Greek cuisine

Greek cuisine is the cuisine of Greece and the Greek diaspora. In common with many other cuisines of the Mediterranean, it is founded on the triad of wheat, olive oil, and wine. It uses vegetables, olive oil, grains, fish, and meat, including pork, poultry, veal and beef, lamb, rabbit, and goat. Other important ingredients include pasta (for example hilopites), cheeses, herbs, lemon juice, olives and olive oil, and yogurt. Bread made of wheat is ubiquitous; other grains, notably barley, are also used, especially for paximathia. Common dessert ingredients include nuts, honey, fruits, sesame, and filo pastries. It continues traditions from Ancient Greek and Byzantine cuisine, while incorporating Asian, Turkish, Balkan, and Italian influences.

Table of Greek food

Souvlaki

Moussaka

Gyros rolled in a pita

History

Further information: Ancient Greek cuisine and Byzantine cuisine

Greek cuisine is part of the culture of Greece and is recorded in images and texts from ancient times. Its influence spread to ancient Rome and then throughout Europe and beyond.

Ancient Greek cuisine was characterized by its frugality and was founded on the "Mediterranean triad": wheat, olive oil, and wine, with meat being rarely eaten and fish being more common. This trend in Greek diet continued in Cyprus and changed only fairly recently when technological progress has made meat more available. Wine and olive oil have always been a central part of it and the spread of grapes and olive trees in the Mediterranean and further afield is correlated with Greek colonization.

The Spartan diet was also marked by its frugality. A notorious staple of the Spartan diet was melas zomos (black soup), made by boiling the pigs' legs, blood of pigs, olive oil, bay leaf, chopped onion, salt, water, and vinegar as an emulsifier to keep the blood from coagulation during the cooking process. The army of Sparta mainly ate this as part of their subsistence diet. This dish was noted by the Spartans' Greek contemporaries, particularly Athenians and Corinthians, as proof of the Spartans' different way of living.

Byzantine cuisine was similar to ancient cuisine, with the addition of new ingredients, such as caviar, nutmeg and basil. Lemons, prominent in Greek cuisine and introduced in the second century, were used medicinally before being incorporated into the diet. Fish continued to be an integral part of the diet for coastal dwellers. Culinary advice was influenced by the theory of humors, first put forth by the ancient Greek doctor Claudius Aelius Galenus. Byzantine cuisine benefited from Constantinople's position as a global hub of the spice trade.

Overview

The most characteristic and ancient element of Greek cuisine is olive oil, which is used in most dishes. It is produced from the olive trees prominent throughout the region, and adds to the distinctive taste of Greek food. The olives themselves are also widely eaten. The basic grain in Greece is wheat, though barley is also grown. Important vegetables include tomato, aubergine (eggplant), potato, green beans, okra, green peppers (capsicum), and onions. Honey in Greece is mainly honey from the nectar of fruit trees and citrus trees: lemon, orange, bigarade (bitter orange) trees, thyme honey, and pine honey. Mastic, an aromatic, ivory-coloured plant resin, is grown on the Aegean island of Chios.

Greek cuisine uses some flavorings more often than other Mediterranean cuisines do, namely oregano, mint, garlic, onion, dill, cumin, and bay laurel leaves. Other common herbs and spices include basil, thyme and fennel seed. Parsley is also used as a garnish on some dishes. Many Greek recipes, especially in the northern parts of the country, use "sweet" spices in combination with meat, for example cinnamon, allspice and cloves in stews.

The climate and terrain has tended to favour the breeding of goats and sheep over cattle, and thus beef dishes are uncommon. Fish dishes are common in coastal regions and on the islands. A great variety of cheese types are used in Greek cuisine, including Feta, Kasseri, Kefalotyri, Graviera, Anthotyros, Manouri, Metsovone, Ladotyri (cheese with olive oil), Kalathaki (a specialty from the island of Limnos), Katiki Domokou (creamy cheese, suitable for spreads), Mizithra and many more.

Dining out is common in Greece. The taverna and estiatorio are widespread, serving home cooking at affordable prices to both locals and tourists. Locals still largely eat Greek cuisine.

Common street foods include souvlaki, gyros, various pitas and roast corn.

Fast food became popular in the 1970s, with some chains, such as Goody's and McDonald's serving international food like hamburgers, and others serving Greek foods such as souvlaki, gyros, tiropita, and spanakopita.

Since 2013, Greece for its Mediterranean diet has been added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.

