GREEK
GASTRONOMY
Greek gastronomy
contains an enormous list of recipes and cooking possibilities. The gastronomy
is based on a specific list of food materials. It is characterized by quality
and taste. Traditional recipes are based on olive oil, local spices, fruits and
vegetables. Meat dishes are using lamb, chicken and pork meat in principle. Beef
is used a lot less than the other meats. Fish is a dominant ingredient in Greek
food. Today, the improvement of food transport and storage as well as the
opening of borders has brought new elements in the Greek gastronomy exploited
by chefs in their creations. The vivid adventures of Greeks in history has
influenced the way Greek gastronomy was developed through the centuries as many
law rules have forbidden part of the possibilities open for gastronomy like the
production of alcoholic drinks. Greek food has been influenced by the
civilizations that meet in this central crossroad of Europe where Asian spices
meet African and European gastronomies. The Turkish occupation for three
hundred years has definitely created a dead period for Greek gastronomy. The
Greek gastronomy is mainly based on the extensive use of onion, garlic, olive
oil, lemon, lamb and pork meat. Many vegetables are also used, such as
aubergines, zucchinis, potatoes and carrots. The fruits are mostly consumed on
their own. Greeks are among the biggest consumers of fresh fruits in the world.
Fruits are accessible and available everywhere at affordable prices because of
the extensive production1,2.
Today there are
more than a hundred different agricultural products recognized as quality
products with denominations of origin by the European Union. In Greek history
there are important developments like the forced immigration of Greeks from
Pontos and the cost of today’s Turkey. These Greeks brought with them their
gastronomic culture that enriched and changed substantially the Greek cuisine1,2.
1.
History
2.
Overview of Greek gastronomy
3.
Salads and vegetarian dishes
4.
Meat dishes
5.
Fish dishes
6.
Cheeses and yogurts
7.
Fruits and vegetables
8.
Sweets
9.
Other food
Archaistratus
was a Greek poet and philosopher who lived in Sicily during the fourth century
BC. Sicily was a Greek colony at the time, and Archaistratus lived in Gela and
Syracuse. He is considered to be the father of gastronomy. Although he was not
a cook himself, he seems to have been a lover of good food and eating. He was
the first to approach cooking as an art and made extensive references to the
eating of the present cuisines in ancient Greece, like fish and pulses as well
as to drinking wine, which was highly appreciated by the ancient Greeks. The
etymology of the word “gastronomy” is attributed to Archaistratus, who is the first
European gourmet writer, and his later readers, who knew his poem by the name
Gastronomia. Archaistratus wrote “Hedypatheia”, which is available today
because its 62 chapters were included in the texts of Dipnosofiston of
Athinaios in the second century BC. In his poem, he informs the reader of where
in the Mediterranean region could good food be found. He also describes a series
of recipes, cooking instructions in particular, for the preparation of fish.
Archestratus presented five golden rules about cooking and eating that prove
equally valuable today:
- ¾
Use raw food materials of good
quality
- ¾
Combine them harmoniously
- ¾
Avoid hot sauces and spices
- ¾
Choose lighter sauces to enjoy
the meal
- ¾
Use spices moderately so as to
not interfere with natural flavours
The ancient
Greeks had several meals during the day. In the morning, they ate something
extremely simple and light, like bread wet with wine. This meal was called
“akratima”. Before midday, they had a simple and quick meal called “ariston”.
In the afternoon, they ate something light again, called “esperima”. The
biggest meal was prepared during the evening, when they ate a rich meal called
“dipnon”. This spread was rich in every aspect, as most of the times they would
have friends over to eat together. The Greeks considered eating an important
social event. Such dinners were called a “symposium”, which means the meeting
of many people. On numerous occasions, the attendees of a symposium would
contribute financially or with food, which was called “symvoles”. Homer
referred to these contributions as “eranos”. The ancient Greeks ate simple
food, like cereals and barley, with a galette, which they either baked on their
own or in public ovens. They also ate bread. Everything else that accompanied
the bread was called “opson” and included foodstuffs like olives, fruits, meat,
fish, onions and green vegetables. Popular dishes were the fava salad, made
from broad beans at the time, or from lentils. They also ate garlic and cheese.
