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Traditional Greek taverna, an integral part of Greek culture and cuisine

Greek cuisine (Greek: Ελληνική κουζίνα, romanized: Elliniki kouzina) is a Mediterranean cuisine.
[1]
Greek cookery makes wide use of vegetables, olive oil, grains, fish, wine (white and red), and meat
(including pork, poultry, veal, lamb, rabbit and beef). Other important ingredients include olives,
pasta (especially hilopites, a kind of pasta similar to tagliatelle), cheese, lemon juice, herbs, bread,
and yogurt. The most commonly used grain is wheat; barley is also used. Common dessert
ingredients include nuts, honey, fruits, and filo pastries. It has a history of thousands of years with
dishes originating from Ancient Greece, continuing into the Byzantine period and surviving until
today. It has been influenced by Middle Eastern, Ottoman, and Italian cuisine and cuisines from the
northern countries while also having exerted influence over these same areas throughout the years.

Contents

 1History
 2Overview
 3Origins
 4Regions
 5Typical dishes
o 5.1Breads
o 5.2Appetizers and salads
o 5.3Soups
o 5.4Vegetarian main dishes
o 5.5Meat and seafood dishes
o 5.6Quick meals/Pasta
o 5.7Desserts and sweets
o 5.8Cheeses
o 5.9Non-alcoholic beverages
 5.9.1Coffee
 5.9.2Tea and herbal teas
 o 5.10Alcoholic beverages
 5.10.1Wine
 5.10.2Beer
 5.10.3Other
 6See also
 7Notes
 8Citations
 9References
 10External links

History[edit]
Main articles: Ancient Greek cuisine and Byzantine cuisine

Fresh fish, one of the favourite dishes of the Greeks; platter with red figures, c. 350–325 BC, Louvre

Greek cuisine has a culinary tradition of some 4,000 years and is a part of the history and the culture
of Greece. Its flavors change with the season and its geography.[2] Greek cookery, historically a
forerunner of Western cuisine, spread its culinary influence, via ancient Rome, throughout Europe
and beyond.[3] It has influences from the different people's cuisine the Greeks have interacted with
over the centuries, as evidenced by several types of sweets and cooked foods.
Ancient Greek cuisine was characterized by its frugality and was founded on the "Mediterranean
triad": wheat, olive oil, and wine, with meat being rarely eaten and fish being more common.[4] This
trend in Greek diet continued in Roman and Ottoman times and changed only fairly recently when
technological progress has made meat more available. Wine and olive oil have always been a
central part of it and the spread of grapes and olive trees in the Mediterranean and further afield is
correlated with Greek colonization.[5][6]
Byzantine cuisine was similar to ancient cuisine, with the addition of new ingredients, such as caviar,
nutmeg and basil. Lemons, prominent in Greek cuisine and introduced in the second century, were
used medicinally before being incorporated into the diet. Fish continued to be an integral part of the
diet for coastal dwellers. Culinary advice was influenced by the theory of humors, first put forth by
the ancient Greek doctor Claudius Aelius Galenus.[7] Byzantine cuisine benefited from
Constantinople's position as a global hub of the spice trade.[8]