Origins

Many dishes can be traced back to ancient Greece: lentil soup, fasolada (though the modern version is made with white beans and tomatoes, both New World plants), tiganites, retsina (white or rosé wine flavored with pine resin) and pasteli (baked sesame-honey bar); some to the Hellenistic and Roman periods: loukaniko (dried pork sausage); and Byzantium: feta cheese, avgotaraho (cured fish roe), moustalevria and paximadi (traditional hard bread baked from wheat, barley and rye). There are also many ancient and Byzantine dishes which are no longer consumed: porridge (chilós in Greek) as the main staple, fish sauce (garos), and salt water mixed into wine.

Some dishes are borrowed from Italian and adapted to Greek tastes: pastitsio (pasticcio), pastitsada (pasticciata), stifado (stufato), salami, macaronia, mandolato, and more.

Some Greek dishes are inherited from Ottoman cuisine, which combined influences from Persian, Levantine, Arabian, Turkish and Byzantine cuisines: meze, kadaifi, halva, and loukoumi.

In the 20th century, French cuisine had a major influence on Greek cooking, largely due to the French-trained chef Nikolaos Tselementes, who created the modern Greek pastitsio; he also created the modern Greek version of moussaka by combining an existing eggplant dish with a French-style gratin topping. Greek chef Zisis Kerameas has recognized for his contribution to Greek cuisine and as culinary arts teacher (1970–2000) at public vocational tourism professions schools.

Regions

Distinct from the mainstream regional cuisines are:

• Cuisine of the Aegean islands (including Kykladítiki from Kyklades, Rhodítiki from Rhodes and other Dodecanese islands, and the Cuisine of Lesbos island).
• Cuisine of Argolis, Cuisine of Patras, Arcadian and Maniot cuisines, parts of the Cuisine of Peloponnesean.
• Cuisine of the Ionian islands (Heptanisiakí), a lot of Italian influence.
• Ipirótiki (Epirotic cuisine).
• Kritikí (Cretan cuisine).
• Kypriakí (Cypriot cuisine).
• Makedonikí (Macedonian cuisine).
• Mikrasiatikí, from the Greeks of Asia Minor descent, including Polítiki (from Constantinople), from the tradition of the Greeks from Constantinople, a cuisine with significant Anatolian/Ottoman influence.
• Pontiakí (Pontic Greek cuisine), found anywhere there are Pontic Greeks (Greeks from the Black Sea region).
• Thrakiótiki (Thracian cuisine).

Some ethnic minorities living in Greece also have their own cuisine. One example is the Aromanians and their Aromanian cuisine.

Typical dishes

Main article: List of Greek dishes

Typical home-cooked meals include seasonal vegetables stewed with olive oil, herbs, and tomato sauce known as lathera. Vegetables used in these dishes include green beans, peas, okra, cauliflower, spinach, leeks and others.

Many food items are wrapped in filo pastry, either in bite-size triangles or in large sheets: kotopita (chicken pie), spanakopita (spinach and cheese pie), hortopita (greens pie), kimadopita (ground meat pie) also known as kreatopita (meat pie), kolokythopita (zucchini pie), and others. They have countless variations of pitas (savory pies).

Apart from the Greek dishes that can be found all over Greece, there are also many regional dishes.

North-Western and Central Greece (Epirus, Thessaly and Roumeli/Central Greece) have a strong tradition of filo-based dishes, such as some special regional pitas.

Greek cuisine uses seeds and nuts in everything from pastry to main dishes.

A typical Greek-style breakfast, and brunch, consists of Greek coffee, frappé coffee, mountain tea, hot milk, fruit juice, rusks, bread, butter, honey, jam, fresh fruits, koulouri (sesame bread ring, a type of simit), Greek strained yogurt, bougatsa, tiropita, spanakopita, boiled eggs, fried eggs, omelette, strapatsada, piroski, croissant, tsoureki. A popular meal for breakfast is bougatsa provided mainly by bougatsadika shops selling bougatsa, pies, pastries, beverages. Traditional Greek breakfast was also providing in special dairy shops called galaktopoleia (milk shops) have dairy products, milk, butter, yoghurt, sweets, honey, beverages, whereas today galaktopoleia shops exist very few.

The list of Greek dishes includes dishes found in all of Greece as well as some regional ones.

Appetizers

Octopus plate

Pikilia (a variety of small meze foods)

Fried calamari (squid)

Skordalia, hummus, tomato, olives, roasted peppers, eggplant, and grilled pita bread

Saganaki

Olives

Loukaniko

Roasted stuffed Florina peppers

Selected appetizers are:

