Introduction to Greek Food

Greek food is famous around the world as being both tasty and healthy. The Hellenic food has been widely recognized as ideal for a natural, healthy diet and nutrition. If you want to really try the typically Greek food, the first thing you have to do is to find a traditional Greek tavern. Or try it on the spot in Greece.

About the Greek food

Greek food is one of the three ancient Mother cuisines (along with Italian and Chinese). Greek cuisine is rather plain, it could almost be considered peasant-ish in style, but many people seem to like it. It is therefore a pity that the real Greek cuisine is hardly known. The diversity of Greek cuisine lies in its proximity to Italy on the west and the Middle East on the east, resulting in dishes like hummus and Greek pastas.

A couple of Greek dishes

Olive oil plays a unique role in the Greek diet, being the basis of many traditional dishes. As a matter of fact, olive oil is the basis for almost all Greek dishes. There are thousands of varieties with each farmyard usually producing thier own oil in Greece.

Greek food, for the uninitiated, may seem intimidating with the strange sounding names of the dishes. Mezze is a popular mealtime occurrence, similar to the Spanish tapas in the sense that it is lots of small dishes as opposed to one main dish. In a typical mezze spread you will find olives, bread and houmous (a dip made of chickpeas, olive-oil and tahini) and taramasalata (made from cod roe), amongst other dishes such as halloumi cheese, a hard cheese from the islands of Greece/Cyprus which can be grilled or fried; dolmades, which are stuffed vine leaves, filo parcels called boureki or tyropita, usually filled with cheese, spinach or both, although sometimes a meat variety is used. Calamari is a dish of squid rings served with lemon juice; and keftedes (meatballs with mint and other herbs such as oregano).

In addition to the Greek salad, there are other Greek dishes as Tzatzikimade of cucumber, garlic and yogurt, Melitzanolalata made of aubergines, onions and olives,and Taramosalata made of a Greek red caviar, called taramas. Here are regional and national specialties: mezes, little appetizers and dishes that in combination so often become a meal in themselves; fried cheeses, salted almonds, creamy tarama, capers, cucumber and yogurt; delicate lemon and egg broths, hearty winter bean soups; grilled meats and fish, casseroles, stuffed vegetables and pilafs, infused with the flavors of oregano, rosemary, cumin, garlic and cinnamon, nuts and raisins.

More Greek dishes    

Most Greeks will eat their savoury food at a taverna, then after having a brief walk around to aid digestion, they will settle at a zaharoplastia to partake of some coffee and sweetmeats, such as baklavas (honey and nut pastry), galaktomboureko (custard pie) and kataifi (shredded wheat covered in honey). Some popular main courses are kleftiko (slow-baked knuckle of lamb), octopus, moussaka, a casserole dish containing aubergines and bechamel sauce, and skewered grilled meats (souvlaki).

Baklava: The most famous Greek dessert, made of layers of fila pastry, chopped nuts, and a honey-flavored syrup Bourekakia: fila puffs made with various fillings Dolmades: grapevine leaves stuffed with rice or meat.
Feta: the classic white goat cheese of Greece, and its nutritious too; being high in calcium, phosphorus, riboflavin and vitamin B12.

Gouvetsi: the Greek word for casserole, or baked in the oven Garides: shrimp.
Kafes: coffee Kalamaria: squid Kalamata: probably the most famous Greek olive.
Kasseri: creamy farm cheese with a bitey flavor.
Kefalotiri: a hard, salty cheese, good for grating.
Kourabiedes: butter cookies topped with powdered sugar.
Mezethes: small savory appetizers.
Moussaka: a layered casserole usualy made with eggplant and chopped meat, and topped with a custard sauce.
Orzo: tiny melon seed-shaped pasta.
Ouzo: a colorless alcoholic drink flavored with anise.
Souvlaki: A popular Greek fast food made from small pieces of meat served on a skewer, in a pita sandwich with lettuce, tomato, onions and tzatziki, or on a dinner plate, often with rice.
Gyro: Meat roasted on a vertical rotisserie. The meat used in a traditional gyro sandwich is pork, chicken, beef or lamb.

Coffee

When you order Greek coffee, you must specify plain, sweet or medium-sweet (sketo, glyko or metrio in Greek, respectively). How the freeze-dried coffee drink became a national craze is hard to say, but supporters insist that it matches Greeks’ erratic lifestyle: laid-back Mediterranean with bursts of energy thrown in. Greek coffee is always serveed with a glass of water. Ordering a coffee in a Greek cafe is simple, but it may be all Greek to you.

Conclusion

Many people think that Greek food is only the Greek salad with the feta cheese, or the famous Mousaka or the Tzatziki, but the selection of Greek food and wine is incredible. Greek food is becoming more and more popular. Greek food is not only bursting with flavor, it is also packed with heart- and health-friendly ingredients. There has been an increased demand for Greek as well as other Mediterranean cuisines, which has been met by an increasing number of Greek restaurateurs opening Greek restaurants as opposed to diners with a few Greek items.