Overview[edit]
Greek olive oil

Dried oregano for culinary use

The most characteristic and ancient element of Greek cuisine is olive oil, which is used in most
dishes. It is produced from the olive trees prominent throughout the region, and adds to the
distinctive taste of Greek food. The olives themselves are also widely eaten. The basic grain in
Greece is wheat, though barley is also grown. Important vegetables
include tomato, aubergine (eggplant), potato, green beans, okra, green peppers,
and onions. Honey in Greece is mainly honey from the nectar of fruit trees and citrus trees: lemon,
orange, bigarade (bitter orange) trees, thyme honey, and pine honey. Mastic (aromatic, ivory-
coloured resin) is grown on the Aegean island of Chios.
Greek cuisine uses some flavorings more often than other Mediterranean cuisines do,
namely oregano, mint, garlic, onion, dill and bay laurel leaves. Other common herbs and spices
include basil, thyme and fennel seed. Parsley is also used as a garnish on some dishes. Many
Greek recipes, especially in the northern parts of the country, use "sweet" spices in combination with
meat, for example cinnamon, allspice and cloves in stews.
The climate and terrain has tended to favour the breeding of goats and sheep over cattle, and
thus beef dishes are uncommon. Fish dishes are common in coastal regions and on the islands. A
great variety of cheese types are used in Greek cuisine,
including Feta, Kasseri, Kefalotyri, Graviera, Anthotyros, Manouri, Metsovone, Ladotyri (cheese with
olive oil), Kalathaki (a specialty from the island of Limnos), Katiki-Tsalafouti (both creamy cheeses,
suitable for spreads) and Mizithra.
Too much refinement is generally considered to be against the hearty spirit of the Greek cuisine,
though recent trends among Greek culinary circles tend to favour a somewhat more refined
approach.
Dining out is common in Greece, and has been for quite some time. The Taverna and Estiatorio are
widespread, serving home cooking at affordable prices to both locals and tourists. Recently, fast
food has become more widespread, with local chains such as Goody's springing up, though most
McDonald's have closed.[9] Locals still largely eat Greek cuisine.[10] In addition, some traditional Greek
foods, especially souvlaki, gyros, pita such as tyropita and spanakopita (respectively, cheese and
spinach pie) are often served in fast food style.
Origins[edit]

Kalamata olives

Thyme, one of the most traditional Greek herbs, was mentioned in the Odyssey.

Greece has an ancient culinary tradition dating back several millennia, and over the centuries Greek
cuisine has evolved and absorbed numerous influences and influenced many cuisines itself.
Some dishes can be traced back to ancient Greece: lentil soup, fasolada, retsina (white or rosé wine
flavored with pine resin) and pasteli (candy bar with sesame seeds baked with honey); some to
the Hellenistic and Roman periods: loukaniko (dried pork sausage);
and Byzantium: feta cheese, avgotaraho (cured fish roe) and paximadi (traditional hard bread baked
from wheat, barley and rye). There are also many ancient and Byzantine dishes which are no longer
consumed: porridge as the main staple, fish sauce, and salt water mixed into wine.
Many dishes entered during the Ottoman era from the Levant and other near-eastern staples,
especially these that came to prominence and as broader consumption in Ottoman
cuisine namely:tzatziki, yuvarlakia, kofta, boureki, baklava and more.
The Ottoman Empire having its origins from pastoral nomads in the Eurasian and middle
eastern steppe, were largely consigned to diets of minced meats and cheeses with little to no grain
as evident with Adana style kofta and other traditionally Turkish staples from the Eurasian steppe.

Regions[edit]
Examples of regional cuisine: "Dakos", traditional Cretan salad (left) and "Tsigaridia", traditional Cephalonian
dish (right)

Distinct from the mainstream regional cuisines are:

 Cuisine of the Aegean islands (including Kykladítiki from Kyklades, Rhodítiki from Rhodes and
other Dodecanese islands, and the cuisine of Lesbos island)
 Cuisine of Argolis, cuisine of Patras, Arcadian and Maniot cuisines, parts of the Peloponnesean
cuisine
 Cuisine of the Ionian islands (Heptanisiakí), a lot of Italian influence
 Epirotikí (Epirotic cuisine)
 Kritikí (Cretan cuisine)
 Kypriakí (Cypriot cuisine)
 Makedonikí (Macedonian cuisine)
 Mikrasiatikí, from the Greeks of Asia Minor descent, including Polítiki, from the tradition of the
Greeks from Constantinople, a cuisine with a lot of Anatolian/Ottoman influence
 Pontiakí, found anywhere there are Pontic Greeks (Greeks from the Black Sea region)

