Greek food is made with fresh vegetables, olive oil, cereals, and pasta, and is not overly spiced. Traditional dishes include moussaka, dolmades, and souvlaki. Desserts are made with phyllo pastry, nuts, and honey, such as baklava and loukomades. Seafood is also popular.
Greek food is characterized by unprocessed natural ingredients that are not overly spiced. The main dishes are made with fresh vegetables, olive oil, cereals and pasta. Lamb and beef are paired with vegetables in offerings such as moussaka – an eggplant and beef dish – and dolmades or stuffed grape leaves. Desserts get their sweetness from local honey.
A meal at a restaurant serving traditional Greek food can start with a salad filled with fresh green lettuce, peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Feta cheese, a traditional Greek cheese with a crumbly texture and salty flavor, spread liberally over the salad, along with purple kalamata olives, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. It is often served with crusty, oven-baked loaves of bread.
Moussaka is a baked dish made from minced meat, eggplants and tomatoes. Fresh herbs and spices contrast a creamy sauce made with flour, eggs, cheese and butter. Pastitio is a soft cheese platter filled with pasta, tomatoes, and ground beef.
Roasted chicken is often spiced with oregano and baked surrounded by quartered potatoes. Leg of lamb is a traditional holiday dish flavored with garlic and rosemary and served with roasted onions and potatoes. The steaks are marinated in olive oil and herbs before being grilled.
Greece is surrounded by water and many Greek food recipes include seafood. Psarosoupa is a fish soup made from grouper and fresh vegetables such as potatoes, carrots and onions in avgolemono, a broth of egg and lemon. Small fresh sardines that are rubbed in oil and vinegar and gavros, which are fried anchovies served with vinegar, are both popular snacks and light meals. In season, calamari, or crispy fried calamari rings, are piled on plates along with a tangy dipping sauce.
Souvlaki is a popular snack in Greece and a well-known type of Greek food. Slivers of meat are shaved from a large cone of lamb and beef and served in warm bread with onions, tomatoes and feta cheese. Souvlaki is sometimes served with a vinegary tomato sauce or, more often, a yogurt sauce rich in garlic and cucumber essence. It is also known as a gyroscope, which is pronounced “YEE-row”.
Dolmades are made from grape leaves which are stuffed with ground lamb, Bulgarian wheat and spices. The rolled leaves are simmered in chicken broth and served with a lemon and egg sauce. Another traditional appetizer is marinated feta cheese served with black olives and peppers in a balsamic vinegar sauce.
One might want to save some room for dessert when eating Greek food. Greek sweets are confections usually made with phyllo pastry – a delicate and thin flaky pastry – nuts and honey. Baklava is a thick, rich pastry cut into triangles or diamonds and served. Loukomades are fried donuts that are dipped in honey sauce.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