• Antzougies,
• Avgotaracho, Bottarga, flathead mullet caught in lagoons with the well known the European and Greek Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Avgotaracho Messolongiou from the Messolonghi-Etoliko Lagoons. The whole mature ovaries are removed from the fish, washed with water, salted with natural sea salt, dried under the sun, and sealed in melted beeswax.
• Florina peppers, it can be roasted, sliced and served by adding olive oil and garlic.
• Toursi (pickle), with the well known the pickled peppers and mixed pickle.
• Feta topped with olive oil and oregano
• Flogeres, crispy filo wrapped around a filling of goat cheese, herbs, sun-dried tomato, or ground meat.
• Sardeles psites (roasted sardines),
• Htapodi sti schara (octopus on the grill),
• Patatokeftedes, patato fritters.
• Tirokroketes, cheese fritters (fried cheese balls) also known as tirokeftedes.
• Bourekakia, mini rolls filled with cheese or ground meat or vegetables.
• Kolokithokeftedes, pumpkin fritters.
• Saganaki, fried kefalograviera cheese.
• Melitzanes tiganites, fried eggplants.
• Bouyiourdi,
• Kafteri piperia (hot pepper), with the well known the hot pepper tsouska, grilled or roasted chili pepper served with olive oil and vinegar.
• Lakerda, pickled raw fish that is typically prepared with steaks of mature Atlantic bonito.
• Loutza
• Olives,
• Kolokithakia tiganita, fried cucurbita.
• Koxloi, escargot, also is a main course.
• Htapodi ksidato, octopus marinated in vinegar.
• Steamed mussels,
• Omelette,
• Strapatsada, also known as kagianas, scrambled eggs (omelette) with tomato.
• Sfougato, oven-baked omelette with eggs, grated zucchini, scallions (green onions), dill, feta cheese, kefalotyri or other type cheese, with the well known the sfougato from the islands of Mytilene, Santorini, Crete, it is also served as breakfast.
• Kalamarakia tiganita, fried squid slices served with a lemon wedge.
• Dolmades, also known as dolmades or dolmadakia, stuffed grape leaves.
• Ofti potato, baked patato with coarse salt, dried oregano, olive oil, served with olives, chopped dried onion and lemon.
• Tomatokeftedes, tomato fritters wider well known throughout the island of Santorini.
• Staka me ayga (staka with eggs), a Cretan dish consisting of poached or fried eggs and local staka (a type of buttery cream mixed with flour).
• Gigantes plaki or gigandes plaki, baked Greek Gigantes beans with tomato sauce and herbs, also is a main course. The Greek cooking method plaki is food on a roasting tin that is baked or roasted in the oven with extra virgin olive oil, tomatoes, vegetables, and herbs, with the well-known gigantes beans plaki and fish plaki.
• Marides tiganites, small-sized whitebait fish (spicara smaris) that are lightly dusted with flour, then fried.
• Skordopsomo, garlic bread made with a combination of sliced bread, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, and basil.
• Garides saganaki, sautéed shrimps that are deglazed with the ouzo, then doused in tomato sauce, and topped with crumbled feta.
• Dakos, a traditional Cretan food features a slice of soaked dried bread or barley rusk (paximadi) topped with chopped tomatoes and crumbled feta or mizithra cheese, dried oregano and a few splashes of olive oil. Dakos is also deemed as a salad.
• Sikotakia (livers), fried lamb or chicken small liver slices with olive oil and oregano. Also it serves as main dish known as "Tigania" which refers to the shallow pan in which the meal (pork or chicken or lamp) is cooked.
• Loukaniko (sausage), Greek traditional sausage made from pork or lamb and typically flavored with orange peel, fennel seed, and various other dried herbs and seeds, and sometimes smoked over aromatic woods. They are also often flavored with greens, especially leeks.
• Fava, yellow split peas that are cooked with onions and various spices until they transform into a creamy purée. It uses as a dip or a main course dish, with the well known the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) certified Fava Santorinis (Lathyrus clymenum).
• Tsouknidopita (nettle pie),
• Spanakopita (spinach pie), spinach pie.
• Kimadopita (ground meat pie), also known as Kreatopita (meat pie).
• Hortopita (greens pie), pie filled with a variety of wild or cultivated greens.
• Pitarakia, mini half-moon-shaped mizithra cheese pies from the island of Milos.
• Kolokithopita (pumpkin pie), savory pie with pumpkin and feta filling which is placed between two layers of phyllo pastry.
• Sfakiani pita or Sfakianopita (Sfakian pie), traditional Cretan pan-fried thin flat pie from Sfakia stuffed with mizithra cheese drizzled with honey sometimes with sesame seeds, also served as a dessert.
• Tiropita (cheese pie), pie with Greek feta cheese, also well known is Tiropitakia which are mini cheese pies made with phyllo triangles stuffed with Greek feta cheese, and Tiropitakia Kourou which has Kourou dough.
• Piroski or Pirozhki, fried pita has filling of feta cheese or Greek Protected Destination of Origin (PDO) certified kasseri cheese or ground meat or mashed potato or other filling or mix filling. Serving hot. Most in the past time, also less still today, piroski can be found in Greece in specialty shops selling piroski exclusively.

