If there is anything you can learn from My Big Greek Wedding, it is that Greeks are very fond of food. But Greek cuisine isn't just about kebabs and yogurt. Greece has one of the most mouth-watering cuisines, with hearty meat dishes and rose-scented desserts. Check out the list of dishes you should definitely try in Greece.

Paputsaki

The name of the dish is translated as "little shoes", it is eggplant stuffed with meat, tomato sauce and béchamel sauce.

Pastizio

This pasta dish is a bit like lasagna. It requires several layers of pasta, ground pork or ground beef, tomato sauce with mint and cinnamon, as well as béchamel and grated cheese. It is very tasty as an independent dish, but it goes well with salad.

Taramasalata

This is a delicious spread of caviar mixed with olive oil and potatoes or bread. It is incredibly delicious when eaten with a pita bread. There is a lot of fat in the dish, but it also contains enough protein and omega-3 acids.

Avgolemono soup

This appetizing chicken broth is complemented with beaten egg, lemon juice and rice - perfect for winter weather and a great cold remedy. Chop up some chicken and bell peppers to add even more flavor to the broth.

Halloumi

This cheese is prepared in Cyprus. Halloumi has a delicate texture with a light salty taste, made from sheep and goat milk. This is a versatile cheese that can be eaten both neat and in a salad, on a sandwich, and even with watermelon. Unlike other cheeses, this one does not melt when grilled, baked or pan-fried.

Kleftiko

This lamb roast is usually seasoned with garlic, onions and oregano and served with potatoes and vegetables. If the meat has been marinated long enough and cooked properly, it will split easily under a fork and will practically melt in your mouth.

Kuluri

It is impossible to imagine a Greek feast without a basket of koulouri - this is bread sprinkled with sesame seeds, which is usually baked in the shape of a circle. It is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. This bread is often prepared with olives or feta and is especially tasty when served while still warm.

Kulurakiya

This name sounds similar to the previous one, however, the dish is somewhat different. These are buttery cookies with sugar that can be crunchy or soft on the inside. Cookies are served all year round, but especially on Easter.

Galaktobureko

For dessert, try a slice of sweet corn quiche. It has a delicate scent of rose water and a puff pastry crust.

Spanakopita

Not all Greek pastries are sweet. Spanakopita, for example, is a salty pie made with spinach and feta. A pie crust is made from crispy filo dough.

Keftedes

These crispy fried meatballs are usually made with pork or beef flavored with oregano, onions, garlic and a pinch of cinnamon.

Tzatziki

A popular sauce is made from plain yogurt, mint, cucumber, olive oil and garlic. It is a great addition to both grilled pork or chicken skewers and pita bread.

Sheftalia

These juicy lamb or pork sausages are a dish from Cyprus. The Greeks cannot imagine a family barbecue without such a product.

Kalo prama

This dish literally translates to “great thing,” and when you taste it, you will understand the essence of the name. This is a corn cake soaked in rose water syrup and garnished with almonds. Ideal for a light and sweet dessert.

Kritaraki

This pasta dish with onions and tomatoes is prepared with different types of meat - lamb, pork, beef or chicken. In any case, it turns out very fragrant.

Hemista

This dish requires peppers and tomatoes, they are stuffed with rice, herbs, and sometimes minced meat. The result is a hearty and healthy main dish that can also be used as a side dish.

Suvlaki

Many people imagine kebabs, but have never heard of souvlaki - these are grilled kebabs made from meat, usually pork or chicken. Meat is served on a pita with salad or eaten straight from a skewer.

Dolmades

Hand-rolled rolls of minced pork, rice and parsley wrapped in grape leaves are difficult to make. But they are incredibly tasty both hot and cold. Meat can be substituted for pepper for a vegetarian version.

Lucumades

If you love donuts, you will love lucumades. It is a popular dessert sold on the streets and is a small fried batter that is served with syrup and cinnamon or nuts.