Typical dishes[edit]
Greek cuisine is very diverse and although there are many common characteristics amongst the
culinary traditions of different regions within the country, there are also many differences, making it
difficult to present a full list of representative dishes. For example, the vegetarian dish "Chaniotiko
Boureki" (oven baked slices of potatoes with zucchini, myzithra cheese and mint) is a typical dish in
western Crete, in the region of Chania. A family in Chania may consume this dish 1–2 times per
week in the summer season. However, it is not cooked in any other region of Greece. Many food
items are wrapped in Filo pastry, either in bite-size triangles or in large sheets: kotopita (chicken
pie), spanakotyropita (spinach and cheese pie), chortopita (greens pie), kreatopita (meat pie, using
minced meat), kolokythopita (zucchini pie) etc. The Greeks do with filo what the Italians do with
pizza; They have countless variations of pitas (savory pies). Even the word pita was originally
spelled πίττα (pitta), which shows a similarity to pizza. The areas with the largest tradition of making
Greek pitas are the North-Western (Epirus) and Central Greece (also called Roumeli). Also, a big
part of the Greek Cuisine are seeds and nuts. Seeds and nuts are included in everything from pastry
to main dishes.[11]
The list will present some of the most representative Greek dishes that can be found throughout the
country and the most famous of the local ones:
Breads[edit]

Lagana, a type of bread

 Daktyla
 Eliopsomo, bread with olives
 Paximadi, Cretan bread
 Karydopsomo, bread with walnuts
 Lagana
 Pita
 Stafidopsomo, bread with raisin
 Zea (bread)
Appetizers and salads[edit]
Meze or orektikó (appetizer; plural mezedes/orektika) is served in restaurants called mezedopoleía,
served to complement drinks, and in similar establishments known as tsipourádika or ouzerí (a type
of café that serves drinks such as ouzo or tsipouro). A tavérna (tavern) or estiatório (restaurant) also
offers a meze as an orektikó (appetiser). Many restaurants offer their house pikilía (variety) a platter
with various mezedes that can be served immediately to customers looking for a quick or light meal.
Hosts commonly serve mezedes to their guests at informal or impromptu get-togethers as they are
easy to prepare on short notice. Krasomezédhes (literally "wine-meze") are mezedes that go well
with wine; ouzomezédhes are mezedes that go with ouzo.

