Greek Cuisine

    

 Greek Cuisine

        Greek cuisine is a Mediterranean Cuisine, sharing numerous characteristics with other cuisines of the region.
     Contemporary Greek cookery makes wide use of olive oil, vegetables and herbs, grains and bread, wine, fish, and various meats, including lamb, poultry, rabbit and pork. Also important are olives, cheese, eggplant(aubergine), zucchini (courgette), and yogurt. Greek desserts are characterized by the dominant use of nuts and honey. Some dishes use filo pastry.
     But maybe you need help just to choose the most characteristics plates of the Greek Cuisine.
My tips:

1. Choose only Greek Foods (this is your opportunity to taste something really new). Don’t order anything that you have already taste it in your country again and again (like pasta for example,….)
2. Take a lot of appetizers and a good salad, they are delicious and most of the times enough for a launch or dinner
3. Don’t order main dishes, most of the time you do not need them-especially in summer temperatures- and they are waste of time and money. Exeption: find good greek main dishes (i have some proposals later)
4. Dont forget the drink (wine, ouzo, water…)
5. Also dont forget to ask for receipt. My country needs it

So here my proposals:
If you want to eat something delicious and cheap on the go, so Greece has the perfect solution for you, the famous Gyro and Souvlaki food



Souvlaki (lit: "skewer") grilled small pieces of meat (usually pork but also chicken or lamb) served on the skewer for eating out of hand, or served as a sandwich wrapped in pita bread together with tomatoes, onions,tzatziki and tomato sauce; a popular fast food, also called  

kalamaki (small reed) mainly in Athens.



A gyro  is a greek dish of meat roasted on a vertical spit. It is also commonly served in a sandwich, called pita gyro or psomaki gyro depending on the type of bread used, with tomato, onion, french fries and optional sauce, wrapped in pita or sandwich bread.
If you want to seat at a table to enjoy your launch, then here a list of my dishes proposals

1. appetiser-Greek word=orektikó (maybe all these are enough)

Dolmadakia= Grapevine leaves stuffed with rice and vegetables; meat is also often included. Order them with nice cold yogurt  

 
Saganaki=Fried yellow cheese, usually “graviera” cheese 









Garides Saganaki=Shrimps in spicy tomato sauce with “feta” cheese



Fava= Puree of yellow split peas or beans; sometimes made of fava beans (called “koukies”κουκιές in Greek). In Santorini made from yellow lentils.



Gigandes=Giant white beans cooked with red sauce



Kolokythoanthoi= Zucchini flowers stuffed with rice or cheese and herbs

 

Marides fish or Gavros Fish= deep-fried small fishes (whitebait-anchovy), usually served with lemon wedges



Xtapodi sta karvouna=Octapus baked in the coals



Kalamarakia= deep-fried squid (be careful sometimes the squids are not fresh but frozen)



Spanakopita= spinach, feta cheese (sometimes in combination with ricotta cheese), onions or scallions, egg and seasoning wrapped in phyllo pastry in a form of a pie. 



Tyropita: a white cheese (usually feta) pie with phyllo pastry. When yellow cheese (usually kasseri) is used, it is called Kasseropita. 



Deep-fried vegetables "tiganita"= courgettes/zucchini, aubergines, peppers, or mushrooms.

2. Salads

Greek Salad (Xoriatiki)= the so-called Greek salad is known in Greece as village/country salad (horiatiki) and is essentially a tomato salad with cucumber, red onion, feta cheese, and kalamata olives, dressed with olive oil. In Cyprus it contains also cracked wheat (bulgur), spring onions instead of red onions, and lemon juice. 


  
Dakos=Cretan salad consisting of a slice of soaked dried bread or barley rusk (paximadi) topped with chopped tomatoes and crumbled feta or mizithra cheese. 



Lachano Salata=cabbage salad. Very finely shredded cabbage with salt, olive oil, lemon juice/vinegar dressing. Often combined with finely shredded carrot. 



Pantzaro Salata= beetroot salad with olive oil and vinegar. 



Patato Salata= Potato Salad with olive oil, finely sliced onions, mayonnaise, lemon juice or vinegar. 



Horta: wild or cultivated greens, steamed or blanched and made into salad, simply dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. They can be eaten as a light meal with potatoes (especially during Lent, in lieu of fish or meat). 

3. Dips (Taste then with fresh bread)

Scordalia=thick garlic and potato puree, usually accompanies deep fried fish/cod (bakaliaros skordalia, i.e. fried battered cod with garlic dip, a very popular dish). Watch after yor breath !!!!!!!!!



