Ĭommon street foods include souvlaki, gyros, various pitas and roast corn.įast food became popular in the 1970s, some chains, such as Goody's and McDonald's serving international food like hamburgers, and others serving Greek foods such as souvlaki, gyros, tyropita, and spanakopita. The taverna and estiatorio are widespread, serving home cooking at affordable prices to both locals and tourists. A great variety of cheese types are used in Greek cuisine, including Feta, Kasseri, Kefalotyri, Graviera, Anthotyros, Manouri, Metsovone, Ladotyri (cheese with olive oil), Kalathaki (a specialty from the island of Limnos), Katiki Domokou (creamy cheese, suitable for spreads), Mizithra and many more.ĭining out is common in Greece. Fish dishes are common in coastal regions and on the islands. The climate and terrain has tended to favour the breeding of goats and sheep over cattle, and thus beef dishes are uncommon. Many Greek recipes, especially in the northern parts of the country, use "sweet" spices in combination with meat, for example cinnamon, allspice and cloves in stews. Parsley is also used as a garnish on some dishes. Other common herbs and spices include basil, thyme and fennel seed. Greek cuisine uses some flavorings more often than other Mediterranean cuisines do, namely oregano, mint, garlic, onion, dill and bay laurel leaves. Mastic (aromatic, ivory-coloured resin) is grown on the Aegean island of Chios. Honey in Greece is mainly honey from the nectar of fruit trees and citrus trees: lemon, orange, bigarade (bitter orange) trees, thyme honey, and pine honey. Important vegetables include tomato, aubergine (eggplant), potato, green beans, okra, green peppers (capsicum), and onions. The basic grain in Greece is wheat, though barley is also grown. The olives themselves are also widely eaten. It is produced from the olive trees prominent throughout the region, and adds to the distinctive taste of Greek food. The most characteristic and ancient element of Greek cuisine is olive oil, which is used in most dishes. Byzantine cuisine benefited from Constantinople's position as a global hub of the spice trade. Culinary advice was influenced by the theory of humors, first put forth by the ancient Greek doctor Claudius Aelius Galenus. Fish continued to be an integral part of the diet for coastal dwellers. Lemons, prominent in Greek cuisine and introduced in the second century, were used medicinally before being incorporated into the diet. This dish was noted by the Spartan's fellow Greek contemporaries of the time, particularly Athenians and Corinthians as proof of their different way of living.īyzantine cuisine was similar to ancient cuisine, with the addition of new ingredients, such as caviar, nutmeg and basil. The Spartan diet was also marked by its frugality and unique nature, a notorious staple of the Spartan diet was 'melas zomos' (black soup), made by boiling the blood of pigs with vinegar to prevent emulsification. Wine and olive oil have always been a central part of it and the spread of grapes and olive trees in the Mediterranean and further afield is correlated with Greek colonization. This trend in Greek diet continued in Roman and Ottoman times and changed only fairly recently when technological progress has made meat more available. Īncient Greek cuisine was characterized by its frugality and was founded on the "Mediterranean triad": wheat, olive oil, and wine, with meat being rarely eaten and fish being more common.
Its influence spread to ancient Rome and then throughout Europe and beyond. Greek cuisine is part of the culture of Greece and is recorded in images and texts from ancient times.