Delicious Greek food and beverage you need to try

While I enjoyed my summer holidays on one of the Greek island, I couldn’t go without eating delicious traditional Greek food and beverage. Going to Greece is a special culinary experience: you can find Greek food on every corner, from gyros, moussaka, to the sea food, etc.

Greek food and your diet

Gyros is probably most known typical Greek food. It’s made of meat (pork, chicken, or other meat) usually served wrapped in a flatbread together with tomato, onion, and tzatziki sauce.

Gyros typical Greek food
Gyros probably most known typical Greek food

Greece is probably not a perfect place for vegans although every good restaurant will offer you more than just “traditional” French fries 😉 I really liked Dolmades, which is a typical Greek dish made of rice and Greek herb, rolled into grape leaves. Also, everyone who is on a low-fat diet, forget it. Greeks make every food/dish with lots of olive oil and pretty salty, at least this is what they have done every time when I tried their food. Don’t be scared of the Greek cuisine: it is very delicious, and I would definitely recommend trying their traditional Greek yogurt with honey, mousaka, gyros, Greek salad with feta cheese, … You will go on a diet after you get home. 🙂

Dolmades - stuffed grape leaves
Dolmades – stuffed grape leaves

When going to Greece you will notice that they serve French fries with everything, seriously. And there is a story I heard about how Greeks adopted potato for its one:

In 1828 when Greece finally become independent (Liberated from Turkish supremacy) Ioannis Kapodistrias the “Governor of Greece” asked the Greek people to plant potatoes. But the Greeks weren’t so enthusiastic about it. So, as he knows the contemporary Greek attitudes, he ordered to plant the field full of potatoes and placed the guards around the field to guard the crop. And as the crop has to be of great importance, since is so well guarded, some people started stealing the potatoes. However, the guards have been ordered to turn a blind eye to such behavior. Soon, all of the crop was stolen.

…. and that’s how Greeks started to plant potatoes. And since they have a lot of oil and salt, their most famous form of potato dish is French fries. A little bit of joke 🙂 but Greeks make really delicious potatoes, they cooked it and then open roasted with olive oil, oregano, and lemon juice, yummy.

READ MORE:  Relaxing, yet exploring week on Rhodes island, Greece

Greek beverage

There are two traditional Greek alcohol drinks you should know about, most famous is Ouzo (of course), and Metaxa. Ouzo is an anise-flavoured alcoholic beverage. Which you can drink alone or mix it with water or ice cubes, in this case, it will turn white (looks like milk). Metaxa is a Greek distilled alcohol spirit, it’s blend of brandy and wine made from sun-dried Savatiano, Sultana, and Black Corinth grape varieties. And then blended with an aged Muscat wine from the Aegean islands of Samos and Lemnos. You can drink it as it is, mixed it with tonic, or add it to cocktails.

All coffee lovers have to try their cold coffee, no that’s not an iced coffee, it’s a special Greek cold coffee. Basically, it’s a foam-covered iced coffee drink made from instant coffee. While it’s prepared, they mix it to get natural cream and then they add ice cubes – and that’s it. It’s called “Frappé” and you can get yours with sugar, milk, both or none. I had one with none and it was very good and especially refreshing, something you don’t expect for a coffee.

Frappé - a Greek foam-covered iced coffee drink
Frappé – a Greek foam-covered iced coffee drink

Another drink is something like a coffee liqueur, it’s basically ouzo with coffee and anise, very sweet and very delicious, but it has to be served cold. Greeks drink it as a liqueur, add it to coffee or when baking biscuits.

Anise coffee Greek liqueur
Anise coffee Greek liqueur

Have you ever been to Greece and/or try their delicious traditional food and beverage?

 

Author: Urska

Urška is working in AgTech startup and love to spend time outside in nature. She like to do outdoor sport such as hiking, running, and swimming in the sea. Her biggest wish is to travel the world to explore new cultures and try out all the delicious fruits mother nature has to offer.

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