Aphelia

This dish is pork marinated in red wine. It takes a very long time to cook, but the incredible flavor justifies all the effort - be sure to try it if you like meat.

Curabiedes

During the holiday season, many Greek grandmothers make cookies with walnut and powdered sugar, vanilla and orange. Try these cookies alongside traditional Greek dairy coffee to balance the sweetness of the dessert drink.

Mauromatika

This is one of the more useful foods on this list. A protein-rich dish made with black beans in tomato sauce. It can be with or without meat.

Moussaka

Layers of minced meat, usually lamb or beef, cooked in tomato sauce and topped with eggplant and béchamel sauce are classic Greek cuisine. If desired, the dish can be cooked without meat - eggplant with aromatic sauces turns out great.

Lucanico

Lucanico is a tangy smoked sausage made with fennel, orange and sometimes chili. It's a great snack when eaten hot, straight off the grill, on a pita and halloumi sandwich.

Baklava

Baklava is popular in Turkey and the Middle East, but in Greece it can be found in every pastry shop. Filo and pistachio dough dessert is usually cut into squares or triangles. The dish also includes honey, lemon juice and cinnamon. It turns out an incredibly tasty and mouth-watering dessert.

Greek cuisine or the national cuisine of Greece with absolutely all the recipes for preparing its dishes is one of the most prominent representatives of the Mediterranean cuisine. Many of her traditional dishes are akin to those of Italian and French. But this was not always the case, as evidenced by some facts from history. For example, for a long time Greece was under the control of Turkey, which could not but leave an imprint on its cuisine. Until the nineteenth century in Greece there was a "haram" or prohibition, due to which they practically did not eat pork, and also did not drink alcohol. An oriental touch in modern national Greek cuisine is more pronounced in the preparation of desserts. You can verify this by comparing the ingredient list for Greek and Turkish sweets.

In general, fresh vegetables are widely used in traditional national dishes. The most commonly consumed ones include potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplants and, of course, olives. This list can be continued for a long time, but the most important thing in all this diversity is the maximum preservation of the beneficial properties of vegetables in ready-made dishes.

Cheese making is traditional for Greece, therefore it is not surprising that among the dishes of Greek cuisine you can find many of those that contain one or another cheese. Feta is best known among them (this is a salty cheese that is usually used in salads).

Speaking about the national Greek cuisine, one cannot but remember about olive oil. It is added to almost all dishes. Olive oil is the pride of Greece, it is even called liquid gold here.

As for meat, at the moment the most widespread are pork and lamb. Meat is prepared in all possible forms: from stewing a whole carcass on a spit, to making dishes from minced meat. Often meat is baked in pots along with vegetables (a vivid example of such a dish is Musaka). In addition, in the diet of the Greeks, you can find all kinds of fish. Most often it is grilled, although other cooking options are possible.

One of the main features of traditional Greek cuisine is the use of a wide variety of herbs. This distinguishes Greek dishes from all other Mediterranean dishes.

And, of course, the most important thing, which we have not yet mentioned, is the atmosphere in which any meal takes place. As a rule, Greeks eat in a close circle of family and friends. Therefore, breakfast, lunch and dinner are held in a warm and cozy atmosphere, which truly makes Greek cuisine special!

To the classic question of our tourist who wants to get acquainted with the culture of Greece and gastronomically, "What to try?" we will not give a banal answer: "Go to study the menu of a restaurant or cafe of national cuisine!" You can start acquaintance with Greek cuisine at home and it's very simple! You just need to use those recipes with photos that are given in this section of the site. As detailed as possible, they will answer any of your questions! And remember that there is nothing better and tastier than what you cook with your own hands, with love and care.

Greek cuisine is the world-renowned queen of the Balkan Peninsula. It is based on olive oil, vegetables, fish, meat (mainly lamb), seafood and fruits. All Greek dishes look bright; they are fragrant and balanced. The Greeks use a wide variety of herbs: oregano, dill, onions, etc. The main "highlight" of local gastronomy is feta cheese. It is added to salads, pies.