Salads

Horiatiki salad

Horta salad

Marouli salad

In the Greek cuisine, appetizers are also the salads. Selected salads are:

• Horiatiki salad, village's salad, a salad with pieces of tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, feta cheese (usually served as a slice on top of the other ingredients), and olives and dressed with oregano and olive oil.
• Horta salad, greens salad, boiled Greek edible greens dressed with olive oil and fresh lemon juice, greens are like antidia (endives), vlita (amaranth greens), myronia (wild chervil), radikia (chicory), seskoula (chard), armyrithra, glistrida, styfnos, zoxos, asparagus.
• Dakos, or ntakos, traditional Cretan salad and appetizer.
• Pikantiki (also known as politiki), made with white cabbage and purple cabbage finely chopped, pickled Florina peppers, carrot, celery, parsley, finely chopped garlic, lemon juice, white vinegar, olive oil, salt.
• Lahanosalata, cabbage salad, thinly chopped cabbage with salt, olive oil and lemon or vinegar juice.
• Kaparosalata, caper salad with the well known the caper salad of the islands of Sifnos and Syros.
• Ampelofasoula, cowpea salad.
• Kounoupidi (cauliflower), salad with boiled cauliflower.
• Patatosalata, potato salad with boiled potato.
• Patzarosalata, beet salad with boiled beet.
• Brokolo (broccoli), salad with boiled broccoli.
• Aggouro-ntomata, cucumber with tomato.
• Fasolia mavromatika, black-eyed pea.
• Marouli, lettuce salad.
• Tonosalata, tuna salad.

Spreads and dips

Tzatziki

Taramosalata

In the Greek cuisine, appetizers are also the spreads and dips, belong also to Greek sauces. Selected spreads and dips are:

• Olive paste, tapenade.
• Rosiki, boiled potatoes, carrot, cucumber, mayonnaise, pea.
• Kipourou, gardener's salad, cabbage, carrot, radish, mayonnaise.
• Kopanisti, feta cheese, grilled red sweet peppers, olive oil, fresh garlic.
• Melitzanosalata (eggplant salad), eggplant spread and dip (eggplant salads and appetizers).
• Skordalia, garlic spread and dip from mashed potatoes, olive oil, vinegar, raw garlic.
• Tirokafteri, spread and dip from feta cheese, yogurt, hot peppers, olive oil, and vinegar.
• Paprika, sweet paprika, concentrate tomato paste, roasted red pepper (Florina pepper), feta cheese, olive oil.
• Taramosalata, spread and dip from taramás fish roe mixed with olive oil, lemon juice, and a starchy base of bread or potatoes.
• Feta cheese sauce, creamy sauce made from feta cheese, finely chopped garlic, crushed garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, thyme.
• Tzatziki, spread and dip, strained yogurt or diluted yogurt mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil, sometimes with vinegar or lemon juice, and herbs such as dill, mint, parsley and thyme.

Soups

Fasolada soup

Selected soups are:

• Fasolada, soup of dry white beans, olive oil, and vegetables.
• Fakes, lentil soup.
• Hortosoupa (greens soup), vegetable soup that comes in numerous versions.
• Avgolemono, made with whisked eggs and lemon juice that are combined in a broth. It is also a sauce.
• Youvarlakia, soup from balls of ground meat, rice, finished with avgolemono (the creamy egg and lemon sauce), cooked in a pot.
• Kotosoupa (chicken soup), made from chicken broth, tender chicken cuts, various root vegetables, and rice, using many time avgolemono sause.
• Kremidosoupa (onion soup),
• Kreatosoupa (meat soup),
• Kakavia, soup made from fishes, onions, potatoes, olive oil, and vegetables.
• Kokkinisto kritharaki, also known as manestra soup, made from orzo (kritharaki, also known as manestra), onion, tomato sauce, olive oil.
• Magiritsa, thick soup made with lamb offal (intestines, heart, and liver), dill, avgolemono sauce (egg and lemon beaten together), onion and rice, associated with the tradition where following the Resurrection on Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday people eat magiritsa soup.
• Ntomatosoupa (tomato soup), with Greek ingredients.
• Patsas, tripe soup made from lamb, sheep, or pork tripe as key ingredients, most use animal's head or feet and enrich the broth with garlic, onions, lemon juice, and vinegar.
• Revithosoupa (chickpea soup), also known as revithada.
• Psarosoupa (fish soup),
• Trahanas, tarhana soup.
• Xilos, porridge, it is typically for breakfast.

Dishes

Moussaka

Souvlaki

Paidakia

Soutzoukakia smyrneika

Giouvetsi

Bifteki burger stuffed with Greek feta cheese

Fasolakia

Gigantes plaki

Traditional Greek kleftiko, consisting of lamb marinated with lemon juice, potatoes and spices and cooked slowly in a sealed container.

