GREEK CUISINE

OFFICIAL NAME: Hellenic Republic

FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Parliamentary republic
CAPITAL: Athens
POPULATION: 10,722,816
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Greek
MONEY: Euro
AREA: 50,942 square miles (131,940 square
kilometers)
 GEOGRAPHY
• Greece is situated in southeast Europe,
bordering Albania, Macedonia and Bulgaria to the
north, Turkey to the east and the Mediterranean
Sea to the south and west.
• The mainland consists of the following regions:
Central Greece, Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus,
Macedonia (which, incidentally, borders the
country of Macedonia) and Thrace.
 GEOGRAPHY
• Greece is the southernmost country in the Balkan
Peninsula (the region that includes Albania,
Macedonia, and Bulgaria). It has a total area of 131,940
square kilometers (50,942 square miles). About a fifth
of the area is composed of more than 1,400 islands in
the Ionian and Aegean seas. About four-fifths of
Greece is mountainous, including most of the islands.
• Greece has the longest coastline in Europe. The
mainland has rugged mountains, forests, and lakes, but
the country is well known for the thousands of islands
dotting the blue Aegean Sea to the east, the
Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Ionian Sea to
the west.
• The country is divided into three geographical
regions: the mainland, the islands, and
Peloponnese, the peninsula south of the
mainland.
• Mount Olympus is Greece's highest mountain
at 9,570 feet (2,917 meters) above sea level.
Ancient Greeks believed it was the home of
the Gods. Mount Olympus became the first
national park in Greece.
 CLIMATE
• Greece has a warm Mediterranean climate. In
summer, dry hot days are often relieved by stiff
evening breezes, especially in the north, on the
islands and in coastal areas.
• Winters are mild in the south but much colder in
the mountainous north, where it is not
uncommon to see snow and temperatures
plummeting to well below zero. November to
March is the rainy season, most notably on the
Ionian islands.
• Greece's climate is perfect for growing olive
and lemon trees, producing two of the most
important elements of Greek cooking.
 CULINARY HISTORY
• In c.350 B.C., when Alexander the Great
extended the Greek Empire's reach from
Europe to India, certain northern and eastern
influences were absorbed into the Greek
cuisine.
• In 146 B.C., Greece fell to the Romans which
resulted in a blending of a Roman influence
into Greek cooking.
• In 330 A.D., Emperor Constantine moved the
capital of the Roman Empire to
Constantinople, founding the Byzantine
Empire which, in turn, fell to the Turks in 1453
and remained part of the Ottoman Empire for
nearly 400 years. During that time, dishes had
to be known by Turkish names, names that
remain today for many Greek classics.
• With each successive invasion and settlement came
culinary influences - from the Romans, Venetians,
Balkans, Turks, Slavs, and even the English - and many
Greek foods have names with origins in those cultures,
most notably the Ottoman Empire. Dishes with names
like tzatziki (from the Turkish "cacik“ – yogurt with
cucumbers), hummus (the Arabic word for chickpea)
and dolmades (from the Turkish "dolma“ – stuffed food
usually meat, vegetables and rice wrapped in grape
leaves), that can be found in kitchens from Armenia to
Egypt, have also found a home in Greek cooking, and
been adapted over hundreds of years to local tastes
and traditions.
• In ancient times, the Persians introduced Middle
Eastern foods, such as yogurt, rice, and sweets
made from nuts, honey, and sesame seeds.
• In 197 B.C. , when Rome invaded Greece, the
Romans brought with them foods that are typical
in Italy today including pasta and sauces.
• Arab influences have left their mark in the
southern part of Greece. Spices such as cumin,
cinnamon, allspice, and cloves play a prominent
role in the diet of these regions.
• The Turks later introduced coffee to Greece.
• Potatoes and tomatoes were brought from
New World after exploration of the Americas
began about five hundred years ago
• The first cookbook was written by the Greek
food gourmet, Archestratos, in 330 B.C., which
suggests that cooking has always been of
importance and significance in Greek society
 CHARACTERISTICS
• Fresh fruits and vegetables play a large role in the
Greek diet.
• With its long coastline, Greece also relies heavily
on fish and seafood.