Taramo Salata= Fish roe mixed with boiled potatoes or moistened breadcrumbs, olive oil and lemon juice. 



Tzatziki =yogurt with cucumber and garlic puree, used as a dip. Served with warm pita bread. 

4. Greek Main Dishes (You have to taste them)

Anginares a la Polita= artihokes with olive oil. 




Bamies= Okra with tomato sauce (sometimes with potatoes or during non-fasting times with chicken/lamb). 




Briám= an oven-baked ratatouille of summer vegetables based on sliced potatoes and zucchini in olive oil. Usually includes eggplant, tomatoes, onions, and ample aromatic herbs and seasonings. 




Gemista= baked stuffed vegetables. Usually tomatoes, peppers, or other vegetables hollowed out and baked with a rice-and-herb filling or minced meat. 




Lachanodolmades= cabbage rolls, stuffed with rice and sometimes meat, spiced with various herbs and served with egg sauce (avgolemono)or simmered in a light tomato broth. 



Moussaka= an oven-baked layer dish: ground meat and eggplant casserole, topped with a savory custard which is then browned in the oven. There are other variations besides eggplant, such as zuchinni or rice, but the eggplant version, melitzánes moussaká is by far the most popular. 



Papoutsákia ("little shoes")= variant of Moussaka dish. Essentially the same dish, with the meat and custard layered inside hollowed, sauteéd eggplants.



Pastitsio=an oven-baked layer dish:Bechamel sause top, then pasta in the middle and ground meat cooked with tomato sauce at the bottom.



Soutzukakia Smyrneika=long shaped meatballs with cumin, cinnamon and garlic and boiled in tomato sauce with whole olives. Often served with rice or mashed potatoes.Stifado: rabbit or hare stew with pearl onions, vinegar, red wine and cinnamon. Beef can be substituted for game.



Yiouvarlakia=meatballs soup with egg-lemon sauce.



Apáki= a famous Cretan specialty; lean pork marinated in vinegar, then smoked with aromatic herbs and shrubs, and packed in salt.



Astakomacaronada= Spaghetti with lobster.



Giouvetsi=lamb or veal baked in a clay pot with kritharaki (orzo) and tomatoes



Keftedakia=fried meatballs



Spetsofai= a stew of country sausage, green mild peppers, onions and wine. 



Stifado= rabbit or hare stew with pearl onions, vinegar, red wine and cinnamon. Beef can be substituted for game



Fakes= a lentil soup , usually served with vinegar and olive oil. 



Fasolada=a bean soup defined in many cookery books as the traditional Greek dish, sometimes even called "the "national food of the Greeks". It is made of beans, tomatoes, carrot, celery and a generous amount of olive oil usually served with a variety of salty side dishes.



Barbounia= Red mullets



Paidakia= grilled lamp chops with lemon, oregano, salt and pepper.



Soupia me melani=Cuttle fish cooked in its ink and fresh spinach

5. Drinks (Except Water )

Except the usuals drinks, such as water and Bear, there are a variety of splendid Greek Wines Selections.

Wine

          WineLovers can choose wines from  a variety Greek Grape such as:

Agiorgitiko
Athiri
Asyrtiko
Vilana
Kotsifali
Limnio
Malagouzia
Mantilaria
Moshato Alexandrias
Roditis

Other Drinks

     Other traditional Greek alcoholic beverages include:
     Ouzo, with the anise-flavored (you have to taste it)
     Tsipouro, whose Cretan variation is called tsikoudia
     Local liquors, such as:
             mastika, made from a tree in Chios Island (unique in the world)
             Kitron, a citrus flavoured liquor from Naxos
             Kumkuat, a liquor made from small oranges (unique in the world) from the island of Corfu
           

6.Desserts and Sweats

Baklava=phyllo pastry layers filled with nuts and drenched in honey



Galaktoboureko=Custard baked between layers of phyllo, and then soaked with lemon-scented honey syrup. The name derives from the Greek "gala"(γάλα), meaning milk, and from the Turkish borek, meaning filled, thus meaning "filled with milk." 



Halva=a nougat of sesame with almonds or cacao. ( suspected to be an Arabic invention ) 



Karidopita=a cake of crushed walnuts, soaked or not in syrup. 



Loukoumades=similar to small crusty donuts, loukoumades are essentially fried balls of dough drenched in honey and sprinkled with cinnamon, typically serves with sesame seed. 



Loukoumi=is a confection made from starch and sugar. Taste it with gold water.



Yiaourti=Yogurt with honey and walnuts

Enjoy Greek Food!!!