Taste Greece: 10+ Delicious Greek Foods
Taste Greece
Greece is a Mediterranean country known for lots of islands and stunning paradises. What most
of our favourite bloggers however don’t talk about is Greek cuisine.
Whether you spend your holiday in Athens, Santorini or Crete, it doesn’t really matter. The tradition is the same and prevails mostly in the small Greek villages. Those aren’t really touristic
places, but you can still taste their best culinary practices in the Taverna near closest to you.
(taverna is the traditional Greek restaurant)
These are the 10 Greek cuisine gems that you won’t regret trying out. Let’s get to the list.
1. Gyros
Gyros is made similarly to kebab actually. They are both cooked on a vertical rotisserie (I didn’t
know how it was called prior to researching for this article haha).
In Greece, people mostly eat
pork or chicken gyros, but there is also an American one which is a mixture of lamb and beef.
I preferred the chicken one but even for a person who doesn’t like pork it was tasty and I liked it.
The dish originated in Greece and the word “gyro” means “turn” in English. It is a great food
choice when you’re spending your holiday in Greece.
2. Greek Salad (Horiatiki)
The salad is so typical you can’t miss it during your stay. It is made of lightly chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and of course olives.
The crucial part of making the salad is also adding a bit of feta cheese, which has very creamy and rich texture and is definitely not the
matured cheese.
I honestly don’t like feta so I am not a fan of this dish, but I do enjoy the salad without it.
The salad is mostly dressed with olive oil and seasoned with salt, oregano and basil.
3. Tzatziki with Pita
Who didn’t eat tzatziki wasn’t in Greece. Tzatziki is one of the best known dips in Greece.
It is made of salted Greek yoghurt (another must to try!) and a tiny pieces of vegetables such
as onion or cucumber. It is mostly seasoned with herbs such as thyme and rosemary and also
dressed with olive oil and vinegar.
The dip has a very significant sour taste and tastes great with Pita bread, which I believe everyone is familiar with at this point. It is very popular in Mediterranean cuisine but also Middle Eastern one.
4. Fried Squid
Everyone getting a vacation near the sea should taste it. Fried squid is a great variable to test out the cuisine, the herbs they mostly use and the general taste they go for.
In Croatia it is very, salty, heavily seasoned and served with a lemon. In Greece I found the fried squid quite unseasoned and very lightly cooked. However there are places where you can find it differently prepared, but generally that is my experience.
People mostly eat the tentacles off octopus which is firstly cooked in the boiling water and then sometimes grilled. Octopus, like most of the seafood has very low calories and run high in proteins. It is mostly served with olive oil and typical herbs such as mint or thyme.
6. Fasolakia (vegan)
Greek green beans in English are called Fasolakia in Greece and Fasolia in Egypt. It is known as Fasolakia Lathera too, Lathera meaning ones with oil.
Everything in Greece is basically swimming
with oil, everyone says it and it is so true.
Fasolakia beans are made differently than regular beans though. They are very soft, easy to eat and well seasoned with herbs and dressed with lemon juice and olive oil.
I really recommend trying this dish out, it’s not just beans, it is served with tomatoes and other
common vegetables.
7. Baked Lamb
Commonly served with steamed vegetables, lamb is a very popular Greek dish. The meat is very smooth, easy to eat, not hard at all and well cooked.
Seasoned with garlic, thyme and other herbs.
8. Moussaka
Moussaka is basically a cake made of eggplant or potatoes. It has many variations around that area but the Greek one is most popular.
However there aren’t only vegetables in the dish, but also minced meat. I don’t like these types of dishes but I at least gave it a try and you should too.
9. Snails
A novice in cuisine world would think that snails are dominant in French cuisine only. This is however far from the truth. Snails are eaten literally worldwide, and Greece is one of those countries that love them.
We ate the snails dressed with tomato sauce (so typical for Greece!) and herbs such as rosemary and thyme (they are VERY popular as you can see).
10. Souvlaki
Souvlaki is really popular Greek specialty. The pork or sometimes chicken is grilled in a skewer and served on it as well. It is basically a fast food as souvlaki is often served on the streets of Greek cities.
I really enjoyed eating it with french fries in Agios Nikolaos.
11. Baklava
Baklava is incredibly sweet cake. I highly recommend ordering just a small little piece, because
you’ll have enough sweetness from that alone.
It’s also very rich in taste, as it is made of nuts and syrup or honey that holds it together. The middle part is layered dough.
For me it is too sweet but you can’t miss the opportunity to taste the cake which has been the
centre of arguments amongst Turks and Greeks.
There is also an Egyptian Baklawa, but that one
is filled not with syrup but with sugar and there are no almonds in it.
12. Lazarakia
Lazarakia are sweet salty breads and has tradition attached to them.
They are made in (Greek part of) Cyprus and Greece by Orthodox Christians on the Lazarus day.
This tradition made me feel like I need to research this more, so I did.
Actually the first time Lazarakia was baked was in Cyprus, because the St Lazarus was a bishop
there.
The arms are crossed and the body of the cake appears to be wrapped – that is to symbolise
that Lazarus was really dead when the miracle happened.
Some people cook Lazarakia with
the legs bound together and some with them being apart. This is a symbol of resurrection, as
Lazarus walked freely out of this grave.
13. Loukumades
And the last but not least are Loukumades. Loukumades are a sweet dough balls made of eggs,
butter and flour. They are then dropped to the hot olive oil in batches. Loukamades are tasty, yet very oily cakes and make you full for at least 4 hours (if you eat three pieces).
The dough is very soft and it’s often served with ice-cream to balance the taste.
So, these were my 10+ greek dishes you MUST try out if you’re in Greece. There are of course many more of traditional Greek cuisine but I tried to pick the most popular amongst tourists as well.
There are many similarities to Turkish cuisine. If you’ve been to Turkey you can compare them
and see how each culture treats their food differently.
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Check out other posts about greek cuisine
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Read More
- 5 Most Delish Greek Sweets
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