Greek cuisine

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Greek cuisine is the cuisine of Greece or perhaps of the Greeks. Contemporary Greek cookery is typical of Mediterranean cuisine accompanied by oriental elements. There is influence from the Ottoman cuisine and other cuisines of the Balkans and Anatolia (Fragner, 1994). Elements from Italian diet are also present.

1 Main Ingredients
2 Appetizers
3 Soups
4 Famous Greek dishes
5 Desserts
6 Drinks
7 History
8 Bibliography
9 See also
10 External links

[edit] Main Ingredients

The most characteristic and ancient element of Greek cooking is olive oil, which is present in almost every dish. It is produced from the trees prominent throughout the region, adds to the distinctive taste of Greek food. The basic grain in Greece is wheat, though barley is also grown. Important vegetables include tomato, aubergine, potato, green beans, okra, and onions. Honey in Greece is mainly flower-honey from the nectar of fruit and citrus trees (lemon, orange, bigarade trees), thyme honey, and pine honey from conifer trees. Mastic is grown on the Aegean island of Chios.

The terrain has tended to favour the production of goats and sheep over cattle, and thus beef dishes tend to be a rarity by comparison. Fish dishes are also common, especially in coastal regions and the islands. A great variety of cheese types are used in Greek cuisine, including Feta, Kasseri, and Mizithra.

Some dishes use filo pastry. Too much refinement is generally considered to be against the hearty spirit of the Greek cuisine, though recent trends among Greek culinary circles tend to favour a somewhat more refined approach. Traditionally, Greek dishes are served warm rather than hot.

[edit] Appetizers

Image:Feta Greece 2.jpg Meze is a collective name for appetizers, typically served with wine or ouzo. Dips are served with loaf bread or pita bread. In some regions, dried bread ('paximadhi') is softened in water.

Greek Salad: The so-called Greek Salad is known in Greece as Village/Country Salad (Horiatiki).
Tzatziki: yoghurt with cucumber and garlic puree, used as a dip.
Taramosalata: fish roe mixed with boiled potatoes or moistened breadcrumbs.
Horta: wild or cultivated greens, steamed or blanched and made into salad, simply dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. They can either be eaten as a light meal with potatoes (especially during the summer), or accompanying fish or meat.
Dolmades: grapevine leaves stuffed either with rice and vegetables. Meat can also be included.
Spanakopita: spinach wrapped in filo pastry.
Tyropita: cheese (usually feta) wrapped in filo pastry.

Many other things are wrapped in filo pastry, either in bite-size triangles or in large sheets: kotopita (chicken), spanakotyropita (spinach and cheese), hortopita (greens), kreatopita (meat pie, using ground meat), etc.

Boureki: individually wrapped vegetable and meat fillings in filo pastry or dough. Also called by the diminutive -pitaki, e.g. tiropitaki.
Deep Fried vegetables (courgettes, aubergines, peppers) or mushrooms ("tiganita").
Saganaki: fried cheese (plain, but also including other ingredients such as shrimp).

Some dishes served in Greek restaurants (especially outside Greece) are not Greek at all, for example hummus bi tahini, the famous Lebanese dip.

[edit] Soups

Psarosoupa (fish soup): can be cooked with a variety of fish types, and several kinds of vegetables (carrots, parsley, celery, potatoes, onion) which are being blended and olive oil.
Avgolemono soup: chicken, meat, vegetable, or fish broth thickened with eggs, lemon juice, and rice.
Trahana soup
Patsas, a tripe soup

