20 June 2012

glorious greek cuisine - a foodie wannabe hits greece

Being my first visit to Greece, I was keen to get amongst the local cuisine that I had heard so many good things about.  Here are my top three favourite foods in Greece - my mouth is already watering at the mere thought of these!

1. The Greek Salad
Admittedly I was never a fan of the Greek salad however had heard many good things about how tasty these were in Greece. And yes they still call it "Greek salad" even in Greece!  The main ingredients of this salad are: tomatoes, cucumber (always peeled), olives, capers, oregano, red onion, green capsicum, topped with a slab of feta cheese and drizzled with olive oil.  I loved these salads so much that we ordered one with every meal, there were some variations such as the Santorini salad that contained cherry tomatoes and the Athermi salad which contained a lot of fresh oregano and barley husks.  At the end of the day, these salads were equally delicious with the simple reason being the real flavour of the local produce.  The tomatoes were juicy and sweet, exactly how tomatoes should taste.  The cucumber was crunchy and refreshing.   The olives (non-pitted) bursted with flavour and delivered a powerful taste and the feta had the perfect balance of salty, creamy and crumbly.   The combination was needless to say - perfect!

2. Tzatziki
Traditionally a dip made of Greek yoghurt, lemons, cucumber, dill and olive oil, this is my favourite Greek accompaniment. Again, we would order this with almost every meal and I would happily eat it on it's own by the spoonful.  I find it so refreshing with the zingyness of the lemon, the lightness of the cucumber and the smooth creaminess of the yoghurt.  I think that there must be garlic or onion in this also as there is a slight kick. I love tzatziki so much, either with bread, meat or purely on its own!


3. Gyros
The first thing we ate when we reached Athens was the infamous gyros pita which I had heard so many things about from a number of people. It is a pita bread with meat (generally pork or chicken), tzatziki, red onions, tomatoes and the best part: hot chips!   This is a complete meal and for generally €2 - €2.50, it is a cheap one too! This is my idea of heaven and a surprise that I haven't seen anything like it either in Australia or New Zealand. This is the perfect lunch time meal or two for dinner is also perfect!

Recommendations on where to eat:
Athens - Strofi (thanks Ave & Derek) - a beautiful restaurant with an Acropolis view. Exceptional service also. Book for a terrace table.
Santorini - two local taverns in the small village of Megalahori: Gero-Manolis and Tzanakis.  Family run taverns away from the busy tourist areas, this was "authentic" Greek cuisine at its best.

It doesn't surprise me that I am head over heels in love with Greek food, it is so simple but delicious. Also my favourite restaurant in Melbourne is George Calombaris' - Hellenic Republic - the subject of my first post and what gave me that final nudge to start this very blog!