• Meat tends to play a less important role. It is
often used as an ingredient in vegetable dishes
instead of as a main dish.
• The islands and coastal areas of Greece favor
lighter dishes that feature vegetables or seafood.
• In contrast, the inland regions use more meat
and cheese in their cooking.
• The Greeks eat bread, grains, potatoes, rice, and
pasta nearly every day. Staples of the Greek diet
include olives (and olive oil), eggplant,
cucumbers, tomatoes, spinach, lentils, and other
types of beans, lemons, nuts, honey, yogurt, feta
cheese, eggs, fish, chicken, and lamb.
• Greek food is simple and elegant, with flavors
subtle to robust, textures smooth to crunchy,
fresh and timeless, nutritious and healthy
• The most important food in Greece may be the
olive. The olive can be traced back to the Bronze
Age (3150 to 1200 B.C.E.) in eastern coastal
Mediterranean areas, but it migrated to Greece's
first civilization, the Minoans, around 1700 B.C.E.
The olive tree, which grows well in arid climates
and can flourish in bad soil, has played an
important role in Greek society due to its use in
lamp fuel, anointing rituals and pharmaceuticals.
Today, Greeks grow many varieties of olives, from
large, black Kalamata olives to the Cracked Green
variety.
• The average person consumes 40 lbs of olive
oil in a year
• Vineyards cover much of Greece's hilly terrain
and the country has become known for its
array of fine wines and spirits, most notably
ouzo, an anise-flavored liqueur that is the
national spirit.
 MEAL STRUCTURE
• Greeks typically have 3 meals a day:
Proino-Breakfast
small and simple breakfast, such as bread or
paximadi (dried bread) with coffee
 Another simple breakfast consisted of soft-
boiled eggs with bread
Kolatsio-Mid morning snack
Since most Greeks don’t really eat a huge
breakfast they usually get hungry around 11
am and their preferred snack is a savory pie
such as cheese pie “tyropita” or spinach pie
“spanakopita”or a ham and cheese grilled
sandwich
Mesimeriano-Lunch
 Traditionally this meal consisted of a vegetable
stew/casserole with cheese, bread, salad, and
wine
 for the more affluent, meat may be on the menu
 Farmers would consume basically bread or
paximadi with cheese, olives or tomatoes, or fruit
 Today Greeks still may eat a traditional vegetable
casserole for lunch, but in most cases pasta,
grilled meat, and sandwiches are also on the
menu
Afternoon coffee
In the old days, Greeks would take a nap after
the mesimeriano and when they woke up
which was around 5 in the afternoon they
would drink Greek coffee with a sweet or
some other small dessert or cookie as an
accompaniment
Today, not many people have the time to take
a nap, but the coffee habit still remains
Vradino-Dinner
 Greeks eat late. Most Greeks will eat dinner
around 9 to 10 pm. If they have had a substantial
lunch then they will eat something lighter for
dinner such as fruit with yogurt, a sandwich,
salad or a small amount of leftover from lunch. If
they haven’t really eaten a good meal for lunch
they may have a full meal or order pizza, souvlaki,
hamburgers or even Chinese food
• In the late afternoon, many Greeks help themselves to
light refreshments called mezethes . These may consist
of bread, fresh vegetables, cheese, olives, dips, or
soup. Mezethes are sometimes served as appetizers at
the beginning of a big meal.
• The most common dessert in Greece is fresh fruit, but
the Greeks also love to eat sweets, either as a snack or
dessert.
• Greeks are known for their hospitality. A traditional
offering for guests is glyko , a thick jam made with fruit
or a vegetable such as tomato or eggplant. It is served
with ice water and coffee.
 RELIGIOUS AND HOLIDAY
CELEBRATIONS
• many Greeks observe the church's fast days. On
these days, they eat either no meat or no food at
all. There are strict dietary rules for Lent and Holy
Week (the week before Easter). During Holy
Week and on Wednesdays and Fridays in Lent,
meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products are
forbidden.
• Greeks observe feasts as well as fasts. A roasted,
stuffed turkey is eaten for Christmas, and a baby
lamb or goat, roasted whole, is served for Easter
dinner.