Dzatziki is a sauce based on yogurt, garlic, cucumbers, herbs and spices. Served as a separate appetizer or as a dressing for the main course. (Nikodem Nijaki)

Souvlaki - barbecue on a wooden skewer made of any kind of meat or fish. The dish is served with bread and vegetables. (James G)

Taramasalata is a snack based on smoked cod roe, olive oil, garlic and lemon. Served with bread, olives. (stu_spivack)

Greek salad is the star of Greek cuisine. This salad is full of colors, as it includes fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, bell peppers, olives and, of course, feta cheese. Olive oil is used as a dressing. In some variations of Greek salad, you can see lettuce, capers. (Zagat Buzz)

Musaka is a traditional dish not only of Greek cuisine, but also of Moldovan, Bulgarian, Serbian, Bosnian, Romanian. Classic Greek moussaka is baked in layers of eggplant, tomato, minced meat and sauce. Less often potatoes and mushrooms are added to the dish. (Merle ja Joonas)

Moussaka. (MarionIon)

Dolmades is a popular dish in the countries of the Balkan Peninsula, Central and Western Asia, as well as the Caucasus. This dish is analogous to stuffed cabbage, but instead of cabbage, a grape leaf is used. The Greeks pour lemon juice and olive oil over the dish. (arpad ikuma)

Pastitsio is a casserole based on tubular pasta baked with cheese, minced meat and creamy sauce. (Katrin Morenz)

Fish. (Stijn Nieuwendijk)

Spanakopita - puff pastry pie or pies stuffed with spinach, feta cheese and herbs. (Sodexo USA)

Tiropita is a puff pastry pie stuffed with feta cheese. (Alpha)

Octopus. (Klearchos Kapoutsis)

Pete. (etringita)

Lucumades is an analogue of donuts. (Alpha)

Melomakarona - cookies with honey. (Nick Papakyriazis)

The Greek cuisine is based on the "Mediterranean triad": wheat, olives and wine. Winemaking traditions in Greece are rooted in antiquity, various bakery products are made from wheat, and olives are not only canned, but also used in the preparation of the most important product - olive oil.

The most important vegetables in Greek cuisine are tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, paprika, legumes, onions, cabbage, and spinach. Meat is consumed in moderation, milk and fish are the main sources of protein.

Like other Mediterranean cuisines, Greek very actively uses seasonings and spices, the most popular among which are marjoram, mint, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, basil, dill. Sugar is used infrequently - it is usually replaced with natural honey.

The refectory traditions of the Greeks are typical for most southern countries. Breakfast here, as a rule, is a cup of coffee, for lunch they eat only yoghurt or vegetable salad, and the only significant meal is dinner, which can last several hours, and during which up to a dozen different dishes can be served on the table. In general, for the Greeks, food itself is of secondary importance - they use the meal as a great way to communicate and have a good time. Of course, a Greek dinner is inconceivable without wine, which completes the picture of the perfect Greek evening.

The meal usually begins with cold snacks - here they are called meze. These are pita (bread cakes), cheeses, fresh vegetables, bureki (small pies), horta (greens with lemon juice and olive oil) and various sauces (the most popular is dzatziki). Contrary to the stereotype, soups are often served in Greece - for example, avgolemono (egg soup), fakes (lentil), beansolada (with legumes) and psarosupa (fish soup).

As for the main dishes, there are many vegetarian dishes in Greek cuisine. This is due to the wide selection of fresh and tasty vegetables. In Greece, rice stuffed vegetables, various vegetable stews can be served as a main course. On the country's coasts, most of the main dishes are fish and seafood. Meat dishes are not very popular, although gyros (kebab), kleftiko and souvlaki (something like a shish kebab) are often prepared in some regions of the country. Dishes of ground meat are also known, and the famous Greek moussaka (eggplant casserole with meat) is often prepared. Sometimes pasta is served.

