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 (such as 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 Middle Eastern, Balkan, and Italian influences.
History
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. The first Greek cookbook was printed on Syros island in 1828.
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 central and the ancient spread of grapes and olive trees in the Mediterranean is connected with Greek colonization.
The diet of the ancient Spartans was also marked by its frugality. A notorious staple was melas zomos (black soup), made by boiling the pigs' legs, blood of pigs, olive oil, bay leaf, chopped onion, salt, water, and vinegar 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 the Athenians and Corinthians, as evidence of the Spartans' distinct way of life.
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. The theory of humors influenced culinary advice, 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 olive trees that are 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 tomatoes, 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, such as cinnamon, allspice and cloves in stews.
The climate and terrain have tended to favor 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 largely eat Greek cuisine.
Common street foods include souvlaki, gyros, various pitas, and roasted 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 (hilós in Greek) as the main staple, fish sauce (garos), and salt water mixed into wine.
Some dishes are borrowed from Italian cuisine, with modifications: 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, like kadaifi, and halva.
In the 20th century, French cuisine influenced 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. The Greek chef Zisis Kerameas has been recognized for his contribution to Greek cuisine and as culinary arts teacher (1970–2000) at public vocational tourism professions schools.
Regions Regional cuisines include: Aegean islands (including Kykladítiki from Kyklades, Rhodítiki from Rhodes and other Dodecanese islands, and the Cuisine of Lesbos island). Peloponnesian (Peloponnisiakí, including from Mani). 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. The Greek Orthodox Church community has its own culinary tradition such as the well-known Christopsomo (Christmas bread), Fanouropita, Prosphora (or prosphoro) bread.
Typical 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 found throughout 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, including 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 breakfast meal is bougatsa, available mainly from bougatsadika shops that sell bougatsa, pies, pastries, and beverages. Traditional Greek breakfast was also provided in special dairy shops called galaktopoleia (milk shops) have dairy products, milk, butter, yogurt, sweets, honey, beverages, whereas today very few galaktopoleia shops exist.
The list of Greek dishes includes dishes found in all of Greece as well as some regional ones.
Appetizers
Selected appetizers are: Antzougies Avgotaracho, Bottarga, flathead mullet caught in lagoons with the well-known 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; can be roasted, sliced and served by adding olive oil and garlic. Toursi (pickle), with the well known 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, potato 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), 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 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 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 dolmadakia or sarmadakia, stuffed grape leaves. Ofti potato, baked potato with coarse salt, dried oregano and olive oil, served with olives, chopped dried onion and lemon. Tomatokeftedes, tomato fritters 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 cooking method plaki is a dish cooked in a roasting tin and baked or roasted in the oven with extra-virgin olive oil, tomatoes, vegetables, and herbs. 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 ouzo, then doused in tomato sauce, and topped with crumbled feta.