Greek cuisine features olive oil, fish, vegetables, and whole grains with Middle Eastern influences. Sheep, goats, and chicken are favored meats, while octopus and squid are common seafood. Meze, dolmades, and phyllo-dough pastries are popular appetizers, and honey is used for sweetening desserts.
Like all Mediterranean cuisines, Greek cuisine is characterized by the use of lots of olive oil, fish, fresh vegetables and whole grains. Because Greece is so close to the Middle East, many of its dishes have Middle Eastern influences, and common Greek dishes like stuffed vine leaves and baklava could be considered Turkish as much as Greek. Traditional Greek cuisine has many hearty flavors and is typically incredibly diverse, encompassing the bounty of the sea and the land.
Greece particularly favors the production of sheep, chickens and goats. Beef and pork are quite unusual in Greek cuisine, with most Greek cheeses being made from sheep’s or goat’s milk. Both sheep and goats tend to be tastier and darker when cooked and these meats are often grilled in the form of souvlaki to bring out their natural flavors or cooked into hearty casseroles that also include seasonal vegetables such as ocher and eggplant . Chicken is also a common ingredient for meals and soups, with avgolemono soup being a popular Greek chicken soup.
Fish is also a common element in Greek cuisine, particularly creatures like octopus and squid, which are grilled and served both hot and cold. The fish can also be poached or fried and served with olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper. Land products in Greece are also quite varied; olives are used to make olive oil and ripened olives, which are ubiquitous at every Greek meal, and Greece is also a great growing climate for grapes, fresh herbs, tomatoes, okra, beans, squash, cucumbers, and potatoes. all featuring strongly in Greek cuisine.
Some of the best known examples of Greek cuisine are meze or appetizers. Dolmades, cheeses, light salads, phyllo-dough pastries such as spanakopita, and a large assortment of cheeses are common Greek appetizers. Meze can also include purees and dipping sauces made from ingredients such as beans, eggplant, garlic, potatoes, and yogurt, and an antipasto platter is usually served with lemon wedges and wine, raki, or ouzo.
Greek desserts are quite distinctive, as Greek cuisine places a heavy emphasis on using honey for a sweetener, rather than sugar. Greek desserts can be almost painfully sweet, ranging from delicate buttery kourambiedes to rich, sweet breads. Desserts can be served with Metaxa, a sweet Greek brandy, and are surprisingly light beyond their sweetness.
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