Eating and Drinking in Greece

In Greece eating is a way of socializing and bringing friends and family together. Because of the geographical position between the Balkans, the Mediterranean and Asia Minor, the Greek cuisine seems to embrace in its dishes all these various influences. It is a nice mixture of tastes and flavors that conquers right away those who visit Greece.

The Greek cuisine is mostly based on fresh and raw vegetables that are to be considered the foundation of every meal. The reason for that is that, until the 1950's, the average Greek family could afford meat only once a week (meat was reserved mostly for the festivities) so the Greek cooks had to use mostly vegetables and be very inventive with it. Of course, the usages of vegetables depend from the season: in the cooler months the vegetable dishes are predominated by leafy greens while in the warm season eggplants and tomatoes reign supreme.

Meat Casseroles

Greeks love to use leafy vegetables to make salads, pittes (baked pies) and casseroles. One of the most typical Greek vegetable dishes is Briam, a ratatouille with zucchini, potatoes, eggplants and tomatoes. Furthermore eggplants are used in numerous recipes like melintzanosalata (eggplant salad or a eggplant puree with tomatoes, onions, lemon juice and olive oil), melitzanopitta (eggplant pie), eggplant moussakas (a casserole with fried sliced eggplants, minced meat and bechamel sauce) and melintzanes Paputsakia (eggplants stuffed with minced meat and bechamel sauce).

One of the most typical Greek dishes is pittes or baked pies that are made using artichokes, potatoes, peppers, leek, spinach, onions, chicories, cheese, cream, minced meat, olives, zucchini, ham and rice. In fact they make pittes almost out of everything even edible weed.

Cheese is quite a typical Greek ingredient. Greece is the biggest cheese consumer in Europe and every Greek region has its own cheese. Feta is of course the most famous, and it is made from goat, sheep or cow milk, but there are many other varieties of cheese to try like kefalograviera (of harder consistency), manouri (a sweet cheese) and touloumbisio (a cheese with a stronger taste used for stuffing).

Greeks love to eat meat. Typical meat dishes include souvlaki (pork or lamb kebab), yiros (doner kebab with pita bread and garnish), loukanika (pork sausages), pansetta (pork ribs), mousakka (oven-baked casserole with minced meat), stifadho (stew). In Greece it is very popular to eat lamb and goat meat (grilled, baked or stewed). Many meat dishes are oven baked casseroles that are prepared in the morning and then left to cool down during the day, thus intensifying the taste of the dish. Greeks love to grill their meat as well, using oak wood coals and a lot of herbs and spices.

As far as fish is concerned there are many varieties to choose from: sardines, anchovies, shrimps, cuttlefish, octopus, bass, sole, bream and other indigenous species that are mostly fried or grilled. Beware, Greek love to use large quantities of lemon juice with their fish (sometimes even too much) so be prepared for that.

The Greek sweets are something you absolutely have to try! The most famous are baklavas (a walnut, honey and sugary sweet), kataifi, loukoumadhes (deep-fried puffs with honey, syrup and cinnamon) and galaktoboureko (custard pie). The bottom line is that their sweets are really, really sweet, so if you do not like that I would suggest you choose another typical Greek dessert: yogurt with honey.

As far as drinking, Greeks are definitely not heavy drinkers. They like sipping their drink with their meal (which is definitely their main concern). Greek wines are good, are often sold in bulk by quarter, half or full liter (served in glass bottles or cups called kantaria). If you have the chance try retsina, a wine with a taste of pine resin, it is very strange but you might love it. Of course, when in Greece, you have to try ouzo (a spirit with a taste of anis or fennel). Greeks drink it all the time mixed with water. It is very refreshing and tasteful.

At the end we must mention olives and the olive oil! Olive oil and olives are absolutely the favorite Greek ingredients. There are dozens of olive varieties (green, black, purple) and they are mostly use for oil making. Others, as the Kalamata olive, is used for eating and for making salads, like the famous Greek salad that in Greece is called horiatiki (or peasant salad)!

Eating and Drinking in Greece

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