Showing posts with label Greek eats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greek eats. Show all posts

Friday, February 3, 2023

Thoughts of Food ~ Food for Thought

 'Do they like Greek food?' I asked the grandmother of two teenagers who had been pondering a trip for the trio to visit us.   

Greek Kagianas (eggs) and Spitsofai (sausage)

'I don't know. Do you have a Wendy's or Jack in the Box in your village?' she replied, referring to two U.S. purveyors of fast-food, much like McDonald's.

I assured her we did not and that even the nearest McDonalds -- thankfully -- was a four-hour drive away in the heart of big city Athens.

Now, a year later, the trio has yet to come visit. I wonder if my answer had something to do with it.

Greek mezes (starter plates) offer a variety of flavors

And I still ponder that conversation. Every so often, as we sit down to some mouth-watering multi-course Greek meal at one of our local eateries, I wonder how the young guests would react to the spread before us. Then I wonder why one would come to Greece and not try the local cuisine.

While the ancient Greeks and Romans are said to have dined on locust and beetle larvae, that hasn't been a practice carried into the present day in Greece, a country that is the poster child of the Mediterranean diet with its olive oil, seafood, fresh veggies and fruits.

A meal out with friends - many dishes, many hours

In fact, that conversation made me ponder eating habits in general on both sides 'of the pond'. I went in search of eating habits on Google and one of the first things I learned is that about two billion people eat insects daily and more than 1,000 species of insects are known to be eaten in 80% of the countries worldwide. I can assure you I've never seen an insect in food served here - not even by accident! 

Other quirky eating behaviors that my Google search revealed were:

* Several sources claim that most Americans eat fast food -- defined as mass produced food for commercial resale -- of the McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken type between 1 - 3 times a week.

KFC Extra crispy chicken breast 510 calories

* Europeans eat on average less than one tablespoon of peanut butter per year as the product quality can vary, it can be difficult to find, and as I can attest, it is expensive when compared to U.S. peanut butter. On the other hand, shelves are stocked with Nutella, a reasonably priced sweetened hazelnut cocoa spread used on everything from toast to crepes. 

Nutella - a popular spread

* Americans eat larger portions and consume what they eat more rapidly than do those in Europe. We've found the opposite on portion sizes in Greece and usually have plenty of take-home at the end of a meal. As for speed of dining, I have to admit that it did take some getting used to the two- and three-hour meals here, but once used to it, we find it rather pleasant.

Greek 'chips' plentiful and fresh and not served with ketchup.

*The farm-to-table concept is alive and well in Europe. Even a hamburger and fries ('chips', as we call them here) will look and taste different than those in the States as the potatoes used are fresh, not frozen.  And the potatoes really are farm fresh as evidenced by the produce section of our local supermarket where they are displayed with moist mud still caked on their skins.

Fresh picked - the mud hasn't dried yet.

Thoughts on Food

Most of our visitors have been delighted to try local foods. I purposely wrote that 'local foods' because we aren't limited to just Greek dishes here anymore.  Our area's culinary vibes have definitely been changing in the last couple years. You might be surprised at the variety of food offered either in, or near, our small Greek fishing village in the southwestern Peloponnese these days:

Pizza Manina's pizza rivals that we've had in Italy

Take pizza for instance. We have at least one place in each of the villages (Kardamyli, Stoupa and Agios Nikolaos) that make and serve pizza. Now it may not look or taste like that pizza you get 'back home' but it certainly reminds us of pizzas we have had in Italy. The photo above was taken at a place in Kardamyli.  The pizza on the right is made with fresh Burano cheese, basil and fresh tomato sauce. 

The 1866 Burger is hard to beat

We can also get hamburgers at several places now - but they were a bit scarce back in 2014 when we bought the house. Again, they won't be like your favorite 'back home', as nothing is ever exactly the same. However, we've found our favorites and they are mighty tasty despite being served without mayo, mustard and ketchup. The 'chips' shown above are served with a sweet chili sauce that makes my mouth-water just writing about it!

Eggs Benedict with a side salad - just the right size

Breakfasts options have also changed in our part of the Greek world.  As new tavernas and restaurants open or old favorite's change their menu's, the options for 'breakfast out' have multiplied.  We have two new places in our village -- one a year-round restaurant and the other a seasonal cafe -- that each offer breakfast plates with a side of salad instead of carb-heavy potatoes, beans, and toast. Again, the meals aren't prepared like 'back home' because ingredients differ. In the egg dish above, small slices of whole grain bread replaced the traditional English Muffin.

