The Greek Gods

The secrets of Ancient Greek Food has been passed down from generation to generation and many of the main ingredients and foods used today were originally used centuries ago. Just as in any other country, there are basic foods that originated there that will never be forgotten. Many of the recipes used in the past, in any country, have been changed or other ingredients have been added to the basic recipe, but the history is still there.

The main ingredients used in ancient Greek food were olive oil, wheat, barley, tomatoes, eggplant, potato, green beans, okra, green peppers, and onions. They also used the honey from the flower nectar from the lemon, orange, and bigarade fruits, thyme honey, and pine honey from conifer trees. The seasonings the Ancient Greeks used were onions, garlic, oregano rigani, mint dhiosmo, dill, salt, bay laurel leaves, basil, thyme, fennel seed, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, mint. These seasonings were used to season the vegetables and meats such as, lamb, pork, kalamata olives, feta cheese, grape leaves, fish, beef, zucchini, and yogurt.

The terrain of the country was better for sheep and goats instead of cattle. Beef was a rarity but there was some. Fish dishes were also very popular. There were several varieties of cheese made and used there. They were Feta, Kasseri, Kefalotyri, Graviera, Anthotyros, Manouri, Metsovone, and Mizithra. Phyllo pastry was used in many dishes. The typical Greek foods were colorful and very flavorful.

Contemporary Greek cooking makes good use of the Ancient Greek ingredients. Olive oil , grains, fish, meat, poultry, rabbit, and many spices and seasonings are still used as they were in the past. There has been a few changes and additions to the foods and more recipes have been discovered by the combining of these ingredients and maybe a few new ones. Some of the ancient foods that are no longer used are porridge, fish sauce, salt water mixed with wine, and a few more. Many of the Greek dishes today have added a touch of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish flavors to them. Some of these foods are moussakas, baklavas, tzatziki, yuvarlakia, and keftedhes.

There are also some dishes which have the Italian (Venetian) influence in them. These are pastitsio and makaronia me kima. There has been an increase in fast food restaurants in Greece but there are still many traditional Taverna and Estiatorio establishments still in existence. These food establishments serve the Greek home cooking at affordable prices. The Greek love to eat out often and the tourists love to try the traditional cuisine. There are many traditional foods still consumed in Greece today and there are also some which are used in certain regions only. The vegetarian dish called Haniotiko Mpoureki is very popular in the region of Chania and in the summer they may eat it twice a week. This dish is not used anywhere else in Greece.