Food in Athens

Greek cuisine is a typical Mediterranean Cuisine. In Athens, as well as throughout Greece, eating out is a way of life. Restaurants are more than places to have a bite before the evening entertainment, very often they are the entertainment. Whether in a local tavern or one of the most elegant restaurants, Greeks take their time over food. Breakfast is light, lunch is eaten in the mid afternoon, and dinner usually doesn't start until 10 p.m. Greek cuisine has developed along with the customs and traditions of the Greek people. It is characteristic of the Greeks to celebrate their joys, to sweeten their sorrows, and to assuage their struggles by eating and drinking in the company of family and friends. Customs also are tied closely to the distribution of special edibles, such as Koufeta (Candy Coated Almonds) at baptisms and weddings, or Koliva (Boiled Wheat) at funerals. Each important feast during the year, such as Christmas, the Annunciation, Easter, and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, has its own specialty. Orthodox Greeks, as devout people, eat specific foods on fasting days.

From the beginning of the 20th century until the late 1980s one of the most time-honoured locations for Greek tavernas was at Plaka at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens. The typical fare of those tavernas was traditional Greek food washed down with Greek wines, mainly Retsina served straight from the barrel. Another popular eating out destination for the Athenians during the weekend was at the Hasapotavernes. These were Grill Tavernas that were located in the villages around Athens. Typically though, the most popular eating place for the Athenians, as well as the rest of the Greek population, is the Souvlaki shops, known as the souvlatzidiko, where you could buy souvlaki with pita bread.

 

Herbs and Spices

Greece is famous for its unique herbs and spices which they use in every dish to add an extra taste and delight the senses. The excellent quality of Greek spices and herbs is due to the long sunshine periods, making the Greek flora particularly rich, producing an incredible variety of the best herbs and spices in the world. Famous herbs of great quality and easy to find in Greece are the chamomile, the mountain tea, sage, basil, mint, parsley, tilio (lime leaves used as an infusion) and much more. Supreme Greek spices are the sesame (white sesame also), the cumin, the machlepi and the valuable red saffron.

 

Mezés / Mezedes and Appetizers

Mezés is a collective name for a variety of small dishes, typically served with wines or anise-flavored liqueurs. Orektika is the formal name for appetizers and is often used as a reference to eating a first course of a cuisine other than Greek cuisine. Dips are served with bread loaf or pita bread. The most characteristic and ancient element of Greek cuisine is olive oil, which is frequently used in most dishes. You can try from a variety of appetizers consisting of small bites, dips, salads and soups. Some popular ones are mentioned here. Dolmas : vine leaves stuffed with rice and then rolled. Served, most often, cold as appetizers. Simple in appearance, this dish requires numerous cooking operations in order to achieve the hint of lemon flavour that tantalizes the taste and opens the appetite. Sometimes served hot too. Tiropites : Triangles of paper thin glazed phyllo pastry filled with feta cheese and served piping hot, containing, egg, butter, and an unforgettable flavour to whet the appetite. Spanakopites : Baked spinach and feta cheese puffs in buttered phyllo pastry, with egg, onion, butter, olive oil, bread crumbs. Salads and soups, like Fassolada, Kotossoupa, Avgolemono soup, Tzatziki dip, Horiatiki salad, Taramosalata and many more.

 

Main Dishes

Main dishes in Greek food are really excellent and include a lot of meat. Moussaka : This famous Greek dish has a base made of potatoes topped with eggplants onions, minced beef and béchamel creme. Pastitsio : This is another well-known Greek dish reminding of the Italian Lasagnes. It consists of spaghetti topped with minced beef, onions, tomato sauce and béchamel sauce. Paidakia : Grilled lamb's ribs served with lemon. Kokoretsi : This is one of the favorite dishes of Greeks. They mostly eat it during Easter. It consists of wrapped and roasted entrails of lamb, served with lemon. Roast Lamb : Greek style, with garlic and oregano. Gyro : Thin slices of barbecued meat specially seasoned with herbs and spices, served with tomatoes and onions on pita bread, and topped with tzatziki. Best off of a rotisserie. Pilafi : Fluffy rice simmered in butter, spices and rich chicken stock. Perfect with all dinner dishes.