[edit] Famous Greek dishes

Moussaka (eggplant casserole). There are other variations besides eggplant, such as zucchini or rice, but the eggplant version ("melitzanes moussaka") is most popular, so "moussaka" alone is assumed to mean "with eggplant".
Kleftiko: literally meaning "of the thief", this is lamb slow-baked on the bone, first marinated in garlic and lemon juice, originally cooked in a pit oven.
Stifado: beef-onion stew with red wine and cinnamon. Rabbit or game (e.g. hare) are also cooked stifado-style
Souvlaki, lamb and vegetables grilled on skewers, or in general, anything grilled on a skewer (chicken, pork, swordfish, shrimp). Similar to shish kebab.
Gemista, usually a tomato or pepper filled with rice and grouned meat.
Gyros, meat roasted on a vertically turning spit and served with sauce (often tzatziki) and garnishes (tomato, onions) on pita bread; a popular fast food. Sometimes confused with souvlaki served in a similar way. Similar to the Turkish dish called döner kebab.
Soutzoukakia Smyrneika, meatballs with cumin, cinnamon and garlic and served in a tomato sauce cf. soujouk
Spetsofai, a dish with country sausages, peppers, onions and wine. Originates from Mt. Pelion
Keftedes meatballs with oregano and cumin cf. köfte.
Chtapodi Scharas a simple coastal dish of grilled octopus in vinegar, oil and oregano. Accompanied by Ouzo.
Pastitsio, a baked pasta dish with a filling of ground meat and a Bechamel sauce top.
Yemista: literally meaning "stuffed", any vegetable hollowed and baked with spiced cooked rice filling. Capsicum and tomato are most common. cf. dolma

[edit] Desserts

Baklava, a popular sweet dessert, of filo pastry layers with nuts, sugar, syrup, cloves.
Loukoumades, similar to a doughnut hole, loukoumades are essentially fried balls of dough drenched in honey and sprinkled with cinnamon. They are very popular and make a lovely treat!
Karidopita, a walnut cake.
Vassilopita, "Kings" cake, traditional for New Years
Tsoureki, a traditional Easter sweet bread.
Koulourakia, buttered cookies.
Kourabiedes, buttered (can also include olive oil) cookies with powdered sugar and almonds, mainly made during the Christmas period.
Melomakarona, cookies topped with walnuts and almonds, also traditional during Christmas.
Yoghurt with honey
Galaktoboureko, custard between layers of filo. The name derives from the Greek "gala" and from the Turkish börek, thus meaning "filled with milk."
Milopita me Pandespani, apple cake, more info at [1]

[edit] Drinks

Wine is the most common drink in Greece. Legend claims that wine was invented on the island of Icaria. Until the 1980's, most Greek wines were not of the finest quality, but more recently they have come up to international standards.
Beer is widely drunk; common brands include Heineken, Amstel, Mythos, Alfa Hellenic Lager, Fix, Henninger, and Kaiser, all of which are produced locally, some under license.
Ouzo (an 80-proof clear alcoholic beverage that is flavored with anise; it turns milky white with water or ice; the best said to be produced on the island of Lesbos).
Tsipouro or (esp. in Crete) raki (Mostly home-brewed, a clear drink similar to ouzo, often with higher alcohol content, and usually not flavored with herbs. The city of Volos at the centre of Greece is well-known for its Tsipouradika (literally: tsipouro places)
Retsina (a white wine that has some pine tar added, originally as a preservative, but nowadays for the flavor; this is an Athens region specialty. It should not be aged.).
Mavrodafni Sweet, liquor-style, red wine with higher alcohol percentage than normal.
Metaxa, a brand of sweet brandy, 40% alcohol content.
Greek coffee made by boiling finely-ground coffee beans, and is served thick and strong, and often sweetened.

[edit] History

Greek cuisine is based on Ottoman cuisine as well as indigenous local traditions, and so has many similarities with other cuisines of the region. Indeed, its similarity to Turkish cooking is such that Fragner says:

Turks and Greeks may seem as hostile as could be imagined, and they themselves may even be deeply convinced of their mutual animosity, but nevertheless their culinary traditions show, on a very trivial if not materialist level of their cultures, that they have much more in common than many of them believe. (Fragner, 1994)

[edit] Bibliography

Bert Fragner, "From the Caucasus to the Roof of the World: a culinary adventure", in Sami Zubaida and Richard Tapper, A Taste of Thyme: Culinary Cultures of the Middle East, London and New York, 1994 and 2000, ISBN 1-86064-603-4.