Dr. Theodore ‘Ted’ Zervas is a dentist in the small western Massachusetts city of Greenfield but his other passion is Greek food and he’ll let you know about it too. “Greek olive oil is the best. There’s simply no discussion about it,” he said.

He spoke to his home paper The Greenfield Recorder which noted he and his five siblings were raised mainly in Germany but spent a lot of time at their parents’ home area in Greece.

“My mom’s birthplace had a lower village with lots of olive trees, and an upper village where shepherds tended sheep,” he said. His grandfather also raised goats for milk and meat. “My grandfather made delicious cheeses, including feta, kefalotiri, and mizithra,” he said, his love for Greek food instilled for good.

Zervas’s father’s village produced similar foods, as well as tobacco. “My uncles gathered in the evenings to drink wine while comparing tomatoes they’d grown,” said Zervas. “It was quite a competition.”

He’s serious about growing tomatoes as Greeks in villages do and even helped harvest olives from family groves in Greece, learning about the world’s best.