'Toast' at breakfast means a sandwich

For a more traditional Greek breakfast, eggs kagianis, scrambled with fresh tomato, sometimes cheese, and spitsofai, thick chunks of country sausage cooked in tomato sauce with peppers, (shown in the first photo in this post) are a mouth-watering change from traditional 'eggs over easy and toast'.  However, one of our favorite breakfasts, or anytime snacks is 'toast'.  And when one orders 'toast' be prepared to receive a plate with a toasted cheese and ham or turkey sandwich with a side of potato chips. It is one of our go-to meals and it still costs less than five euros at the fanciest of places.

Fresh berries and parmesan cheese made this salad pop

I remember telling a friend who'd been thinking of a visit a few years ago that it would be difficult to find a lettuce-based salad. We had the traditional Horiatiki, better known as Greek salad, and another traditional salad made with cabbage and carrots on most menus.  Not so, anymore! Today the salad choices at most restaurants are many and include some amazing lettuce salads like the one pictured above.

A 'small' meze plate for two at a long-time favorite taverna

While the variety of our food selections have increased in recent years, there is still nothing like a good Greek meal served at one of our local, long-time favorite tavernas. The mixed grill plate pictured above is a good example of traditional Greek food.  From left, clockwise, there is hot pita bread, tzatziki (yogurt, cucumber, garlic), a Mani sausage, eggplant 'balls', meat balls, cheese, horiatiki salad, with cucumber, olives and tomato, Graviera cheese (like Gruyere), and in the center, cheese balls.

Mani sausage foreground, wild horta in the back

Horta is the name for cooked greens here. There is nothing like wild horta (harvested from hillsides and olive groves) served with some fresh olive oil and lemon juice. The horta pictured above had been plucked from the taverna owner's olive grove earlier that day.  Someday I plan to have a tutorial in harvesting 'horta' so that we can enjoy these greens at home.

Roasted pepper stuffed with spicy cheese

Vegetable dishes are hard to beat. The produce is fresh, and the dishes made flavorful with spices and other ingredients.  One of our favorites is the stuffed pepper with spicey cheese sometimes served hot out of the oven and other times served cold. 

Vegetables as a side to meat dishes


Of course, you can't write about eating locally and not mention fish and seafood when you live in a Greek fishing village. We still chuckle about the night that three of us dined at Vezuvios, one of two local fish tavernas. We all wanted to try the seafood spaghetti and asked the owner -- a friend of ours -- if a 'portion' as they call servings here would be large enough for three.  He said not to worry, he would make it big enough for three.  When it appeared in a giant paella pan, we knew we'd all have plenty for that dinner as well as leftovers for the following night!

Seafood spaghetti a favorite in our village

And just as any good meal is ended with dessert, I think a tale about food should end with desserts. Here is one of the best to be had right here in our village, Agios Nikolaos:   

This culinary art from Medikon tasted as good as it looks. 

And even closer to home, we had this wonderous selection at the Kafenion in Agios Dimitrios, about a 10-minute walk away:

Cheese pie, walnut cake, lemon cake and ice cream!

I may not ever convince the grandmother and her teen traveling companions to visit, but hopefully this post has given others among you some food for thought and thoughts of food, as you start planning your travels to Greece.

That's it for this week. As always, our thanks for the time you spend with us and hope to see you back here soon.  Safe travels to you and yours ~


Sunday, June 9, 2019

Mediterranean Diet ~ A Taste of Greece

Okay, time to fess up. . .our time in Greece has seemed an almost non-stop Food Festival.

New flavors. New dishes. New settings. Far too many temptations. Our houseguests usually ask at some point during their visits, 'Do you ever eat at home?' as we race them from one eatery to another trying to show all of our favorites in a short span of time.

We do eat at home, but with so many good eats at affordable -- often ridiculously inexpensive -- prices, we've found ourselves eating out often and soaking up the spirit of dining here.


An array of mezes are offered BEFORE the main course at this taverna
That time honored ritual of eating - not the grab-a-bite-and-be-on-our-way kind-- but that which  makes dining an event is still very real in Greece. A 2015 article in The Atlantic magazine examining the rituals of eating could have been written about dining in Greece:

'How food is experienced has everything to do with the decor, 
with the rituals surrounding the meal, with the company, 
and with the experience.'

Dinner out in the village - good food and good friends 

Going out to dinner -- or even out to lunch here -- can span several hours of savoring tastes, soaking in the atmosphere, and engaging in conversation with your dining companions or even folks you know who might be passing by your street side table.