The traditional Greek meal ends with a dessert. The Turks had a huge influence on the local confectionery business, therefore baklava, lukoumades, lokum, halva are popular in Greece. Purely Greek sweets are galactoburek (curd pie), caridopita (nut pie), basilopita (New Year's pie), risogalo (sweet rice porridge) and preserves.

Well, and there can be no discussions regarding the most popular drink in Greece - this is, without a doubt, wine. The Greeks joke that you need to live at least ten lives to taste all the varieties of the local wine. In addition to wine, they also like stronger drinks - especially ouzo (anise vodka). Among non-alcoholic beverages, coffee is the undisputed favorite, which Greeks drink around the clock and in unlimited quantities.

Greek cuisine is nutritious and easy to prepare from natural ingredients. There are always bread, cheese and olives on the tables, as well as Greeksauce , which must include pureed cucumber, yogurt and chives... Greek cuisine is both pasty dishes, which include various vegetables, and cold snacks from small fish and crabs.

Quite often, the Turkish dish seems to be national, the neighborhood with the Ottoman state, under the influence of which, among other things, formed the traditions of Greek cuisine, affects. This also applies to desserts that resemble oriental sweets. They always put almonds, pistachios, walnuts in them. The air pie made from semolina ravani and baklava are considered truly national, (baklava ). It is especially pleasant to eat them with a cup of Turkish coffee, which is brewed in a Turk.

Greek, like any Mediterranean cuisine, contains recipes based on fish and seafood.Delicious squids are especially revered in the country; they are fried in olive oil, previously rolled in flour. Mussels, freshly harvested from the sea, have excellent taste, which are then cooked in tomato sauce, and juicy octopus meat fried with herbs on charcoal.The Mediterranean diet is considered very popular, which consists in the use of olive oil, honey and starchy foods. The Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.Psarotaaverns (Greek fish taverns) prepare delicious food from the fresh catch. Here you can taste fried and baked fish, stewed and stuffed, dried and smoked, pickled and salted, etc. The menu always contains the most popular dishes from:

• squid with cheese filling, which are baked on coals;
• grilled shrimp;
• steamed mussels;
• lobsters with spaghetti.

Where without meat

In the national cuisine of Greece, one cannot do without meat food. The dishes are prepared from lamb and pork, beef and poultry. Greek meat dishes are a lot like international food, butit has its features

Small kebabs - get a special taste thanks to the marinade in which the chicken or pork meat is aged.

Meat with bone - grilled like lamb ribs paidakya.

Greek shawarma sounds ongreekas , and minced meat cutlets - .

Greek meat with vegetables in clay pots is and the rabbit stew is .

But the most famous Greek dish is .

The classic moussaka recipe for four requires:

250 g eggplant

400 g minced lamb

250 g potatoes, the same amount of courgettes

125 g tomatoes

250 g sour cream

75 g grated cheese

2.5 ml of white wine.

Add salt, pepper, garlic and oregano to taste.

Tomatoes are cut into circles about 1 cm thick. Eggplants, potatoes and zucchini are fried in olive oil until golden brown and spread on a napkin to remove excess fat. Onions, tomatoes and minced meat are stewed with wine and (at the end) salt, pepper, garlic and oregano. All cooked Greek vegetable products are spread in layers on a deep baking sheet, ending with minced meat and grated cheese, several times. In this case, it is important to observe the principle: more layers - tastier the dish. The topmost layers will be sour cream and grated cheese. Baking the moussaka until golden brown in the oven requires a temperature of 200 ° C.

Besides the traditional dish, there is also the preparation of moussaka from vegetables. Its taste will be appreciated by adherents of low-calorie food.