Meat was rather expensive and rare; when they did eat meat, it was pork,
chicken or the meat of the wild animals they would hunt in the forests. The
consumption of meat mainly depended on the financial situation of the family,
while the consumption of fish was seriously influenced by the location of the residence
of the family, i.e. whether they lived close to the sea. Fish were the primary
protein source and were eaten fresh or salted. The Greeks did not consume
butter, although it was known of and available, but olive oil instead, as it
was considered better food.
The history of
Greece explains another part of the Greek cuisine. The Greeks have been in
direct contact with many different civilizations with completely different
cultures and eating habits. This influenced them regarding their nutritional
attitudes and enriched their meal variety by bringing new culinary ideas. This
involved the Northern Slavic nations, the Asian nations including India and the
North African nations, in particular Egypt and Middle East. Greece is a
crossroad of three continents, Asia, Europe and Africa. It is therefore logical
that its geographical position plays a critical role in the meal variety of
Greek gastronomy. In addition, there are also long periods of occupation of
different parts of Greece by different nations that influenced the way that
Greeks cook and the type of meals they prepare. This is one of the reasons that
local food varies among different regions of Greece.
Greeks have also
studied and philosophically approached cooking. Archaistratus, who is
considered the father of gastronomy, set the five principles of good cooking,
which are still valid. Hippocrates, who is considered the father of medicine,
introduced his philosophical approach for good healthy eating and taste
satisfaction.
Overview of Greek gastronomy
It has been
established that you need good raw materials to produce good food. Greece has
always been a quality food producer with an important produce variety. Greek
gastronomy is not monotonous and its quality has been proven scientifically.
The Cretan diet is only a part of the story that brings this aspect and the
good quality food available in the country to the surface. Greek food is also a
major component of the Mediterranean diet. Greek gastronomy is characterised by
large variety of produce, quality and the small quantities produced from each
food type. Due to the Greek landscape and nature, it is not possible to mass produce
products where it would affect the quality as a whole. Quality is an inherent
characteristic of food production and gastronomy.
The Greeks were
poor and this has had an impact on their nutrition, which was limited to
locally produced food. In many cases, the Greeks had their own supplies from
their village of origin, where they were receiving a small packet with all
necessary food for the family. Food adulteration was an unknown phenomenon in
the Greek culture. It was only much later in the recent history when the Greek
agricultural industry started mass producing products and the quality was
compromised due to the financial viability of the agricultural business, and
local family food production consequently started declining. Today, the
financial crisis has brought this old tradition back and many people have
started exploiting their small plots for producing their own food. The Greek
market adopted openness like all European markets and the Greeks were
influenced by new culinary ideas appearing in the country. However, the core
nutritional preference of the Greeks and their families still remains very
close to what we consider traditional gastronomy. This has happened for a very
simple reason: It is too good to be abandoned! Greek recipes have specific
characteristics based on a number of parameters. It is absolutely certain that
climate influences the way we enjoy our meals and the kind of food we choose to
eat. For example, Greeks drink more white wine than red wine. This is the opposite
of what Europeans in the north prefer. The hot climate requires them to have
lighter and more refreshing meals.
The fact that
Greece is surrounded by the sea on all sides leads to a great consumption of
fish. However, Greece has a varied landscape and many mountains that offer
escape from the hot climate of the coasts. This variety of landscape has an
impact on the variety of food offered in Greece. As a result of that, there is
a large variety of meals, including heavy meals that are rich in nutrients. The
most influential and important factor that determined to a great extent not
only the type of food that Greeks consumed but also the preparation is the
products available. Due to its climate, Greece has an enormous variety of
fruits, vegetables and other raw materials that are used in cooking. The
richness of the Greek sea provide a variety of fish to be cooked and enjoyed in
different ways.
In consideration
of recipes’ ingredients, it accrues that the list of materials used is minimal
compared to the range of meals available in Greek gastronomy. This is in line
with the principles of Archaistratus and Hippocrates rules. This justifies the
reputation of the Greek diet as a good nutritional option, with the Cretan diet
leading. The Greek cuisine is based on fresh fruits and vegetables, cereals,
olive oil, fish, wine and meat. These are important components of the
Mediterranean cuisine and have a lot in common with the cuisines of Italy,
Turkey and the Middle East. This is because Greece is a crossroads between
these three continents and many different civilizations that have their own
unique cuisines with a different identity. There are also many other products
that are used in the Greek cuisine, such as table olives, dried nuts, honey,
yogurt, and many cheeses, such as the famous feta cheese, manouri cheese and
others. An important element of the cuisine is the well-known “mezedes”, which
are small preparations that accompany alcoholic drinks like ouzo, tsipouro,
wine or other drinks in general. The Greek cuisine is a part of the Greek
culture and is an amalgam of the different aforementioned gastronomies of the
continents that meet at the crossing point of Greece.