 

Sea Food

Fish is an important part of the Greek diet. For such a small country there is a lot of coastline which is why they have such a strong history of seafaring. Eating seafood goes along with that. Unfortunately the sea which was once so abundant is now barren in places through over-fishing and the Aegean sea simply can't keep up with the demand of a seafood-loving population whose numbers swell during the tourist season. Fish can be very expensive, though there are inexpensive fish available year-round, and these are just as tasty as the expensive ones. Fish is the king of Greek cuisine and in seafood places you will often get Tarama salta or fish row salad as a starter. Of course the main dishes are varied but two favorites are Kalamarakia (squid) and Garides (Shrimp) cooked with olive oil and lemon. Octopus, which is eaten in small amounts as a meze, goes best by the sea with a glass of ouzo. Fried kalamarakia are also listed in the mezedes section of restaurants. Another meze is lakerda, which is in the tuna family. A very popular dish is psarosoupa (fish soup), which is served at many working-class tavernas as well as the restaurants in the Plaka of Athens. The most commonly used fish is the rofos (grouper) a giant rock-dwelling fish that has to be caught one at a time.

 

Desserts

Greek desserts include Baklava : Thirty or more nut filled, paper thin layers of glazed phyllo sheets of pastry soaked in pure honey make this the king of pastry desserts. Koulouria : Breaded butter cookies with a light sugar glaze. Perfect with coffee. Diples : Honey rolls so thin and flaky that they crumble when they are bitten. In Greece this delicacy is often cooked and sold at the panigiria or fairs where arts and crafts from every region are proudly displayed for sale. Kataifi : A delicious pastry made of shredded phyllo rolled with nuts and honey and sprinkled with syrup. Found throughout the Mediterranean. Loukoumades : Feathery light honey tokens or sweet fritters deep fried to a golden brown and dipped in boiling honey. At taste delight from ancient Greece where they were given as tokens to winners of the games at the festivals. Melomakarona, Kourabiedes are other sweets.

 

Coffee

Greek Coffee is a thick, powered coffee that is made in a brickee (or brika), which is traditionally a small brass pot with a long handle. Modern advances have given us stainless steel brikas. This is not instant coffee, and even though powdered, the coffee used does not dissolve. The grounds settle to the bottom of the cup. When you order Greek coffee, you must specify plain, sweet or medium-sweet (sketo, glyko or metrio in Greek, respectively).

 

Wines and Beverages

Greece is a big producer of wines and local alcohols. Tsipouro : This really strong alcohol looks a bit like ouzo but with a stronger taste of anis. Greeks drink it with ice and sometimes add a bit of water. It is always accompanied with mezedes and good friends. In different parts of Greece, such as Crete, some islands and the northern Greece, people make their own home made Tsipouro, also called Raki (depending of the region) which is really strong. Ouzo: This is the most famous Greek alcohol beverage, the trade mark of the country. It is a strong alcohol, drinkable straight with ice or with a bit of water. It is ideal to drink with all kinds of mezedes. The best ouzo is made in Lesvos and the most famous trades are Ouzo Plomariou and Barbayanni. Mavrodafni: This sweet wine is made in Patras Peloponnese. It is really thick and dark (almost black) and can be compared to the Portuguese Porto. This strong wine is used for the Holy Communion in the Greek Orthodox Church. Retsina: The famous Retsina is a Greek white wine with a particular resin taste. This taste is due to the way of production of this wine: they put the grapes in new cask which have still the wood resin on, giving to the whine that special taste. Wines of Greece: There is a huge diversity of Greek wines: red, white and rose, sweet or dry.