 Avgotaracho, famously made in Messolonghi

 Bakaliáros (Bacalhau fish)
 Dakos, a Cretan salad consisting of a slice of soaked dried bread or barley rusk (paximadi)
topped with chopped tomatoes and crumbled feta or mizithra cheese.
 Dolmadakia (dolma): grapevine leaves stuffed with rice and vegetables; meat is also often
included.
 Fava: purée of yellow split peas or beans; sometimes made of fava beans (called κουκιά in
Greek). In Santorini is made from yellow lentils.
 Garides Saganaki: shrimp in spicy tomato sauce with feta cheese.
 Gavros: European anchovy.
 Greek salad: the so-called Greek salad is known in Greece as village/country salad (choriatiki)
and is essentially a tomato salad with cucumber, red onion, feta cheese, and black kalamata
olives or green olives, dressed with olive oil. In Cyprus it contains also cracked wheat (bulgur),
spring onions instead of red onions, and lemon juice.
 Horta: wild or cultivated greens (usually Dandelion Greens), steamed or blanched and made into
salad, simply dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. They can be eaten as a light meal with
potatoes (especially during Lent, in lieu of fish or meat).
 Kalamarakia: deep-fried squid sliced in rings. Also known as "calamari"
 Kalamata olives
 Kalitsounia, appetizer from Crete
 Kaparosalata (salad with caper)
 Katsouni, cucumber from Santorini
 Kolokythakia: fried zucchini.
 Kolokythoanthoi or Kolokythokorfades: zucchini flowers stuffed with rice or cheese and herbs.
 Koukiá (Vicia fabas)
 Kroketes: croquettes.
 Lachanosalata: cabbage salad. Very finely shredded cabbage with salt, olive oil, lemon
juice/vinegar dressing. Often combined with finely shredded carrot.
 Lakerda, a pickled bonito dish (usually to accompany soups)
 Loutza, similar to Cupriot lountza, found mainly in Cyclades
 Marides tiganites: deep-fried whitebait, usually served with lemon wedges.
 Melitzanes, eggplants. Notable is the white eggplant from Santorini.
 Melitzanosalata: eggplant (aubergine) based dip.
 Pantzarosalata: beetroot salad with olive oil and vinegar.
 Patatosalata: potato salad with olive oil, finely sliced onions, mayonnaise, lemon juice or
vinegar.
 Pitaroúdia, chickpeas from Rhodes
 Red peppers of Florina
 Saganaki: fried yellow cheese, usually graviera cheese; the word "saganaki" means a small
cooking pan, is used to say "fried" and can be applied to many other foods.
 Skordalia: thick garlic and potato purée, usually accompanies deep fried fish/cod (bakaliaros
skordalia, i.e. fried battered cod with garlic dip, a very popular dish).
 Spanakopita: spinach, feta (sometimes in combination with ricotta), onions or scallions, egg and
seasoning wrapped in phyllo pastry in a form of a pie.
 Taramosalata: fish roe mixed with boiled potatoes or moistened breadcrumbs, olive oil and
lemon juice.
 Tirokafteri, white cheese spread.
 Tonosalata, chunky tuna and lettuce salad
 Tzatziki: strained yogurt with cucumber and garlic purée, used as a dip. Served with warm pita
bread.)
 Tyropita: a white cheese (usually feta or mizithra) pie with phyllo pastry. When yellow cheese
(usually kasseri) is used, it is called Kasseropita.
Also, several pitas found all over Greece, such
as Kolokythopita, Hortopita, Mizithropita (Crete), Melintzanopita, Kimadopita, Kotopita, Kreatopita (m
eat
pie), Galatopita, Marathopita, Malathropita (Chios), Manitaropita, Fanouropita, Sikopita, Tahinopita.

Greek salad with feta

 

Spanakopita with cubed feta

Simple meze of feta cheese with olive oil and olives: characteristic Greek flavours

Kolokythoanthoi are often served with a dollop of Greek yogurt on the side.

Saganaki cheese
 

Botargo (Avgotaraho)

Tzatziki, a popular meze in Greece

A plate with Greek fava

Soups[edit]
Fasolada soup

 Bourou-bourou, a vegetable and pasta soup from the island of Corfu

 Fakés, lentil soup, usually served with vinegar and olive oil.
 Fasolada, a white-bean soup defined in many cookery books as the traditional Greek dish,
sometimes even called "the national food of the Greeks".[12] It is made of beans, tomatoes, carrot
and a generous amount of celery usually served with a variety of salty side dishes(like olives or
anchovies).
 Yiouvarlosoupa, a meatball and rice soup with avgolemono
 Kakavia, soup made from any variety of small local fish with the bones removed before serving
 Kotosoupa Avgolemono, chicken and rice soup with egg lemon sauce added
 Kremmydosoupa, onion soup served with vinegar.
 Magiritsa, the traditional Easter soup made with lamb offal, lamb liver, lamb lung and sometimes
mutton meat usually thickened with avgolemono.
 Patsas, a tripe soup.
 Psarosoupa 'fish soup' can be made with a variety of fish (usually kokkinopsaro) and several
kinds of vegetables (carrots, parsley, celery, potatoes, onion), several varieties include
the kakavia which is drizzled with olive oil.
 Regali, lamb soup from Mani
 Revythosoupa, Chickpea soup.
 Trahana soup, made from a dried grain-dairy substance and chicken fat.
Vegetarian main dishes[edit]

Spanakorizo

Boiled wild greens

Florina peppers

Very popular during fasting periods, such as the Great Lent:

 Anginares alla Políta: artichokes in Constantinopolitan style with artichoke hearts, olive oil,
potatoes, carrots, and dill.
 Arakas me anginares: oven-baked fresh peas with artichokes.
 Bamies: okra with tomato sauce (sometimes with potatoes or during non-fasting times with
chicken/lamb).
 Briám: an oven-baked ratatouille of summer vegetables based on sliced potatoes and zucchini
in olive oil. Usually includes eggplant, tomatoes, onions, and ample aromatic herbs and
seasonings.
 Fasolakia: fresh green beans stewed with potatoes, zucchini and tomato sauce.
 Gemista, baked stuffed vegetables. Usually tomatoes, peppers, or other vegetables hollowed
out and baked with a rice-and-herb filling or minced meat.
 Gigandes plaki: large lima beans baked with tomato sauce and various herbs.[13] Often made
spicy with various peppers.
 Horta (greens), already mentioned in the appetizers section, are quite often consumed as a light
main meal, with boiled potatoes and bread.
 Kintéata, dish made from boiled young nettles (nettle soup)
 Lachanorizo, cabbage with rice.
 Prassorizo, leeks with rice.
 Spanakorizo, spinach and rice stew cooked in lemon and olive-oil sauce.
 Tomatokeftedes: tomato fritters with mint, fried in olive oil and typically served with fava (split-
pea purée). Mainly a Cycladic island dish.
 Tsigareli from Corfu
Meat and seafood dishes[edit]

 Apáki: Cretan specialty; lean pork marinated in vinegar, then smoked with aromatic herbs and
shrubs, and packed in salt.
 Astakomacaronada: spaghetti with lobster.
 Atherina: fried smelts.
 Barbounia: red mullets.
 Bifteki: Ground beef burgers either baked, fried or grilled.
 Britzola
 Bourdeto: from Corfu; fish cooked in tomato sauce with onion, garlic and red spicy pepper.
 Chtapódi sti schara: grilled octopus in vinegar, oil and oregano. Accompanied often with ouzo.
 Garides (shrimps)
 Grivadi, dish or soup
 Giouvetsi: lamb or veal baked in a clay pot with kritharaki/manestra (orzo) and tomatoes.
 Glossa: Sole (typically of the genus Solea)
 Gyros: meat (usually lamb, pork, beef, or a combination thereof) roasted on a vertically turning
spit and served with sauce (often tzatziki) and garnishes (tomato, onions) on pita bread, or
served as a sandwich wrapped in pita bread together with tomatoes, onions, tzatziki, and french
fries; a popular fast food.
 Kalamari: squid, most often fried.
 Kleftiko: literally meaning "in the style of the Klephts", this is lamb slow-baked on the bone,
first marinated in garlic and lemon juice, originally cooked in a pit oven. It is said that the klephts,
bandits of the countryside who did not have flocks of their own, would steal lambs or goats and
cook the meat in a sealed pit to avoid the smoke being seen.
 Kontosouvli
 Keftedakia, fried meatballs.
 Kokkinisto, stew.
 Kokoretsi, lamb or goat intestines wrapped around seasoned offal, including sweetbreads,
hearts, lungs, or kidneys, and spit-roasted.
 Loukaniko, sausage types
 Makaronia me kima, spaghetti noodles topped with saltsa kima[14]
 Moussaka (from Arabic ‫ مسقعة‬musaqqa'): an oven-baked layer dish: ground meat
and eggplant casserole, topped with a savory custard which is then browned in the oven. There
are other variations besides eggplant, such as zucchini or rice, but the eggplant
version, melitzánes moussaká is by far the most popular. The papoutsákia ("little shoes") variant
is essentially the same dish, with the meat and custard layered inside hollowed, sauteéd
eggplants.
 Mydia Saganaki or with Saffron: dish with mussels.
 Oven-baked lamb with potatoes (Αρνί στο φούρνο με πατάτες, Arní sto foúrno me patátes). One
of the most common "Sunday" dishes. There are many variations with additional ingredients.
 Oven-baked chicken with potatoes (Κοτόπουλο στο φούρνο με πατάτες ''Kotópoulo sto foúrno
me patátes). Another common "Sunday" dish.
 Paidákia: grilled lamb chops with lemon, oregano, salt and pepper.
 Pastitsada: a casserole dish with spicy veal, beef or poultry and macaroni.
 Pastitsio: an oven-baked layer dish: Béchamel sauce on top, then pasta in the middle and
ground meat cooked with tomato sauce at the bottom.
 Pork with celery (hirino me selino/hirino selinato).
 Savridia: mackerels oven-baked or fried.
 Sardeles (sardines)
 Sheftalia: a sausage without skin.
 Sofrito, dish from Corfu
 Syglino, pork meat from Mani peninsula
 Soupiés: cuttlefish (often in wine, krasates)
 Soutzoukakia Smyrneika (Smyrna meatballs): long shaped meatballs with cumin, cinnamon and
garlic and boiled in tomato sauce with whole olives. Often served with rice or mashed potatoes.
 Souvlaki: (lit: "skewer") grilled small pieces of meat (usually pork but also chicken or lamb)
served on the skewer for eating out of hand, or served as a sandwich wrapped in pita
bread together with tomatoes, onions, tzatziki and tomato sauce; a popular fast food, also
called kalamaki (small reed) mainly in Athens.
 Spetzofai: a stew of country sausage, green mild peppers, onions and wine. Originates
from Pelion.
 Stifádo: rabbit or hare stew with pearl onions, vinegar, red wine and cinnamon. Beef can be
substituted.
 Tiganiá, fried pork
 Xiphias: swordfish.

