Welcome to Greece! A place guaranteed to excite your taste buds and introduce you to foods you will no longer be able to live without. From beaches to olive groves you will come across a wide variety of fabulous regional dishes.
Below I am going to look into some of the favorite top 5 iconic Greek dishes to get you started on your foodie road adventure.
Mouthwatering mains
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Gigantes
Gignates consists of large beans similar to butter beans slow cooked in a tomato sauce filled with flavour often served with toasted crusty local bread a great choice for vegetarians.
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Stifado
Stifado (The Greek beef stew), you are likely to find this dish on every menu whilst on your travels, the dish is a real classic Greek dish which you will be craving for years to come! Stifado is filled with beef (Also great with rabbit or other meats), red wine, garlic, spices, herbs, shallot onions often served with hilopittes or orzo.
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Kleftiko
I hope you are hungry! Kleftiko is a good sized piece of lamb roasted with garlic, lemons, and herbs alongside potatoes which soak up the flavors whilst roasting. This juicy dish will change the way you eat a lamb roast from then on. Perfect dish for sharing!
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Moussaka
You are likely to find a variety of versions of the dish along the way as you roam the sunshine filled streets of Greece.
Moussaka is traditionally an eggplant or potato based dish (Greek people do love there potatoes), usually filled with lamb or beef ground mince in a rich tomato sauce topped with a thick milk sauce. You will not be disappointed.
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Gyros
The ideal food when you are on the go or after one to many ouzo’s, a Gyro consists of meat, which could be traditionally pork but could also be chicken or lamb cooked on a vertical rotisserie served on a flat bread with salad, tzatziki and also French fries. This really is a tasty stodge food.
Must have starters / side dish
When ordering from the menu’s in Greece be sure to order some of the below as starters or as a side dish. All of the below add traditional flavour to your meal, you can never wrong with adding tzatziki!
- Olives/olive oil
- Hummus (made from cooked, mashed chickpeas, blended with tahini, olive
oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic) served with local bread. - Tsatziki (yogurt, cucumber and garlic)
- Greek salad (tomatoes,cucumber,onion,olives and feta dressed with olive
oil and dried herbs) - Stuffed vine leaves
- Feta Cheese
Wash it down
No matter which food you are ordering it is important to make sure you wash it down with a real taste of Greece whether that be a glass of Ouzo straight or maybe even mixed with a lemonade to create a refreshing beverage. If this is not to your taste why not try a retsina which is a classic ancient Greek wine or even an ice old cold local beer.
After reading this, you are sure to be setting of to the nearest teverna, If you are still unsure you could always jump straight in with a Greek meze to enjoy a culinary experience you will come back to time and time again.