The art of mezze
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The essentials of Greek cuisine
Although Greece seems to be a country constantly bathed in sunshine, many areas in winter, especially inland, can be downright cold and there are many recipes for nourishing soups made with simple products such as fasolada, made with white beans and assorted vegetables, or faki made with lentils.Avgolemono is made from a broth that is then thickened with a mixture of egg yolk and lemon juice. But you can also enjoy lighter soups like kakavia, a kind of bouillabaisse mixing fish, potatoes, carrots and saffron. Finally, the more curious will try the patsas, made of tripe, which is said to cure hangovers.
For the main course, grilled meats have pride of place and often constitute a whole page in the menus of Greek restaurants. Souvlaki is a large skewer of meat, most often pork or chicken, but sometimes beef or lamb. Paidakia is a type of grilled lamb chop with spices, while kefkedes are minced meatballs flavored with onion, oregano, mint and dill. They can be simply grilled or cooked in a thick tomato sauce and are called keftedes me saltsa domata.
Apart from grilled dishes, there are many other cooked dishes such as moussaka with minced meat and candied eggplants, topped with béchamel sauce and au gratin, or pastitsio where the eggplants are replaced by macaroni. In fact, in addition to the traditional Italian pasta, there are many pasta in Greece such as kritharaki (resembling rice) or hilopites (small square noodles). The baked giouvetsi is made of chicken, lamb or beef and small pasta and tomato sauce flavored with cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves. The term yemista refers to different types of vegetables (especially peppers and eggplant) stuffed with rice and minced meat and baked. Stifado is a hearty stew of beef - more rarely pork or rabbit - confit in a sweet and sour sauce made of wine, shallot and cinnamon. The soutzoukakia smyrneika is a Turkish-inspired dish of meat croquettes in tomato sauce. Closely related, spetsofai is a sausage stew with peppers and tomato.
Greeks also eat a lot of vegetables which are used in many cooked dishes. Fasolakia is a dish of green beans in tomato sauce. In the gigandes plaki, the green beans are replaced by huge white beans, called in Greece fasolia gigandes. Prasorizo, a kind of risotto with leeks, is very popular in winter.
Fish and gyros
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Desserts and coffee break
For dessert, we often end our meal with fresh fruit: peaches, melons, watermelons or apricots, especially in summer when the sometimes scorching temperatures call for a little freshness. Sometimes, the meal can also end with a simple yogurt topped with a drizzle of honey and some pistachios. Many sweets are indeed enjoyed during the day with a coffee. They are mostly made of almonds, pistachios or sesame seeds, flavored with honey, orange blossom or cinnamon, such as baklava, a diamond-shaped cake made of filo pastry and dried fruits - especially walnuts - and soaked in a cinnamon syrup. Quite similar, kataifi replaces the filo dough with angel hair. This very sweet cake is also known by other names in Turkey and in the Arab world. Galaktoboureko is also made of filo pastry and contains a cream made of milk and semolina flavored with lemon. Very similar, the bougatsa is filled with cream cheese. Less well known, moustalevria is a kind of grape juice pudding similar to a fruit paste, which is filled with chopped nuts and sesame seeds. Moustokoulura, a type of ring-shaped shortbread, is flavored with grape juice molasses and cinnamon.
There are several specialties related to religious holidays such as koulourakia, a vanilla brioche with sesame seeds prepared for Easter. This is also the case for tsoureki, a brioche often braided and flavored with citrus peel and mahaleb, a powder obtained from wild cherry pits. Lazarakia, a brioche bread, is eaten on the first Saturday of Holy Week. Vasilopita is the equivalent of the King's cake - eaten between New Year's Day and Epiphany - whose appearance, rather loosely, is between a cake and a brioche with a piece hidden in the dough. Melomakarono are Christmas honey cookies as are kourabiedes, large almond shortbread covered entirely with powdered sugar. Diples are thin, crispy, tube-shaped doughnuts that are soaked in syrup before being sprinkled with cinnamon and chopped nuts.
Finally, coffee has an essential place in Greece. The typical Greek coffee (equivalent to Turkish coffee) is not filtered, it is better to wait a few minutes for the layer of grounds to settle at the bottom of the cup. Try it sweet(glyko), medium(metrio) with milk(me gala) or without milk(choris gala). A coffee brewed in a small pot with a long handle(briki) using very finely ground coffee beans. It is often served with a glass of water. Otherwise the classic espresso is served in all bars and restaurants.
Wines, ouzo and other market products
With a viticultural history dating back more than 6,000 years, it is clear that Greece has a unique expertise in wine. During antiquity and into the Middle Ages, Greek wines were imported throughout Europe for the wealthy crowned heads and merchants. For whites, try the Matsas, Tsandali, Aghioritiko, Strofilia, Lazaridi and Gerovassileio castles. For rosé wines, try Tsandali and Calligas. Finally, for the reds, the wines of Naoussa Boutari, Hadjimihali, Karras, Lazaridi, Gerovassileiou and Malvazia are to be tested. Among the D.O.C. (Denomination of Controlled Origin) in mainland Greece, we can mention the grape varieties of Nemea, Mantinea, Patras, Mavrodaphni of Patras, Mavrodaphni of Rio and Muscat of Patras in the Peloponnese. In Macedonia, we find the Amyntaio, the Goumenissa, the Epanomi and the Naoussa. In Epirus, there is only the Zitsa variety, while in Thessaly we can mention the Rapsani, the Anchialos and the Mesenikola.
Although beer is not native to Greece, it is a very popular alcoholic drink. There are of course various international brands, although Greek beers, such as Mythos or Alpha, are quite respectable and often cheaper. Among all Greek liquors, ouzo occupies a central place. It is usually consumed as an aperitif. It can be drunk dry with an ice cube or diluted in ice water, which it will make milky like pastis. Flavored with aniseed, it is generally around 40°. In a restaurant, it is often cheaper to order a small bottle for two or three people than to take separate glasses. Retsina or resin wine is a dry white or rosé wine that has been produced throughout the country for over 2,000 years. Originally, the wines were transported in earthenware amphorae that were sealed with pine resin, giving the wine a unique taste. Retsina has a PDO and is mainly produced in Attica and Evia. Another more surprising liqueur,arbaroriza, is prepared from the leaves of the fragrant geranium. The mavrodafni, a fortified wine, and the tentura, a liqueur of cinnamon and cloves, are native to Patras, in western Greece. Tsipouro, a grape marc liqueur, is produced in Epirus, Macedonia and Thessaly. Finally, mastiha is a liqueur made from mastic resin, a tree close to the pistachio tree.
A diet of olive oil
Olive oil is obviously one of the most characteristic products of Greece and among the 19 varieties with a PDO, there are five produced in mainland Greece: Halkidiki, Kalamata, Lygourio, Laconia and Olympia. But of course the olives themselves are a product of choice to bring back in your suitcases. The Kalamata olives produced in the south of the Peloponnese are the best known. These purple and fleshy olives have a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), but they are not the only ones. The Konservolia olives produced in Amfissa, Arta, Volos and the green olives of Halkidiki also enjoy a PDO. If the currants - produced in all Greece of course - are very common in France, we find in the region of Aeghion, in the north of the Peloponnese, the Vostizza raisins, known for their unique taste, which enjoy a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). We can also mention the fir tree honey of Menalou vanilia, which has a protected status. It is produced in 24 municipalities and communities within Arcadia, in the central Peloponnese. Finally, while Iran provides almost 95% of the world's saffron production, Greece is second on the podium. Saffron from Kozani, Macedonia, is often considered one of the best in the world and also has a PDO.