Summer nights in the village the road closes to accommodate taverna diner

The Mediterranean Diet - Greek-style


The Mediterranean Diet
In general the diet consists of fruits and vegetables, 
beans and nuts,
healthy grains,
fish
olive oil
small amounts of meat and dairy
and . . .red wine!


The 'Mediterranean Diet' is one inspired by the eating habits of Greece, Southern Italy and Spain in the 1940's and 1950's. Those fresh, healthy foods that made up the diet then remain a centerpiece of Greek eats today.

If you've traveled in Greece you know that the flavors and menu offerings vary by region. So while the food items may appear to be the same, the regional influences: spices, preparation and cooking make each dining experience different. Take, for example, our trip to the island of Spetses that I told you about last week. It is only 4.5 hours from our home, and basic menu items appear to be 'like home', but the preparation made the flavors delightfully different.

A typical order of fish
Fish, (which most people seem to think we eat all the time) is a key part of a Mediterranean diet. So, true confession: we seldom eat fish in Greece. Its presentation and cost doesn't appeal. It is usually served whole, and grilled looking much like the one in the photo above. It is sold by the kilo (1 kilo is 2.2.pounds) price, so a whole fish could cost 55 to 60 euros. You could eat several full meals without fish for the price of a single fish.

Marinated anchovies, mussels in mustard sauce, Spetses-style fish, dessert

However, we did eat seafood in Spetses: the presentation, the variety, the flavors and prices all appealed. The collage above shows a selection of foods served to us during our stay on this small Saronic island. The white anchovies (no bones) were marinated in lemon sauce and olive oil, the mussels in a mustard sauce make my mouth-water just writing the words, the Spetses-style fish was a white fish smothered in a red sauce, almost a stew of vegetables, and far more interesting than a whole fish on a plate. The complimentary dessert was a baked apple, scoop of ice cream and philo dough bites.


A pitcher of our fresh-pressed olive oil
So aside from not eating fish regularly you would think that living and dining in the Land of the Mediterranean Diet would keep us fit, trim and healthy, wouldn't you?

Not quite! In February we faced the fact that it wasn't the camera angles, it wasn't the clothes shrinking, it wasn't our bathroom scales or the doctor's office blood tests being out-of-whack: we were having a wee bit too much of a Food Festival. Yes, too much of a good thing can be, too much. And we admit we weren't really eating that healthy version of a Mediterranean diet. After all, those yummy oregano-flavored potato chips, just don't fit the diet's intent. . .

The Ancient Greeks nailed it: In all Things Moderation

So we set out to change our eating: we gave up foods made with refined sugar and flour (pastas and breads and baked goods) and cut back on carbs (potatoes, potato chips and crackers) and passed on the desserts, with a fruit plate being an exception. We refreshed our Mediterranean diets by mixing in a bit of the Keto diet and the Glycemic Load diet philosophies.

You might say we are following the advice of Ancient Greeks who sang the praises of moderation.


Mushrooms stuffed with cheese, green salad 

'Observe due measure, moderation is best in all things,' 
              -- Greek poet Hesiod.

Mediterranean salad with Balsamic dressing and Greek cheese

'We should pursue and practice moderation.'
-- Plato, philosopher.

Grill plate with tomatoes, not potatoes
'Moderation, the noblest gift of Heaven'
--Euripides, Greek playwright.

A meze of fava beans topped with roasted tomatoes, capers,garlic and olive oil


We still drink those 'miso kilos' (pitchers) of Greek wine and we still dine out often. We indulge in a bite-sized piece of dark chocolate regularly. We've found that switching potatoes to tomatoes is quite easy and passing up bread isn't a sacrifice. We've substituted cucumber and zucchini slices for crackers and potato chips at home. We've not sworn off any food completely, allowing guilt-free indulgences every so often. We don't consider ourselves 'dieting'.  Yet, we've each lost 12 pounds.

Kali Orexi

Kali Orexi, means literally, 'good appetite' but is often the wish offered to diners as food is served in Greece, meaning 'have a good meal'.  

A meze dinner is our favorite kind of meal

And having a good meal  isn't hard to do in Greece even when you've modified your eating habits! The photo above shows a recent dinner at a restaurant in Stoupa, our neighboring village. From the top left,tomato balls and a yogurt dip, Mani sausage (orange flavored) with horta (greens instead of potatoes), sautéed mushroom, and oven-baked garbanzo beans with a cheese topping.

With a wish that many of you get a chance to taste the real flavors of Greece one day while sitting at a harbor-side taverna or a sleek 5-star restaurant, we'll sign off for this week. We thank you for the time you spent with us today and look forward to being back next week when we will be back to talking travel.

