The Food in Greece

Greece is a peninsular country located in Eastern Europe between Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. One of the characteristics of the geography of Greece is the large amount of islands. There are more than 2000 greek islands scattered both in the Aegean and Ionian Seas. (To learn more about Greek geography, check out these sites: GreekA and Class Brain.

Greece is a country made up of a very diverse culture. Traditions, religion, music, language, and food are the major parts of Greek culture and constitute the base to know for those who wish to travel to Greece. (To find out more about Greek traditions, religion and music, click here).

What's interesting about the food of Greece is that although there are local dishes which are made differently depending on the area, there are also dishes that are prepared in the same way throughout the entire country. Another interesting fact is that all restaurants located in Greece are obligated by law to have a list of menu prices posted by the entrance-Talk about strict price transparency!

So here's a list of some interesting foods and what makes them unique to the Greek culture:

Greek Salad
It is recommended that you try this at everywhere you go in Greece before you eat each meal. This starter, although a staple at any Greek restaurant, can taste very different depending on how they mix the ingredients. Like a garden salad, this contains cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions; but only romaine lettuce is used and they also add olive oil, crumbled feta cheese, black olives, red wine vinegar (or sometimes lemon juice instead) and various spices.

Gyro/Souvlaki

A "traditional" Gyro (pronounced yhee-ro) is made up of a mixture of minced pork and lamb slowly roasted by turning around on a vertical spit. (Not surprisingly, the word gyros in Greek means "something that goes around"). Gyros tend to have this meat mixture, tomatoes, onions, tzatziki, and a great deal of spices, all in a pita. Souvlaki is prepared the same way as a gyro except the meat used is only pork. In Greece, although there are sit-down taverns that serve gyros, there is almost always a take-out counter. I guess you could say that buying a gyro in Greece is like getting 'Fast Food' in the US. (For more information about gyros, visit Greek Landscapes and Athens Guide.)

Mousaka is a dish consisting of layers of ground lamb or beef and sliced eggplant topped with a cheese sauce and baked. It's the Greek version of an Irish Shephard's Pie. Although at first glance, the dish seems simple to make, there is a lot of preparation and skill that is required to make this dish taste as delicious as possible. For one example of how to make Moussaka, check out this recipe. Also, make sure to check out wikipedia for some interesting information about moussaka and the many versions of this famous dish.