Shrimps

Selected dishes are:

• Agkinares, cardoon has various recipes.
• Fasolakia, green beans that are simmered in olive oil with other vegetable ingredients, belongs to ladera which literally translating to "oily", vegetable dishes cooked in olive oil.
• Arakas (pea), belongs to ladera dishes, with the well-known dish "Arakas me Agkinares".
• Bamies (okra), belongs to ladera dishes.
• Briam, also known as tourlou, belongs to ladera dishes, typically made from eggplants, zucchini, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, parsley.
• Gemista or Yemista, "filled with" in Greek, baked stuffed bell peppers and tomatoes with rice or ground beef or both, onions, mint, parsley, olive oil.
• Lahanodolmades, baked stuffed light green cabbage rolls with rice or ground beef or both, onions, mint, parsley, avgolemono sauce.
• Lahanorizo, rice and cabbage, onions, fresh herbs, and the optional addition of tomato sauce.
• Prasorizo (leek and rice), made from rice, chopped sweet leeks, olive oil, garlic, dill.
• Spanakorizo (spinach and rice),
• Apaki, cured pork meat. Left to marinate for two or three days in vinegar, the meat is then smoked with aromatic herbs and various spices. Apaki can be cooked on its own or added to other dishes.
• Stifado (stew), casserole cooked with baby onions, tomatoes, wine or vinegar, olive oil, bay leaf, black pepper, meat such as pork, goat, rabbit, wild hare, beef, snails, tripe, octopus.
• Potatoes Yachni, potatoes stew, potatoes simmered in a tomato sauce with onions, garlic, herbs and spices.
• Pastitsio, baked pasta dish with ground meat and béchamel sauce.
• Astakomakaronada (lobster with spaghetti), lobster meat that is coupled with a flavorful tomato-based sauce and served over pasta.
• Kokkinisto kritharaki, tomato orzo (kritharaki, also known as manestra) stew.
• Makaronia me kima (spaghetti with ground meat),
• Garidomakaronada (shrimps with spaghetti),
• Melitzanes Papoutsakia, baked eggplants stuffed with ground beef and topping it with a smooth béchamel sauce. The dish is called papoutsakia (little shoes) because its shape resembles little shoes.
• Kolokithakia gemista (stuffed zucchini), zucchini stuffed with rice and sometimes meat and cooked on the stovetop or in the oven.
• Spetsofai, made with spicy country sausages, sweet peppers, onion, garlic, olive oil, in a rich tomato sauce.
• Giouvetsi, pieces of lamb (or beef) and small noodles such as orzo, all cooked together in a tomato sauce with garlic and oregano.
• Gyros, pork meat or chicken cooked on a vertical rotisserie, onions, tomato, lettuce, fried potatoes, sauces like tzatziki rolled in a pita bread.
• Gogges (also called goggizes or gogglies), a type of egg-free pasta made in the Peloponnese, especially in Argolis and Laconia.
• Hilopites, traditional Greek pasta made from flour, eggs, milk, and salt, with the well known the hilopites Matsata.
• Pastitsada,
• Bourdeto,
• Sofigado, rabbit giouvetsi (stew) from the island of Kefalonia.
• Sofrito, beef rump lightly fried with plenty of garlic and velvety sauce, from the island of Corfu.
• Mastelo, roast lamb from the island of Sifnos.
• Roasted chicken with potatoes or rice,
• Kleftiko, slow-roasted leg of lamb or lamb shoulder wrapped in parchment paper with potatoes, bell peppers, onions, feta cheese, marinated with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, fresh rosemary and herbs.
• Mousakas, also known as moussaka, sliced tender eggplant cut lengthwise, or potato-based, lamb ground meat, topped with a thick layer of béchamel sauce.
• Moshari kokkinisto, stewed veal meat, onions, garlic, olive oil, tomato sauce, served accompanied by basmati rice, or pasta or potatoes or potato purée. Kokkinisto is cooking meat or pasta, usually beef, pork, poultry, orzo, braised in tomato sauce.
• Keftedakia, meat fritters, fried meatballs from lean ground beef with eggs, onions, garlic, parsley, mint, it also make them using half ground beef and half ground pork. A well known version is the shish kiofte (also known as kofta kebab) made from lamb.
• Giaourtlou lamp kebab or Yiaourtlou lamp kebab, traditional recipe from Asia Minor and Constantinople made from spicy ground lamb kofta kebab, yogurt sauce, tomato sauce.
• Soutzoukakia, oblong shaped meatballs made with beef ground meat or mixed (beef, pork, lamp) or chicken.
• Soutzoukakia Smyrneika (Smyrna meatballs), oblong shaped beef meatballs made with cumin and cinnamon, then simmered in a rich tomato sauce.
• Biftekia, Greek-version burger patties made with a combination of ground pork, beef, or lamb, and the meat is mixed with onions, breadcrumbs, eggs, parsley leaves finely chopped and oregano. They can grilled, baked or fried.
• Arni souvlas, whole lamb on the spit baked with rotisserie (electric- or gas-powered heating rotisserie) or over flaming charcoals (barbecue), specifically following the culinary tradition on Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday.
• Arnaki sto fourno me patates (oven-baked lamb with potatoes),
• Katsikaki ston fourno (oven-baked goat),
• Paidakia, ribs, with the well-knon the lamb chops.
• Gida vrasti (boiled goat),
• Hirino me selino, pork meat with celery.
• Souvlaki, with the well known the souvlaki pita.
• Kontosouvli,
• Souvla, large pieces of meat cooked on a long skewer over flaming charcoals (barbecue). It is also a technique of cooking meat. Also Antikristo is a traditional technique of cooking meat on the island of Crete.
• Kokoretsi, a dish consisting of lamb or goat intestines wrapped around seasoned offal, including sweetbreads, hearts, lungs, or kidneys, and grilled.
• Tigania, pan-fried pork or chicken. The name "tigania" refers to the shallow pan in which the meal is cooked.
• Fagri sti schara (red porgy on the grill),
• Gavros tiganitos (fried anchovy),
• Gopes tiganites (fried boops boops),
• Bakaliaros (merluccius merluccius), cod fish, the most well-known recipe is the fried bakaliaros mainly served with skordalia dip and fried potatoes.
• Soupies (cuttlefish),
• Xiphias or Xifias, a species of swordfish.