Octopus plate

Swordfish dish (Xiphias)

Spetzofai, traditional dish from Pelion

 

Pita with Gyros, popular street food

Moussaka

Pastitsio, an example of culinary influence from Italy (Venetian cuisine)

Greek omeletta
Quick meals/Pasta[edit]
Quick pasta foods (in Greek: Zimariká).

 Hilopites pasta (often with chicken): savory chicken is mixed with "Hilopites" or cut up tile-
shaped pasta in a spiced tomato sauce.
 Flomária, a type of hilopites from Lemnos
 Goglies (Goges/Gioglia), a type of pasta
 Koskosela, local strapatsada of the Cyclades
 Matsi (or Koulouría), hand made pasta from Rhodes
 Macaronada/Macaronia: macaroni, various types (often with saltsa kima)
 Manestra (Kritharaki), in Cyclades is called also "Tsounistí"
 Omeletta
 Strapatsada: eggs scrambled in olive oil and fresh tomato purée, seasoned with salt, pepper and
oregano. Often includes feta cheese.
 Sfougato, a type of omelette, found in many places in Greece (Lesbos, Crete etc)
 Varénika, a type of ravioli
Desserts and sweets[edit]

Melomakarona

Diples are made on an iron mould dipped in batter and cooked in oil.

Melitinia cookies, from Santorini

Preparation of custard bougatsa in an Athens cafe.

