begakis, who owns Nick’s Paradise Cafe in another strongly Latino area, Montebello. El Cholo restaurant on Western Avenue, near the western edge of the Byzantine Latino Quarter, will contribute classic caramel-coated flan and arroz con leche. The women of St. Sophia have baked pastries for sale and will stage Greek cooking demonstrations.

And Jim Pantazis of Dino’s Burgers, a stand near the cathedral, will serve one of his specialties, a spicy chicken dish called Byzantine Red.

Music and entertainment will also be cross-cultural. A mariachi show is scheduled as well as Greek dance exhibitions and an appearance by a Greek band, The Hellenic Sounds. The mariachis, an all female group called Las Alondras, will start their program with a song in Greek.

Festival-goers can buy a multicultural cookbook, “The Best Recipes of St. Sophia Cathedral and the Byzantine Latino Quarter.” Organized by Jan Caswell-Pastras, wife of festival Chairman Theo J. Pastras, the just-published book includes a chapter of Latino recipes as well as popular Greek dishes.

Contributors include Bakas and his wife, Maria, who is Chilean. Bakas has provided recipes for Chilean albondigas and a Constantinople-style eggplant salad. His wife has contributed Argentine-style potato pie.

Greek recipes in the book include chicken with rice, which is a cousin of Latino arroz con pollo. Its contributor, Margaret Winoski of Clinton, Iowa, is an aunt of festival chairman Pastras.

Yolanda Katsoulis of Atwater gave her recipe for beef roast cooked with Coca-Cola, a side dish she remembers from the days when she worked for the beverage company in Quito, Ecuador.

Other recipes in the Latino chapter range from beverages such as hot Mexican eggnog and almond horchata to tamales, pozole and red snapper Veracruz. “Some members of the church are Latino,” Pastras says, “and some of our Greek members sent in their favorite Latino recipes.”

She sums up the culinary differences with a simple rule of thumb: “If it’s Mexican you add cilantro and chiles. If it’s Greek, you add lemon and oregano.”

The Great Greek Cathedral Fest ’99 runs noon to 11 p.m. Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday at St. Sophia Cathedral, 1324 S. Normandie Ave., Los Angeles. Adult admission $3. Seniors and children free.

“The Best Recipes of St. Sophia Cathedral and the Byzantine Latino Quarter” will sell for $16.50 at the festival. For mail orders, add $3.50 for postage and handling, making a total of $20. Make checks payable to St. Sophia Cathedral, and send them to the cathedral at 1324 S. Normandie Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90006.

Chicken With Rice

Active Work Time: 30 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Greek seasoning is a basic mixture found in most spice aisles.

Water

1 tablespoon butter

Salt

1 cup rice

1/4 onion, finely chopped

1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (10 3/4-ounce) can tomato soup

Pinch cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Greek seasoning

Pinch sugar

1 slice American cheese

* Boil 2 cups water. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons butter, 1 teaspoon salt and rice. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 10 minutes.

* Saute onion in remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons butter in large pot over medium heat until tender, 5 minutes, adding dash of water as onion cooks. Place chicken in pot, add 1/2 cup water and salt to taste. Stir chicken until opaque. Add tomato sauce, tomato soup and 1/2 soup can of water. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat 15 minutes.

* Season with cinnamon, Greek seasoning and sugar. Cover and cook until tender, 30 minutes. Remove chicken from pot. When cool enough to handle, skin and debone; set aside.

* Add rice to pot and simmer until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, 15 minutes. Return chicken to pot, add cheese and cook until melted, 5 minutes.

4 servings. Each serving: 701 calories; 1,819 mg sodium; 159 mg cholesterol; 38 grams fat; 47 grams carbohydrates; 40 grams protein; 0.76 gram fiber.

Lomo de Res

Active Work Time: 15 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 2 hours 15 minutes plus 1 hour marinating

3 pounds beef rump roast

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 cups cola soft drink

6 tablespoons butter

5 red bell peppers, sliced lengthwise 2 cloves

1 bay leaf

1 sprig cilantro

1 sprig parsley

1 red onion

1 small head garlic, cloves separated and peeled

Salt, pepper

* Place meat in large pot or bowl. Add water and 1/2 cup cola. Marinate 1 hour. Remove meat and place in roasting pan greased with some of butter; pan should be small enough to hold meat snugly. Arrange bell peppers, cloves, bay leaf, cilantro and parsley around meat. Add marinating liquid so that it comes halfway up sides of roast.

* Puree onion and garlic cloves with remaining 1 cup cola. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over meat. Dot with remaining butter. Cover and bake at 350 degrees until meat is tender, 2 hours to 2 hours 30 minutes, basting frequently. Remove from pan and slice with sharp knife. Arrange on large serving platter and spoon warm juices from pan over slices.

6 to 8 servings. Each of 8 servings: 251 calories; 194 mg sodium; 96 mg cholesterol; 12 grams fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 30 grams protein; 0.33 gram fiber.