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Traditional food · Greece
The cream-filled phyllo pastry of Thessaloniki, the sweet wines of Patras, Monemvasia and Santorini, Corfu’s Venetian-influenced dishes, the Cyclades’ snacks and the grape pomace spirits of Crete and Thessaly.
In the photo: Acrópole, Atenas
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
The cuisine
Greek cuisine rests on a few ancient elements: olive oil, wheat and barley, wine, sheep and goat cheese, honey, wild herbs and fish. Much of what is eaten in the country already appears, under other names, in Ancient texts, and the table is still organized around shared dishes, the mezedes, served with wine or with a spirit.
Each era left marks. Byzantium and the Ottoman Empire spread phyllo pastries, honey-and-nut sweets and many dish names. Venice ruled Corfu, Crete and several Peloponnese ports for centuries, and Venetian trade brought the sweet wine from Monemvasia to Europe. In 1923, the population exchange between Greece and Turkey brought families from Asia Minor to Thessaloniki and other northern cities, with recipes that became part of the local cuisine.
On the mainland, Thessaloniki is the city of bougatsa, a very thin pastry filled with cream or cheese and eaten in the morning. Patras gives its name to Mavrodafni, a sweet red wine aged in barrel, and Monemvasia revived the sweet wine that carried its Frankish name, Malvasia. Attica is the home of retsina, the white wine with pine resin, and Thessaly is the region of tsipouro, the grape-pomace spirit served in small bottles with snacks.
In the Ionian Islands, Corfu preserves dishes with Italian names, such as pastitsada and sofrito. In the Aegean, Santorini makes vinsanto with sun-dried grapes and fried cakes with the island’s tomato, Mykonos has an onion pie with local cheese, and Rhodes offers melekouni, a sesame-and-honey bar, at weddings. In Crete, tsikoudia accompanies almost every meal, dakos turns a dried barley rusk into a dish, and Chania bakes zucchini, potato and mizithra cheese in layers.
14 flavors
White wine flavored with Aleppo pine resin, added to the must during fermentation. The Attica Region calls it an Attica specialty, where it is made mainly with the Savatiano grape, and the name is a traditional designation reserved for wines from Greece.
Layered baked tart of thinly sliced zucchini and potato, with mizithra cheese and mint, sometimes topped with pastry. It is named for Chania, in western Crete, and is a summer dish (June to August), when zucchini are in season.
Rooster or veal slowly cooked in a tomato and wine sauce seasoned with cinnamon, bay leaf, nutmeg and other spices, served with thick pasta and grated cheese. It’s Corfu’s Sunday and festive dish, of Venetian heritage.
Thin slices of beef dredged in flour, browned and cooked in a light sauce of white wine or wine vinegar, with plenty of garlic, parsley and pepper. It is a Corfu dish of Venetian heritage, served with potatoes, rice or pasta.
Dry barley rusk, moistened and topped with grated tomato, fresh mizithra or feta cheese, olive oil and oregano, sometimes with olives and capers. It’s the best-known snack and light meal of Cretan cuisine.
Grape marc brandy distilled in Crete after the harvest, without anise. It has a geographical indication as Tsikoudia of Crete, is served chilled in small glasses, and accompanies Cretan hospitality from the start to the end of a meal.
Fried patties made from chopped tomato, scallion, herbs and flour, served as a snack. They are a specialty of Santorini, made with the island’s small tomato, grown without irrigation in volcanic soil.
Sweet natural white wine from Santorini, made with Assyrtiko, Aidani and Athiri grapes dried in the sun and aged for a long time in barrel. It ranges in color from amber to dark brown and is part of the Protected Designation of Origin Santorini.
Sweet white wine from southern the Peloponnese, made from grapes sun-dried and barrel-aged. It revives the wine that merchants shipped from Monemvasia to Europe in the Middle Ages, when the port was known by its Frankish name, Malvasia.
Mykonos onion pie, filled with onion, the island’s fresh cheese tyrovolia, eggs and dill, between two layers of pastry. It is noted as one of the island’s oldest and most traditional recipes.
Sweet fortified red wine from the Patras region, made mainly from the Mavrodafni grape and aged in barrels until it develops notes of raisins, coffee and dried fruit. It has a protected designation of origin and is the dessert wine most associated with the city.
Toasted sesame and honey bar with almonds, orange peel and spices, cut into diamond shapes. It is Rhodes’ sweet offered at weddings and baptisms and has a Protected Geographical Indication from the European Union.
Pomace brandy (grape marc), with or without anise, served chilled in small bottles with snacks. It has geographical indications for Thessaly and for Tyrnavos, and in Volos it gives its name to the houses where each round arrives with a meze.
Pie made with very thin pastry, open and layered, filled with semolina custard and topped with sugar and cinnamon. It is also made savory, with cheese, ground meat or spinach. In Thessaloniki it is eaten in the morning with coffee and sold in pieces cut to order.
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Your questions
The base is olive oil, bread and barley, wine, sheep and goat cheeses, honey and herbs. Many specialties are tied to places: bougatsa to Thessaloniki, pastitsada and sofrito to Corfu, dakos and tsikoudia to Crete, melekouni to Rhodes and retsina to Attica.
Small plates to share, served in the middle of the table with wine, ouzo, tsipouro or tsikoudia. They can be olives, cheeses, fried bites, small fish or vegetables, and they usually arrive gradually as the conversation goes on.
Among the oldest are Patras’s Mavrodafni, a sweet red aged in barrel; Monemvasia-Malvasia, from the south Peloponnese; and Santorini’s vinsanto, made with sun-dried grapes. All three have protected designation of origin.
Both are grape-pomace spirits. Tsikoudia is the name used in Crete, where the drink is made without anise. Tsipouro is made on the mainland, with or without anise, and has geographical indications in Thessaly, Macedonia and Tyrnavos.