Desserts and pastries

Spoon sweet sour cherry

Loukoumades

Baklava

Kantaifi

Revani

Melomakarona

Diples

Portokalopita

Melitinia

Korne and babas

Bougatsa

Selected desserts and pastries (sweet and savory) are:

• Amygdalopita (almond pie), almond cake made with ground almonds, flour, butter, eggs and pastry cream.
• Amygdalota, traditional sweet has several versions made from almonds, sugar and flower water.
• Akanés, from Serres.
• Armenonville, from Thessaloniki.
• Ashure, also known as varvara.
• Avgato, a spoon sweet of plum from the island of Skopelos.
• Akoumia, a traditional dessert type of loukouma (donut) that is prepared on the island of Symi.
• Baklava,
• Babas, rum baba.
• Gianniotikos Balkavas, type of Baklava from Ioannina.
• Giaourtopita (yogurt pie), yogurt cake with syrup.
• Bougatsa krema (bougatsa cream),
• Copenhagen, cake made off of two layers of filo, syrup, spread with butter, with a cream filling in between.
• Fanouropita,
• Frigania, from the island of Zakynthos.
• Fritoura, from the island of Zakynthos.
• Flogeres,
• Melomakarona, they are also known as finikia.
• Galaktoboureko, custard cake with syrup.
• Galatopita (milk pie), milk cake.
• Halvadopita (halva pie), nougat pie, with the well-known the halvadopita from the islands of Chios and Syros.
• Hamalia, a traditional dessert from the islands of Skiathos, Alonnisos and Skopelos.
• Isli or Itsli, cookies stuffed with walnut similar to Greek Christmas cookies called melomakarona.
• Kalitsounia or Lichnarakia, from the island of Crete.
• Karydopita (walnut pie), walnut cake.
• Karpouzopita (watermelon pie), watermelon cake from the island of Milos.
• Kolokythopita (pumpkin pie), sweet pie with yellow or red pumpkin.
• Krema (cream), a traditional custard sweet with the well-known made with vanilla, chocolate, yogurt.
• Koliva, boiled wheat kernels, honey, sesame seeds, walnuts, raisins, anise, almonds, pomegranate seeds, with powdered sugar on top. It is used as a ritual dish liturgically in the Eastern Orthodox Church religion, mostly prepared for commemorations of the dead, funerals, memorials.
• Koufeto,
• Koufeto, known as Koufeto of Milos, spoon sweet from the island of Milos.
• Koulourakia,
• Kourampiedes,
• Kydonopasto,
• Korne, Greek cream-filled puff pastry cone.
• Kok, Greek profiterole consisting of pastry cream, chocolate glaze and syrup.
• Loukoumi,
• Masourakia, from the island of Chios.
• Melekouni, from the island of Rhodes.
• Muhallebi or Mahallebi.
• Moustalevria,
• Moustokouloura, grape must cookies.
• Mpezedes, also known as mareges.
• Mandola, almond candy from the island of Corfu.
• Mosaiko (mosaic), also known as kormos or salami.
• Mamoulia, traditional cookies from the islands of Chios and Crete.
• Melitinia, a traditional dessert from the island of Santorini made from sweet cheese, sugar, eggs, a hint of mastic.
• Misokofti, a traditional pudding-like dessert type of mustalevria from the island of Symi that's made with a combination of ripe fragosika (prickly pear) pulp, niseste (corn starch), and sugar.
• Pasteli, sesame seed candy made from sesame seeds, sugar or honey pressed into a bar.