Linking this week with:

Through My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday


Monday, July 10, 2017

Life in Greece: “Do You Ever Eat at Home?”

“I am just wondering,” asked my friend Elana, “do you ever eat at home? I mean, do you cook?”

It was a valid question. She'd been at The Stone House on the Hill a couple days and never eaten a bite there.

P1030811
Stoupa Restaurant has views of the sea and the village
It made me laugh and I answered in the affirmative but she likely didn’t believe me. From the moment she and her husband had arrived we’d traveled in high gear from one location to the next as we tried to have them experience all our favorite eateries.

With even the heartiest of appetites and the best of good intentions, with so many places from which to choose, it just wasn’t going to happen in the few days they were with us. They ended their visit not once eating a meal at The Stone House on the Hill.

PicMonkey Collage
Is it the food or the views that bring us back to this tavern in Kardamyli?
When discussing houseguests with our ex pat friends who live in our slice of The Mani we often ponder the difficulties and dilemmas of how many places can we take our visitors before we all succumb to that heavenly near-coma state brought on by overeating.

With a typical visit lasting three or four nights, we have to squeeze a lot of eating into a short amount of time.

PicMonkey Collage
Moussaka and chips to the left; seafood pastitsio on the right

What, Where and How much?

Actually Elana’s question was one asked by many. Eating – the what, when and where – is one of the biggest curiosities we’ve found that people have about our life in the Greek Peloponnese.

* Do you have a grocery store nearby?
Yes! A large supermarket, several bakeries and the ‘fruit man’ makes regular runs through the villages selling fruits and veggies from his truck.
* Can you get rose wine there?
Yes! White, red and rose – served in pitchers in quarter-, half- and kilo amounts is the most economical at restaurants (never more than 6-euros for the largest) but sometimes we ‘splurge’ and buy a bottle (10 – 20-euro restaurant price) and drink to our heart’s content for far less than in the U.S.
* Are there restaurants near you?
Yes! Definitely!

What is Greek food?

In the United States we came to know Greek food as being a ‘Greek salad’, a gyro (yh-ero, not JI-roe) those pitas wrapped around meat, French fries, tomatoes and onions and slathered with tzatziki sauce. Or the multi-layered traditional Greek dishes, moussaka (layers of aubergine, potato, minced meat (hamburger) and topped with a bechamel) or pastitsio, (layers of pasta and meat or fish dish with bechamel).

P1000571
Easter's traditional meal - roasted lamb
Little did we know of the wonders of the varieties of Greek dishes: their stifados (slow-cooked, stew-like dishes), their grilled lamb, pork and beef, their beet root creations, oh, . . .how the list could go on. A plate of giant beans is ambrosia when eaten in a Greek taverna. The pastas and pizzas rival those produced by the Italians to the north. The fresh greens, tomatoes used in salads – not to mention that slab of feta (which rivals gold prices if purchased in the US) brings exclamations from all our visitors.

PicMonkey Collage
Salads we have known, loved and eaten
Sometimes I am not sure if it is the cuisine that makes these places our favorites or if it is the settings or the warmth and charm of the owners. Perhaps it is the lovely combination of all those factors.

PicMonkey Collage
A favorite restaurant of ours is housed in an old olive press in a nearby mountain village

Eating at Home

Truth is we do eat at home. Quite often.

As I said earlier, tree-ripened fruit and just-picked vegetables are in abundance. The ‘fruit man’ makes a regular run through the villages several times a week. Several fishermen sell their catch at the harbor each morning. Just across the street from the harbor there’s a meat market, a bakery is a few steps away. Kalamata, the big city an hour away has a large municipal market operating two days a week and Aeropolis, a bit closer and to our south operates a Saturday market.

P1010574
For less than 10 euro. . .
And it is fun to try new recipes. Converting ingredient amounts to the Metric systems is a bit like solving a puzzle and challenges the brain. Although sometimes it is nice to just ‘whip up’ a salad for casual deck dining.

P1030802
The bowl and serving tongs are gifts from friends
Or when the autumn or early spring chill keeps us indoors, it is fun to light a fire in the fireplace and serve up a helping of something slow-cooked during the day.

P1000073
We don't eat this 'formally' most nights.
So a note to future houseguests: bring loose clothing and an adventuresome appetite as we plan to have you sampling some incredible food served in the most picturesque locations you’ll ever find and at prices so incredibly low that you, too, will ask,

“Do you ever eat at home?”