 Amygdalopita: pie with almonds

 Amygdalotá or pastéli exist in many varieties throughout Greece and Cyprus, and are especially
popular in the islands. They consist of powdered blanched almonds, confectioner's sugar and
rose water, molded in various shapes and sizes. They are snow-white and are considered
wedding and baptismal desserts.
 Copenhagen (dessert)
 Baklava, phyllo pastry layers filled with nuts and drenched in honey.
 Diples, a Christmas and wedding delicacy, made of paper-thin, sheet-like dough which is cut in
large squares and dipped in a swirling fashion in a pot of hot olive oil for a few seconds. As the
dough fries, it stiffens into a helical tube; it is then removed immediately and sprinkled with
honey and crushed walnuts.[15]
 Finikia, cookie topped with chopped nuts.
 Galaktoboureko, custard baked between layers of phyllo, and then soaked with lemon-scented
honey syrup. The name derives from the Greek gala (γάλα), meaning milk,
and boureki (μπουρέκι), meaning filled, thus meaning "filled with milk".
 Halva
 Karydopita, a cake of crushed walnuts, soaked in syrup.
 Koulourakia, butter or olive-oil cookies.
 Kourabiedes, Christmas cookies made by kneading flour, butter and crushed roasted almonds,
then generously dusted with powdered sugar.
 Lazarakia
 Loukoumades, similar to small crusty donuts, loukoumades are essentially fried balls of dough
drenched in honey and sprinkled with cinnamon, typically served with sesame seed.
 Loukoumi is a confection made from starch and sugar. Patrina loukoumia are famously
produced in the city of Patras. A variation from Serres is called Akanés. Loukoúmia are flavored
with various fruit flavors, with rose water considered the most prized.
 Mandola or Mandolato, from Corfu
 Melekouni, from Rhodes
 Melitinia cookies, from Santorini
 Melopita, honey pie
 Melomakarona, "honey macaroons", Christmas cookies soaked with a syrup of diluted honey
(méli in Greek) and then sprinkled with crushed walnuts.
 Milopita, apple pie with cinnamon and powdered sugar.
 Moustalevria, a flour and grape must flan.
 Moustokouloura, cookies of flour kneaded with fresh grape juice (must) instead of water.
 Otía, Pontic Greek sweet
 Pasta flora (Πάστα Φλώρα), jam-filled tart with lattice
 Pasteli
 Retseli, sweet from Lesbos
 Rizogalo ("rice-milk") is rice pudding.
 Roxákia, syrupy vanilla-cocoa cookies
 Spoon sweets (γλυκά του κουταλιού) of various fruits, ripe or unripe, or green unripe nuts.
Spoon sweets are essentially marmalade except that the fruit are boiled whole or in large
chunks covered in the fruit's made syrup.
 Trigona, from Thessaloniki
 Tsoureki, a traditional Christmas and Easter sweet bread often flavored with
"mahlep, mastic resin and orange zest
 Vasilopita, Saint Basil's cake or King's cake, traditional only for New Year's Day. Vasilopites are
baked with a coin inside, and whoever gets the coin in their slice are considered blessed with
good luck for the whole year.
 Yogurt with honey and walnuts.
Cheeses[edit]
See also: List of Greek Protected Designations of Origin cheeses

Feta cheese

Mizithra

Ladotyri

There is a wide variety of cheeses made in various regions across Greece. The vast majority of
them remain unknown outside the Greek borders due to the lack of knowledge and the highly
localized distinctive features. Many artisanal, hand made cheeses, both common varieties and local
specialties, are produced by small family farms throughout Greece and offer distinct flavors atypical
of the mass-produced varieties found commercially in Greece and abroad. A good list of some of the
varieties of cheese produced and consumed in Greece can be found here. These are some of the
more popular throughout Greece:

 Anthotyros
 Feta
 Formaela
 Graviera
 Halloumi
 Kalathaki Limnou
 Kasseri
 Katiki Domokou
 Kefalograviera
 Kefalotyri
 Kopanisti Mykonou
 Ladotyri Mytilinis
 Mastello
 Myzithra
 Manouri
 Metsovone
 Saganaki
 San Michali
 Sfela
 Talagani
 Xynotyro
 Xynomizithra
Non-alcoholic beverages[edit]
There is a variety of non-alcoholic beverages that are drunk in Greece even to this day.
Portokalada (orangeade) and Lemonada (lemonade), since 1971, these beverages were served
everywhere, in homes, cafes, tavernas and restaurants. They were made with fresh strained orange
juice or lemon juice either mixed with carbonated water or flat mineral water and you added sugar to
taste. There were also bottled local versions. In 1989 on the island of Rhodes there were two
companies that made and bottled their own portokalada and lemonada using local oranges, lemons
and water. These beverages are still standards today, as of 2014, the difference being that most of
the small local companies sold their businesses to the big companies like Fanta etc., thus, greatly
changing the quality.
Visinada (cherryade) is made from dark cherry syrup (which was originally homemade) mixed with
cold water.
Coffee[edit]
Frappé coffee