Ancient Greek
gastronomy was based on cereals, olive oil and wine, while the use of meat and
fish was limited. Later, the contribution of meat and fish as components in
meals increased, as they became more available. The developments in the food
supply in the country brought about several changes. It is important to note
that olive oil is used in almost every meal preparation, and we can say that it
would be impossible to cook a Greek meal without its use. The spices that are
used are oregano, mint, dill, bay leaves, thyme, fennel and cinnamon.
Salads and vegetarian dishes
Greek cuisine
has a series of refreshing salads that are distinct in their style and
traditions. These are the salads of dakos (made of dakos, dried bread, thinly
cut tomatoes, capers, olives and fresh onions), chorta (made of the
aforementioned wild vegetable plants), choriatiki salad (made of cut tomatoes,
cut cucumber, onions, olives, oregano, olive oil and feta), lahanosalata
(shredded white cabbage), pantzaroslata (cut beetroot) and patatosalata (made
of cut potatoes and mayonnaise). There are also certain salads that are made of
different combinations of food materials, such as melitsanosata (grilled
eggplant paste), skordalia (made of mashed bread or boiled potatoes, onions,
garlic), taramosalata, tzatziki (made of straigned yogurt, garlic, dill and
olive oil) and tyrokafteri (made of manouri and feta cheese). Other appetizers
are dolmadakia, fried kolokithakia, saganaki (fried cheese), spanakopitta
(spinach pie) and tiropitta (cheese pie). The classic soups include the fakès
(lentils), fasolada (made of beans), kotosoupa (made of poultry meat),
kremidosoupa (made of onions), magiritsa (made of offals), patsas (made of pork
or beef or lamb, head, belly and feet) and psarosoupa (made of various fishes
of the Greek sea). The Greek gastronomy includes a series of vegetarian
recipes, such as agginares (artichokes), arakas (green peas), bamies (okra),
briam (made of a mix of courgettes and potatoes), domatokeftedes (made of
tomatoes and bread), fasolakia (made of green beans), lahanorizo (made of white
cabbage and rice), prasorizo (made of leek and rice), spanakorizo (made of spinach
and rice) and gemista (made of filled tomatoes and green peppers with rice).
The main dishes are classified into three types, namely meat and fish dishes
and vegetarian dishes1,2.
Meat dishes
The meat dishes
are pastitsio (made of cream, minced meat, thick spaghetti), yiouvetsi (lamb or
beef meat in clay pot), gyros (thick cut pieces of pork meat with pita),
kleftiko (lamb meat with garlic and lemon juice), keftedakia (balls with minced
meat, cumin and parsley), local sausages, mousakas (prepared with fried
eggplant, minced meat, cream and nutmeg), lamb meat with potatoes (lamb or
chicken meat prepared in the oven with potatoes either with a lemon sauce),
lamb ribs (grilled flattened lamb ribs), pork meat in celery, soutsoukakia
smyrnis (balls of minced meat in tomato sauce), souvlaki (pork cubes in a small
wooden spit grilled in barbeque), spetsofai (sausages with peppers in tomato
sauce), stifado (rabbit meat with onions in the oven) and yiouvarelakia (meat
balls with rice in egg lemon sauce). Concerning meats, beef is mostly used
because of its unique use in the preparation of minced meat. In the past,
Greeks used minced lamb meat, but this is no longer the case. It is used
extensively in many essential traditional recipes like moussaka and pastitsio.
If this use of beef is excluded, then lamb and pork meat are the dominant meats
in Greek gastronomy.
The Greek
gastronomy has a series of food characteristics in terms of taste and origin.
This food is synonymous with Greek gastronomy and nobody can actually question
its origin. Souvlaki is one such example. It is a dish that has marinated
pieces of meat stuck in a wooden spit. The meat used was originally of pork
but, today, lamb or poultry meat is also used in the preparation of souvlaki.
Souvlaki is grilled in burnt charcoal. The marinade sauce is made of olive oil,
salt, pepper, oregano and lots of lemon juice. The original souvlaki is an
unbeatable recipe that only a few people can resist, which has been proven by
science, because of its taste-stimulating ingredients. Souvlaki is easy to make
and is a favourite of many children and young people.