• Many traditional cakes are served for both
Christmas and Easter. These include honey-
dipped biscuits called finikia and shortbread cake-
like cookies called kourabiethes . There is also a
special New Year's cake called vasilopitta . Before
Easter, hard-boiled eggs are painted bright red
and then polished with olive oil. On Good Friday a
special holiday bread called lambropsomo is
baked. On Easter Sunday, family members crack
their eggs against each other for good luck.
 TYPICAL DISHES
• Appetizers
Meze - is a collective name for a variety of
small dishes, typically served with wines or
ouzo. 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. In some regions, dried bread
(paximadi) is softened in water.
Dolmades: grapevine leaves stuffed with rice and
vegetables; meat is also often included.
Fava: Yellow split pea puree or other bean purees;
sometimes made of fava beans
Greek Salad: The so-called Greek Salad is known in
Greece as Village/Country Salad , essentially a tomato
salad with cucumber, red onion, feta cheese, and
kalamata olives, dressed with olive oil.
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).
Tzatziki: yoghurt with cucumber and garlic puree,
used as a dip
Kolokythoanthoi: zucchini flowers stuffed with rice
or cheese and herbs
Koukkia: fava beans
Many other food items also are wrapped in phyllo
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.
• Soups
Avgolemono 'egg-lemon' soup: chicken, meat, vegetable,
or fish broth thickened with eggs, lemon juice, and
rice.
Bourou-Bourou, a vegetable & pasta soup from the island
of Corfu
Fakes, is a lentil soup and one of the famous everyday
Greek soups, usually served with vinegar and feta
cheese.
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 lot of olive oil.
Magiritsa, is the traditional Easter soup made with
lamb offal and thickened with avgolemono.
Patsas, a tripe soup.
Psarosoupa or 'fish soup' can be cooked with a
variety of fish types, and several kinds of
vegetables (carrots, parsley, celery, potatoes,
onion), several varieties include the classic
kakavia which is drizzled with olive oil.
Revithia, a chickpea soup
• Meat dishes
Bekri Meze: 'drunkard's snack', diced beef marinated in
wine, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, olive oil and
cooked slowly.
Giouvetsi: baked lamb in clay pot with Kritharaki – orzo
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.
Kleftiko: literally meaning "of the Klephts", this is lamb
slow-baked on the bone, first marinated in garlic and
lemon juice, originally cooked in a pit oven.
Keftedes: fried meatballs with oregano and mint
Moussaka: eggplant casserole. There are other
variations besides eggplant, such as zucchini or
rice, but the eggplant version melitzanes
moussaka is most popular.
Pastitsio: a baked pasta dish with a filling of ground
meat and a Bechamel sauce top.
Souvlaki: (lit: 'skewer') Anything grilled on a skewer
(lamb, chicken, pork, swordfish, shrimp). Most
common is lamb, pork or chicken, often
marinated in oil, salt, pepper, oregano and lemon
• Vegetarian dishes
Very popular during fasting periods, such as the Great
Lent:
Aginares A La Polita: artichokes with olive oil
Arakas Me Aginares: oven-baked fresh peas with
artichokes
Bamies: okra with tomato sauce (sometimes with
potatoes and/or 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.
Domatokeftedhes: tomato fritters with mint, fried in olive oil
and typically served with fava (split pea) paste
Fasolakia freska: fresh green beans stewed with potatoes,
zucchini and tomato sauce
Lachanorizo (Cabbage with rice)
Prassorizo (Leeks with rice)
Lachanodolmades: Cabbage rolls, stuffed with rice and
sometimes meat, spiced with various herbs and served
with avgolemono sauce or simmered in a light tomato
broth.
Spanakorizo: Spinach and rice stew cooked in lemon and olive
oil sauce.
Yemista: Baked stuffed vegetables. Usually tomatoes, peppers,
or other vegetables hollowed out and baked with a rice and
herb filling
Moussaka
Pastitsio
Dolmades
Horta
Souvlaki
Gyros
Spanakopita
Tyropita
Fava Beans
Fava
Mezethes/Orektika
Kalamata Olives
Paximadi
Avgolemono
Tzatziki
Bourou Bourou
Fasolada
Fakes
Magiritsa
Giouvetsi
Kleftiko
Kleftedes
Finikia
Kourabiethes
Vasilopita
Lambropsomo