Want to know what Greek people eat? If you are visiting Greece on holiday or vacation you are in for a culinary treat.
Situated in south-eastern Europe, Greece is a sun kissed land with an all year round temperate climate which provides an abundance of fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs to compliment their excellent cuisine.
Nowhere in Greece is much further from the sea than around 80 miles, so fish as well as meat plays a central role in Greek cuisine.
Sheep and Goats thrive on the precipitous slopes of the mountains in Greece and their milk makes the wonderful Feta cheese, so much part of the cuisine.
Of the many salads containing fresh vegetables and herbs, the Greek salad is most famed in the cuisine of Greece, with its layers of juicy onions, sun ripened tomatoes and green leaves, with generous pieces of Feta cheese which is dressed in the wonderful oil taken from the olives which grow in abundance across the hills and plains of Greece.
Lamb plays a principal role in the cuisine of Greece and is often spit roasted during festivals, of which there are many as Greeks love to celebrate together.
The lamb is also slow cooked in the oven, stewed, or casseroled. Lamb Kleftika, a popular dish in the cuisine of Greece, is slow cooked in a packet of paper with scented herbs and often topped with Feta.
Moussaka is perhaps one of the most famous dishes in the cuisine of Greece with its layers of garlic scented minced meat sauce and egg plant topped with a succulent savoury custard.
With hundreds of islands and so much coastline, the cuisine in Greece contains many wonderful fish and shell fish dishes cooked in a variety of methods from simply grilled and served on a bed of salad leaves and drizzled with oil or cooked in a stew.
Kalamaria (squid) is a favoured fish dish in the cuisine of Greece and Taramosalata is a popular fish roe spread.
Another popular dish in the cuisine of Greece is Dolmades which is vine leaves stuffed with rice and meat and soaked in oil.
The cheeses of Greece play a prominent role in its cuisine and cheese pies are an every day favourite with the cheese cooked in crumble fila pastry packets. Apart from Feta, Kasseri is a creamy cheese which is popular and Kefalotiri which is hard and salty and hence ideal for grating.
The people of Greece are fond of their sweet cuisine dishes and Baklava is one of the most famous with its layers of fila pastry, nuts and sticky honey sauce.
As far as drinks which accompany the cuisine in Greece are concerned, Ouza is a famous liqueur which is clear and flavoured with aniseed.
Retsina is a red or white wine flavoured with pine Resin.