Fish dishes
The fish dishes
are numerous and mainly include fish from the Greek seas. These are the
astakomakaronada (spagetti with lobster), atherina (smelt fried), octopus
(boiled or grilled in olive oil-vinegar sauce), Greek fish grilled, gavros
(anchovy fried), midia (mussels in tomato or cream sauce or fried), soupies
(cuttlefish with spinach) and swordfish (grilled). Fish also has a dominant
place in Greek cooking. Greece is surrounded by the sea, and it is inevitable
that the products of the sea, such as fish, will be used in the nutrition of
our nation. The vast variety of fish found in the Aegean sea and available in
the local markets makes fish an affordable and popular ingredient of our food.
From the above charts, we conclude
that olive oil is, by far, the ingredient that is the most commonly used in
almost every Greek recipe. Sunflower oil is only used for frying. This is
because it is lighter and better for this particular use. Olive oil is fruit
juice and is not resistant enough in high temperatures. Therefore, it is better
to use sunflower oil in frying, although the taste is degraded significantly. In
the past, honey was the major and only sweetening agent in Greek cooking. Sugar
has substituted honey over the years, for its facility, for use over the years.
Today, honey is used for its taste and mainly in sweet-making. Butter is used
in the preparation of sweets and, sometimes, as a complementary ingredient to
differentiate the taste from the common olive oil taste.
Cheeses and yogurts
Coming to the
Royal cheese of Greece, i.e. feta cheese, it is the principal cheese used in
Greek gastronomy for its special taste. Yogurt is also used in many recipes,
either in salads or in sweets and pies. The cheeses of Greece are extremely
crucial, as they are tasty and full of aroma. These are the feta, formaela,
anthotiro, myzithra, kaseri, kefalotiri, graviera and haloumi cheese (mainly
from Cyprus). The classic dishes of the traditional cuisine of Greek gastronomy
are more or less the same, with only local variations across the different
regions of Greece.
Fruits and vegetables
Onions, garlic,
lemon and tomato are the ones used the most in Greek cooking. Spring onions,
cabbage, carrots, green and red peppers and orange are also used extensively in
Greek cuisine but less than the first group. Eggplants, zucchini and spinach
are ingredients of classic and popular recipes. This makes them a part of the
weekly food served on the Greek table. Lentils, white beans and chickpeas are
used in many different ways. Do not forget that “fasolada”, a white bean soup
with tomato sauce, is the national dish of Greece or one of the most important
and representative of Greek gastronomy. Among spices and aromatic herbs, pepper
and salt are used in almost every recipe. Celery, vanilla, cinnamon, bay
leaves, mints, oregano, parsley and dill are used extensively to add taste and
aroma. Cinnamon is used in tomato-sauce dishes and sweets, while bay leaves are
used in soups. Oregano is used in roasted and grilled meats and fish.
Sweets
At the end of a
good lunch, there is a dessert to close the meal. In Greek gastronomy, there is
a series of traditional sweets, such as the baclavas, kantaifi, karydopitta,
galaktompoureko, loukoumades, glyka koutaliou, melonomakarona, kourabiedes, tsoureki
and giaourti-meli.
Other food
Concerning the
ingredients that contain starch, like rice, potatoes or pasta, all kinds of
foods are used extensively to add bulk to the main recipe. As far as the fruit
and vegetables are concerned, some are used more than others.
Most of the
ingredients have been produced in Greece for centuries, and local production
covered the needs of the Greek cooks. However, this is no longer the case, but
there is a requirement for local production to recover its strength and volume.
Salt and pepper are also necessary ingredients as well as oregano for grilled
meats and fish. Onions, garlic, lemon and tomato also considerably limit the
capacity to cook Greek meals.
Bibliography
1.
Malliaris,
Georgios (2019). Greek Gastronomy and the secrets of its recipes, USA, KDP
Publishing. p. inside cover. ISBN 979-8605240471.
2.
Malliaris,
Georgios (2019). GREEK TASTE, Food, Wine and Drinks, The Greek Model of
Gastronomy,., USA: Summit Books. p. inside cover. ISBN 978-1079933109.
3.
Malliaris Georgios (2022), Greek
Food The most Precious Book on the origin, materials and recipes, KDP
Publishing, ISBN: 9798355340889