Thanks for your many comments on last week's post about down-sizing and de-cluttering.  It is nice to know we aren't alone in this tedious task! We are taking a break this week in the declutter and downsizing efforts and are off to visit The Scout’s hometown in Central Washington State.  I’m writing a freelance article about it and we’ve got some researching to do! I'll tell you about what we find in a future post.

Hope to see you back next week and until then safe and healthy travels to you and yours. And - as always - our thanks for being with us~

Linking this week with:
Through My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday
Travel Photo Thursday
– 
Photo Friday
Weekend Travel Inspiration

inking up this week with:

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Easter in Greece ~ A Soul Food Fest


It is Easter Monday in Greece ~ we're wrapping up a weekend of fests and feasts. Today, technically a holiday, seems the day set aside for resting up from the weekend's activities which took place as part of Greece's most significant holiday of the year.

Greek Easter is magic. Being in this country for an Easter is a feast for your soul and your stomach!


Decorations have been on sale for weeks


Since we arrived more than a month ago the signs of Easter's arrival have been appearing in both homes and businesses.  Medical appointments, work projects, meetings and other  activities requiring a set date have been scheduled before or after "Easter Week" because that is when all focus and activities turn to the holiday.



Easter vendor booths line Kalamata's pedestrian street
Easter's date in the Greek Orthodox religion is determined by using the modified Julian calendar while Easter in the rest of the Christian world is set using the Gregorian calendar. That's why this Easter took place nearly a month after the 'other Easter'.

 The celebrations in Greece begin two months before Easter with Mardi Gras, Carnival Apokria, which ends on Shrovetide Sunday.

Decorated white candles to be used on Easter Eve services were on sale

That is followed by Kathara Deftera, or Clean Monday (Ash Monday) which is a festival day in itself. Then comes Lent and . . .

Then Comes Easter. . .

Early this last week our nearby villages were a bustle of activity as finishing touches were being added to businesses that were reopening having been in hibernation all winter. New paint, flower planters suddenly bursting with blooms -  all was made ready for Easter; a time that also seems to kick off the beginning of tourist season as well.

At midday on Good Friday a slow, mournful tolling of the village church bell in Agios Nikolaos seemed to start the weekend - it was such a sad, s-l-o-w chime that it seemed designed to match the footfalls to the cross on that long-ago day in Jerusalem. It was such a haunting sound that it gave you goose bumps . . .whether a believer or not!  Greek flags are flown at half staff that day, including on government buildings, to mark Christ's crucifixion.

The Bier awaits the Processional on Good Friday

That evening after dusk, a church service in Agios Nikolaos was followed by a processional - The Procession of the Epitaphos of Christ - through town in which the flower bedecked bier is carried. Similar services and professionals were taking place in cities and villages throughout Greece. We didn't make it to town for that activity, opting instead to visit the bier in church in the afternoon.


Saturday night, however, we joined the hundreds who turned out for the midnight (closer to 11:30 p.m.) service and lighting of the white candles from the single candle, the Holy Light, that was lit by the village Papas, Priest, to signify the Resurrection. (It is said if you make it home and your candle is still lit you will have good luck.)





'Christos Aneste! - Christ is Risen!' calls the Papas
'Alithos Anesti! - Truly He is Risen!' - comes the Response




And it was time to light the candles. . .and set off the fireworks.



Then came the feasting on Sunday. . .

The smell of roasting lambs filled the air in villages throughout the valley

Traditional red eggs on the table

So much food we had to use chairs - this doesn't show all the food that came to the table
We joined two sets of our neighbors at a restaurant in one of the small villages up in the Taygetos Mountains that frame our valley.  The place was packed with Greeks, ex pats and a few tourists.  Throughout The Mani  restaurants were cooking up feasts and serving meals over the course of the afternoon. We began our dining at 1 p.m. and ended three hours later. What a feast! The menu included roast pork, roast lamb, zucchini pie, spicy cheese, tzatziki, beets, roasted potatoes, salad, bread and traditional Greek Easter bread for dessert - so much that we didn't have room for it all on the table.

I couldn't help but note that while traditions are strong in Greece, technology -- as it is everywhere - is now a part of life.

Cell phones and candles - tradition and technology

A family's feast - and a selfie or two to remember it all!

Yes, Easter Monday, is a much needed day of rest for everyone.  It's a day filled with wonderful memories and a chance to start anticipating next year's festivities.

If you were among those celebrating this weekend, a big Kala Pasha! to you. And to all of you, thanks for again being with us.  We appreciate your time and wish you happy travels~

Linking up this week with:

Through My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday
Travel Photo Thursday
 Photo Friday
Weekend Travel Inspiration

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