Famous for its beautiful natural coastline with more than 6,000 islands and islets scattered in the Aegean and Ionian Seas, rich national history and historical monuments, Greece is definitely one of those Mediterranean countries everyone should visit. Even though it offers large spectrum of activities and natural beauties, Greece is also famous for its delicious and original food. Since the next sailing and holiday season is just around the corner, we decided to bring you our list of top 10 Greek food everyone should try while in Greece.
10 Moussaka
Lot of different recipis and variations of this famous dish can be found throughout the Mediterranean, but the Greek version is one of the most popular one. It combines fried sliced aubergines, layed with tomato and minced lamb, garlic, onion and other spices, topped with béchamel sauce and cheese.
Special tip:
If you want to fresh up your meal, serve Moussaka with a little bit of simple, green salad. It will make whole meal a lot of easier to digest.
9 Greek salad
Greek salad is one of those dishes that definitely deserve to be on our list of Top 10 Greek food. It is beautifully simple meal easily prepared while on board or while enjoying your summer holidays with your family. Even though there are different variations of recipes, original Greek recipe goes with fresh tomatoes, purple onions and cucumber, topped with feta cheese and black olives, flavored with a bit of olive oil and sprinkled with oregano.
Special tip:
If you want stronger taste, add some extra chilli: it works fine, but it’s not necessary if you’re not a fan of the spicy food.
8 Tomatokeftedes
This tomato fritters are traditional main course vegetarian food item in Santorini and Syros. Most of those Greek dishes people cook, serve and eat in the different parts of our world, but original recepies in Greek restaurants and private homes simply can’t be compared. Greek people use tomatoes as the core ingredient of Tomatokeftedes who have rough edges with bits of mint, tomato and onion chunks. It is a very tasteful dish thanks to the island’s arid volcanic soil.
Special tip:
The best way to make this beautiful dish is to replace regular tomatoes with small cherry tomatoes. Greek people use cherry tomatoes from Santorini, but you can use even those from your local market.
7 Loukoumades
One of the most famous sweet food in Greece is definitely Loukoumades. Those are basically bite-sized fried donut balls which are crispy outside and fluffy inside. They are often sprinkled with walnuts, sweet syrup and cinnamon. Their irresistible taste will dry you nuts.
Special tip:
These delicious mouthfuls are impossible to resist, but if you like your dessert more sweet, add some powdered sugar and rosewater for freshness.
6 Taramasalata
Taramsalata is one of the top Greek dips, often served as part of a Mezze of dishes. Any Greek meal has basically some of the most famous classic dips such as tzatziki (combination of yogurt, cucumber and garlic), melitzanosalata (aubergine), and fava (creamy split pea purée). But Taramasalata is very special dip and it definitely deserves to be on our list of Top 10 Greek food. This creamy pungent is made from smoked fish roe blended with olive oil and lemon.
Special tip:
Try to avoid the pink variety you often find in the supermarkets because it can taste strange, and instead try making some yourself.
5 Bougatsa
Bougatsa is a warm, sweet, sticky kind of a pie made of philo pastry and semolina custard. It is famous dish all over the Greece, but the most famous one is from Thessaloniki, in which the term bougatsa includes savoury pies filled with either minced meat or cheese. You can also have the sweet cream version. This bite-size pieces are the perfect way to start your day.
Special tip:
Serve this beautiful pie with coffee or add some powder sugar and cinnamon on top to make it more sweet (it is not sweet enough for Greek standards).
4 Gyro
The list of Top 10 best Greek food should include Gyro. Some people make mistake and think that Kebab, Gyros and Souvlaki are the same thing, but they aren’t. Gyro is made from meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie. Slices of it are placed in pita with some sauce, tomatoes, onions, lettuce and often french fries/chips. It was originally made with lamb, but today people eat it with every kind of meat – pork, chicken, beef.
Special tip:
It is very delicious dish, but be careful when giving it to your children – eating Gyro can be very messy.
3 Olives and olive oil
Our list of Top 10 Greek food can’t be complete without Greek olives, one of the most famous Greek dishes that originate from ancient Greece, There is no real Greek food without olive oil or olives as such. Pretty much every restaurant or taverna make its own oil, and people are just delighted with the intensive and wonderful taste of this old groceries.
Special tip:
When you order your meal, ask for domestic olive oil and try it with cheese as the appetizer.
2 Kolokithokeftedes
When you try it, it will become immediately one of your favorite dishes. This is a very popular food, found in most Greek restaurants. The original kolokythokeftedes has to be crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. They come in different shapes (patties or balls) and include tomato and courgette.
Special tip:
Kolokithokeftedes make an excellent starter pared with a glass of white wine.
1 Baklava
Baklava is a rich, sweet dessert pastry made of layers of phyllo filled with chopped nuts and sweetened and held together with syrup or honey.Baklava is probably the most popular food item among all Greek desserts. The classic Greek baklava involves honey, phyllo and ground nuts. Baklava deserves to be on the top of our list of Top 10 Greek food everyone should try.
Special tip:
After baking, pour sweet syrup over it so that the syrup can be absorbed by the crispy layers of phyllo.