The traditional coffeehouses in Greece are called kafenia, and they offer coffee, refreshments,
alcoholic beverages and snacks or meze. In recent years, especially in the large urban
centres, kafenia are gradually being replaced by modern "cafeterias". Preferred types of coffee are,
among others, Turkish coffee, frappé (a foam-covered iced coffee drink), and
iced cappuccino and espresso, named Freddo Cappuccino and Freddo Espresso, respectively.
[16]
Iced coffee-based drinks, such as freddoccino or freddito, are also popular in the summer.
Greece has the eighth highest per capita coffee consumption worldwide.[17]
Tea and herbal teas[edit]

 Chamomile: chamomile tea

 Mint tea: right out of the garden
 Faskomilo (sage tea): tea made from dried or fresh sage
 Tsai tou Vounou: tea from steeped mountain sage. To this day the Greeks still like to drink a tea
made from steeping dried or fresh mountain sage
 Sideritis
Alcoholic beverages[edit]
Wine[edit]
Further information: Greek wine
The origins of wine-making in Greece go back 6,500 years[18][19] and evidence suggesting wine
production confirm that Greece is home to the oldest known grape wine remnants discovered in the
world[20] and the world's earliest evidence of crushed grapes.[18] The spread of Greek civilization and
their worship of Dionysus, the god of wine, spread Dionysian cults throughout
the Mediterranean areas during the period of 1600 BC to the year 1 AD.[21] Greece's viticultural
history goes back to prehistoric times,[i] and wine production was thriving until the 11th century.
[22]
After World War II, Greek winemakers imported and cultivated foreign grape varieties,
especially French ones, in order to support local production.[23] In 1960s, retsina, a dry white
wine with lumps of resin, was probably the most well-known Greek wine abroad. In recent years,
local varieties are rediscovered and often blended with foreign ones.[24] In early 1980s, a system
of appellations, modelled on the respective French one, was implemented to assure consumers the
origins of their wine purchases. Today, there are 28 appellations (Appellations of Origin of Superior
Quality and Controlled Appellation of Origin) throughout the country, from Macedonia to Crete.[25]
 

Assyrtiko grapes

A Nemea wine made from 100% Agiorgitiko

Beer[edit]

Advertisement for Fix beer, late 19th century

Archaeological and archaeochemical finds suggest that the Minoans fermented barley and other
substances, and consumed some form of beer.[26] The beer tradition of the Minoans was discontinued
by the Mycenaeans; beverages from fermented cereals may have remained only in Crete during
their rule.[27] In Archaic and Classical Greece, beer is mentioned as a foreign beverage, while,
when Alexander the Great conquered in 332 BC Egypt, a civilization with a long brewing tradition,
the Greeks continued to disdain beer seeing it as the drink of their rivals. [28] In Modern Greece, a
limited number of brands—owned by breweries from northern Europe in most cases
(e.g. Heineken or Amstel)—dominated for many years the local market, while a stringent Bavarian-
influenced beer purity law was in force.[29] Gradually, the provisions of this law loosened, and, since
the late 1990s, new local brands emerged (in 1997 Mythos made a breakthrough) or re-emerged
(e.g. Fix Hellas), reviving competition. In recent years, in parallel with the large breweries,
local microbreweries operate throughout Greece.[30]
Other[edit]

Greek alcoholic beverages: Tentura (left) and Mastika (right).

Other traditional Greek alcoholic beverages include the anise-flavored ouzo, tsipouro (whose Cretan
variation is called tsikoudia), rakomelo and local liquors, such as kumquat from Corfu, mastika (not
to be confused with the homonymous anise-flavored Bulgarian drink), kitron, a citrus flavoured liquor
from Naxos, souma from Chios, and tentura, a cinnamon flavored liquor from Patras.

A glass of Mavrodafni

Metaxa is a well-known brand of brandy blended with wine and flavorings. Local dessert and fortified
wines include muscats (with the Muscat of Samos being the most well-known), mavrodafni,
produced from a black grape indigenous to the Achaea region in Northern Peloponnese, and Vin
Santo (Visanto) of Santorini, a variation of the Italian Vin Santo.[31]