Fruit and vegetable mosaic

The geographical position of Greece promotes the cultivation of fruits and vegetables in favorable conditions. Therefore, it is impossible to imagine traditional Greek dishes without an abundance of vitamin products. Eggplants and olives, artichokes and tomatoes, cucumbers and green beans, onions and peppers - this is an incomplete list of vegetable varieties that are used in the preparation of delicious dishes. Herbal mixtures, herbs and spices - cinnamon with basil, white pepper with nutmeg, are generously added to the food. Vegetables are stewed, baked, eaten fresh in abundance.

The famous Greek salad -choriatic:

consists of chopped fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, red onions. Olives, dried oregano and olive oil are added to it. Having salted the composition and mixed, cut slices of feta cheese are placed on top of it, recipes for many dishes in Greece contain this product.

Eggplant dishes are also held in high esteem among the inhabitants of Hellas. This vegetable is found in many complex recipes, and not just vegetable ones. Here is some of them:

eggplant vegetable cutlets - includes tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini and mutton peas;

fried eggplant -melizanes tiganites

baked eggplant -melizana psiti which includes feta cheese and tomatoes.

Feta

Recipes with feta cheese, which is made from sheep's milk and then sent to storage in special wooden barrels, allow guests to enjoy a great product in numerous salads: this cheese is salty and you can't eat a lot of it alone. It is also included in recipesmeze - traditional hot and cold snacks, which are certainly present on the table among the Greeks, as well as in the cuisine of Cyprus.

One of the simple recipesmezecontains:

olives with a piece of feta in the middle, sprinkled with oregano and seasoned with olive oil. Served with bread.

By the way, olive oil, which the national cuisine of Greece cannot do without, is called in the country nothing but Greek oil.

Greek drinks of the god of wine Dionysus

The vast vineyards allow Greece to produce many varieties of wine. They are little known to Russian gourmets, so while on holiday it is imperative to taste the local tart product.

The most popular wines are:

1. Retsina - white or rosé wine with a pine resin flavor. It is served chilled with snacks.
2. Moshato Is a sweet nutmeg produced on the island of Samos. This wine has a delicate taste and aroma.
3. Nemea andrapsani - dry red wines.
4. Robola - white strong wine with an unforgettable aroma. Unripe grapes are used to produce sparkling wines with a pleasant aroma and lemon flavor.
5. Savatiano is considered the most common grape variety from whichwine of bright, rich, aromatic taste with the same name.

The Greeks also use stronger drinks. The visiting card of the country has becomemetaxa , The 40-degree drink has no precise definition, since the taste qualities of cognac and brandy have merged in it. And the wines of Cyprus boast a sweet strong drinkcommandaria .

Among other strong wines in Greece, it is customary to drinkouzo - aniseed vodka, which is diluted with water, and raki - grape vodka with a tart taste.

What's for dessert?

In the tradition of Greek cuisine - the consumption of desserts. Greek yogurt with a fat content of 10% is held in high esteem. It is made from cow, sheep or goat milk without the inclusion of preservatives. A nutritious and healthy product is consumed with honey and nuts, and salads are also seasoned with it.

The Greeks consider an indispensable sweetness orbaklava.

It requires filo dough - a kind of puff option

For 500 g of filo, 150 ml of melted butter will be required

up to 5 cups of ground walnuts

100 g sugar

2 tbsp. l. lemon juice

50 ml water

1.5 tbsp. l. honey.

Grease a baking dish and spread 1 sheet of filo, on it - a nut filling, in which you need to add orange zest, cinnamon and nutmeg. And so several times until the end of the dough, the sheet of which crowns the cake preparation. Greased with butter or sweet water, for 75 min. sent to heated to 170° C oven.

The finished and cooled baklava is cut into diamonds and poured with hot syrup.

It is boiled for 4 minutes. from water, sugar and lemon juice, remove from heat and add honey.

Greek recipes with photos will help Russian housewives to cook amazing food for residentsHellas.