Greek food is extremely popular in the United States. Plenty of Greek American restaurants flourishes all across America. In Greek restaurants and in the home, many of the traditional recipes have been adapted (and sometimes improved on) to suit cross cultural tastes. In Greece meals are great social occasions where friends and family come together and the quantity of food is often impressive. Olive oil is a key ingredient in Greek cooking and is used in quantity. Traditional herbs include parsley, mint, dill, oregano (especially the wild oregano rigani ), and garlic. You will find on most Greek tables olives, sliced cheese (such as feta, kaseri, and kefalotiri ), tomato, and lemon wedges, along with bread. Fish, chicken, lamb, beef, and vegetables are all found on the Greek menu and are prepared in a variety of ways. Soup, salad, and yogurt are served as side dishes. Sheets of dough called phillo are layered and filled with spinach, cheese, eggs, and nuts. Greeks create such masterpieces as moussaka, a layered dish of eggplant, meat, cheese, and bread crumbs sometimes served with a white sauce. Other popular Greek dishes in the United States include souvlakia, a shish kabob of lamb, vegetables, and onions, keftedes.
Oil, especially the Olive one, was very important to the development of ancient Greece food and it remains an integral ingredient in the majority of Greek dishes. About 60 percent of cultivated land in Greece is devoted to olive groves. Some Greeks may own land in the countryside where they have or once had family and let out this land to a farmer who collects and presses the olives.
Oil is dribbled over salads and cold dishes such as tzatziki and is added to stews such as Fakes and used to baste meat that is going to be grilled or cooked. Most meals in Greece contain olive oil, and sometimes a surprisingly large amount of oil is added. Olive oil is generally considered a “healthy” oil – when not used for frying – as it is high in monounsaturated fats.
Olive oil is not well suited to frying food. However, because of a lack of alternatives it has long been used for this purpose. However, more and more people and restaurants are now using other oils more suitable for frying, such as sunflower oil, and many different oils are now widely available in supermarkets.
There are at least four different classes of olive oil:
- Extra Virgin: From the first cold press of the olives
- Virgin: From a cold press but of slightly lower quality
- Pure Olive Oil and Olive Oil: From a subsequent press that also uses chemicals to extract oii
When using the oil cold, for example on a salad, Extra Virgin oil should be used and it is this class that is most readily available in supermarkets.
Cheeses
The typical Greek cheese is Feta. It is made from a mixture of goat and sheep milk, as are most Greek cheeses. Feta is a crumbly and salty cheese and exists in many varieties. Consistency and saltiness can vary greatly between different makes of Feta.
Feta is sold in brine and should be kept in the brine to preserve it. If the feta is too salty, it is possible to wash it lightly under running water to remove some of the brine and salt.
Other Greek cheeses include:
- Myzithra A very creamy white cheese found on some Greek islands.
- Staka A spicy cream cheese from Crete
- Formaela : A yellow cheese from Arachova in the mountains north of Athens; it is smoked and then served hot
Greek Yogurt
If you are looking for a thicker, creamer version of your regular yogurt, try Greek yogurt, which comes in flavors or in plain, the process of making it is very similar to making Shrikhand in India. It comes in the same flavors or plain, and you can eat it as a snack or incorporate it in recipes, desserts and smoothies. There are benefits to eating Greek yogurt, and comparing it to regular yogurt can help you choose which one is best for your dietary needs. This yogurt has many benefits along with a taste that will leave you feeling full and satisfied. Greek yogurt can have twice as much protein as regular yogurt.
Most people know that burgers, fries, nachos, and doughnuts are unhealthy. But what about gyros, spanakopita, souvlaki, and baklava? Those and other Greek specialties are popping up not only in sit-down restaurants, but in mall eateries, airports, and other locations. Yet as ethnic foods grow in popularity, it’s not always easy to spot the menu items that may make a beeline to your waistline or heart.
I have seen that some “healthy” restaurant guides endorse (or disparage) restaurant foods based on looking at recipes from cookbooks. But recipes can’t tell you what a typical restaurant ladles out to its customers.
And those estimates are a mixed bag. A few dishes—like chicken, lamb, or pork souvlaki—are as healthy as the healthiest meals at Italian, Chinese, or typical American restaurants. Others make you wonder whether “Greece” should be spelled “Grease.” A typical entré of stuffed grape leaves or spinach pie, for example, has more artery-clogging fat than a Big Mac. A gyro or an order of moussaka has twice as much.
Why haven’t those dishes harmed the Greeks? Over the centuries, their diets consisted largely of vegetables, grains, and olive oil, with just a smattering of seafood, meat, and cheese. In the landmark Seven Countries study, which began in 1947, the men from the Greek island of Crete, who had a remarkably low rate of heart disease, got only eight percent of their calories from saturated fat. They weren’t sitting down to a plate of spanakopita every day. (They were barely sitting down, period. They were far more active than Americans—or Greeks, for that matter—are today.) .
But to the average American, who can have pizza on Monday and a beef burrito or an order of moo shu pork on Tuesday, a portion of moussaka is another story. We can dine on a different artery-clogging cuisine every day. And our arteries and bellies show it !
We will talk about some of the most popular Greek recipes in detail :
Spanakopita
Spanakopita is served as an appetizer in Greek restaurants and homes. It is a small to large pie (however large you want it to be) made from phyllo dough. Spinach and feta cheese are stuffed Into the pie in layers with salt and pepper, and another layer of phyllo is added before baking.
Baklava
Baklava is the most famous Greek pastry. It is created from layers of flaky phyllo dough (available in dozens of different varieties, from butter glazed to sprinkled with nuts). Ground walnuts, pistachios or pecans are mixed with lots of honey or sugar syrup. The phyllo is built up in layers, with rivers of crushed nuts and honey oozing out the sides.
Moussaka
Moussaka is a famous Greek casserole with layers of vegetables, a meat sauce and custard. Eggplant and zucchini are popular choices for the vegetables, layered with garlic and meat sauce, spices and sometimes nuts, and then topped with custard.
Souvlaki
Souvlaki, also called gyros, is famous all over the world. These come in a wide variety of styles and shapes, with lots of different ingredients. A pita is filled with beef, lamb or pork (sometimes chicken). Tomato, lettuce, red onions, olives, sprouts and other vegetables are placed on top of the meat. A tzatziki sauce (made with yogurt, cucumber and garlic) is drizzled over the souvlaki to top it off.
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