Greek Specialties
Post Author: Blog Master!by Stanley Dry
When I lived in Greece 30 years ago, I was never served a drink without a small plate of food to accompany it. It didn’t matter what you were drinking-ouzo, retsina, non-resinated wine or raki (a clear and potent liquor distilled from grape pomace)-the price of the drink included something to nibble on.
These little bites of food, called mezze, are meant to whet the appetite, and they make drinking a far more civilized activity than merely knocking back high-proof liquids. Many a pleasant hour was spent in the cafes sipping ouzo, talking and tasting toothsome little bits of food.
The mezze offered by the cafe owners varied from day to day, from season to season, and from one cafe to another. There were olives, of course, as well as cheese, fried sardines, green almonds in the spring, the stalks of wild artichokes seasoned with lemon and salt, fresh, uncooked fava beans, French fries cooked in rich green olive oil, small potatoes roasted in the embers of a wood-burning stove. The offerings seemed endless.
If you’d like to serve your guests a variety of delicious Greek specialties, try the following recipes. They are all delicious on their own, and I guarantee that they will make whatever you’re drinking taste better.
Filed Under: Food Talk