• Loukoumades, fried balls of dough that are often spiced with cinnamon and drizzled with honey.
• Fouskakia, a version of loukoumades from the island of Skopelos.
• Diples, pastry sheets that are rolled, deep-fried, and doused or drizzled with a thick, honey-based syrup.
• Pastafrola, also well known as pasta flora.
• Patouda, cookies from the island of Crete combine flaky dough with a sweet nut-based filling.
• Petimezopita (petimezi pie), grape syrup cake.
• Rizogalo,
• Roxakia,
• Sfoliatsa, from the island of Syros.
• Stafidopsomo (raisin bread),
• Sousamopita (sesame pie), sesame cake with syrup.
• Sokolatopita (chocolate pie), chocolate cake with syrup.
• Spatoula, from Kalabaka, walnut cake with diplomat cream.
• Samsades, a traditional dessert from the island of Limnos consisting of filo (phyllo dough) that's rolled around a filling of nuts, baked, and then drenched in sugar or honey syrup, thyme honey, or grape must (petimezi).
• Sikopita or Sykomaida, a traditional dessert of fig cake from the island of Corfu made from dried figs, ground almonds or walnuts, ouzo, cinnamon, cloves, and fennel seeds.
• Poniro,
• Spoon sweets,
• Rodinia, small rolls of marzipan that are wrapped with a layer of wiped cream and on their center have a whole cherry.
• Tiganita, also known as laggita, very thin tiganita is a Greek-style Crêpe, thicker and fluffier tiganita is a Greek-style Pancake.
• Tsoureki,
• Vasilopita, Greek New Year's cake with a coin or a trinket baked inside of it.
• Yogurt mousse, mousse made from sheep's yoghurt.
• Strained yogurt with honey, walnuts often added.
• Komposta, made from peach, apple, pear or other fruits.
• Halvas with tahini,
• Halvas with semolina,
• Halvas Farsalon, known as sapoune halva or jelly halva from Farsala.
• Kariokes, small sized walnut-filled chocolates and shaped like crescents.
• Kantaifi,
• Kiounefe,
• Kazan Dibi,
• Revani,
• Cretan Kserotigano, sweet fritter from the island of Crete.
• Patsavouropita, traditional filo pie sweet with a custard or savory with cheese filling.
• Portokalopita (orange pie), orange cake with syrup.
• Milopita (apple pie), apple cake.
• Melopita (honey pie), honey cake, traditionally associated with the island of Sifnos.
• Saliaroi or Saliaria, from Kozani.
• Samali, extra syrupy Greek semolina cake with mastic. One of the traditional well-known sweets from Constantinople such as the Keşkül that is an almond-based milk pudding, Firin Sütlaç that is oven-baked rice pudding, Tavukgöğsü that is pudding made with shredded chicken breast.
• Trigona Panoramatos, from the Panorama, Thessaloniki.
• Touloumba or Tulumba
• Ypovrihio or Ypovrichio, means submarine in Greek, also known as vanilia or mastiha, a white chewy sweet that is served on a spoon dipped in a tall glass of cold water.
• Fetoydia,
• Venizelika, from the island of Limnos.
• Zoumero, chocolate cake originating from Chania made with flour, baking powder, eggs, vanilla, and cocoa powder.
• Candied fruits,
• Dried fruits,

Drinks and beverages

Greek coffee

Café frappé

Selected drinks and beverages are:

• Greek mountain tea
• Greek coffee,
• Frappé coffee, invented in Thessaloniki in 1957.
• Freddo cappuccino,
• Esspreso freddo, iced coffee combines espresso and ice merely serve coffee over ice blends the two ingredients until the coffee is slightly chilled.
• Salepi,
• Ouzo,
• Retsina,
• Tsipouro,
• Tsikoudia,
• Gin,
• Liqueur,
• Beer, Beer in Greece.
• Souma, from island of Chios.
• Tentura, liqueur that hails from Patras.
• Kumquat, liqueur produced mainly on the island of Corfu.
• Kitron, or Kitro, liqueur produced on the island of Naxos.
• Fatourada, orange-flavored liqueur from the Greek island of Kythira.
• Mineral water, from several recognized water sources from Greece.
• Sparkling mineral water, mineral carbonated water from sources from Greece.
• Mastika, or mastiha, liqueur that is made with mastiha, mostly Chios Mastiha.
• Soumada, a non-alcoholic, syrupy, almond-based beverage that is produced on the island of Crete.
• Rakomelo, made by combining raki or tsipouro - two types of grape pomace brandy - with honey and several spices, such as cinnamon, cardamom, or other regional herbs. It is produced in Crete and other islands of the Aegean Sea.
• Metaxa, made from brandy, a secret combination of botanicals, and the aromatic and carefully selected Muscat wines from the island of Samos.
• Wine, Greece has approximately 200 vine varieties with the well-known, Agiorgitiko, Anthemis, Assyrtiko, Athiri, Begleri Ikaria, Debina, Fokiano Ikaria, Kidonitsa, Kotsifali, Lagorthi, Limnio, Liatiko, Limniona, Malagousia, Mandilaria, Mantinia, Mavrodafni, Mavrotragano, Moschofilero, Muscat of Limnos, Naousa, Negoska, Nemea, Oinomelo, Patras, Roditis, Rodola, Romeiko, Samos nectar, Samos Vin Doux, Savatiano, Vidiano, Vilana, Vinsanto (Visanto), Xinomavro.

See also

• Turkish cuisine
• Cypriot cuisine
• Greek-American cuisine
• Greek Macedonian cuisine
• Greek food products
• Greek restaurant
• European cuisine
• Nikolaos Tselementes

Further reading

• Tselementes, Nicholas (1956). Greek Cookery, Nicholas Tselementes, International Authority on European and Oriental Cooking. New York: D.C.Divry. LCCN 56027966. OCLC 20411071. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024 – via Open Library.
• Paradissi, Chrissa (2017). Terzopoulou, Alexia (ed.). Cooking and Pastry (in Greek) (6th ed.). Athens: Terzopoulos Books. ISBN 978-960-683-836-1.
• Sarantos, Nikolaos; Chiladakis, Stefanos (2005). Culinary Art: Educational Professional Cooking (in Greek). Athens: Organization of Tourism Education and Training (ΟΤΕΚ), Ministry of Touristic Development. ISBN 9789608799394 – via National Library of Greece.
• Alexiou, Giannis (2010). Taste & Art 1 (in Greek). Vol. 1. Thessaloniki: Sygxronoi Orizontes. ISBN 978-960-398-341-5.
• Alexiou, Giannis (2010). Taste & Art 2 (in Greek). Vol. 2. Thessaloniki: Sygxronoi Orizontes. ISBN 978-960-398-342-2.
• Alexiou, Giannis (2010). Taste & Art 3 (in Greek). Vol. 3. Thessaloniki: Sygxronoi Orizontes. ISBN 978-960-398-343-9.
• Cooking with Spices (in Greek). Athens: Kathimerini, Kathimerines Publications. 2013. ISBN 978-960-475-219-5.
• Favas and Purees (in Greek). Athens: Kathimerini, Kathimerines Publications. 2013. ISBN 978-960-475-216-4.
• McFadden, Christine; Atkinson, Catherine; Banks, Mary (2005). The Great Book of Coffee (in Greek). Translated by Sokodimos, A.; Paxinou, V. Athens: Tsitsilonis A. Professional Cooking Publications. ISBN 978-960-8058-33-0.
• Psilaki, Maria; Psilakis, Nikos (1995). Cretan Traditional Cuisine, The Miracle of the Cretan Diet (in Greek). Heraklion: Karmanor. ISBN 978-960-7448-22-4.
• Psilaki, Maria; Psilakis, Nikos (2001). The bread of the Greeks and the sweets of our folk tradition (in Greek). Heraklion: Karmanor. ISBN 960-7448-27-8.
• Kousoulas, Kostas (2001). "Naousa and its Wines" (PDF). Niaousta (in Greek). 94: 32–35. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
• Dalby, Andrew (1996). Siren Feasts: A History of Food and Gastronomy in Greece. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-11620-1.
• Karayanis, Dean; Karayanis, Catherine (2008). Regional Greek Cooking. Hippocrene Books. ISBN 978-0-7818-1146-0.
• Walton, Stuart; Glover, Brian (2011). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Wine, Beer & Spirits. London: Hermes House.
• Halevy, Alon Y. (2011). The Infinite Emotion of Coffee. Macchiatone Communications. ISBN 978-0-9847715-1-6.
• Oliver, Garrett, ed. (2012). The Oxford Companion to Beer. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-536713-3.
• Nelson, Max (2005). The Barbarian's Beverage. Routledge. ISBN 1-134-38672-9.
• Unwin, Tim (1996). Wine and the Vine. Routledge. ISBN 0-203-01326-3.

External links

• Greek gastronomy at GNTO