Greek Recipees

Traditional Greek cuisine… a total based on the pure products from Greek Mother Nature
to form a balanced nutritional model that can ensure a better quality of life and physical
health. Products with unique quality and unsurpassable nutritional value, such as the olive
and extra virgin oil, dairy products, honey, ouzo, fish, juices, water, nuts, wines, mastic
from Chios, crocus from Kozani and many more. These have blended together and
created a noble cuisine rich in nutritional ingredients, which can satisfy the high gustatory
and nutritional needs of modern man. Some of the highly regarded traditional Greek products are:

Olive oil
As the basis of every recipe found in traditional cuisine, olive oil plays a dominant role in Greek nutritional habits. Greek olive oil is known worldwide for its purity, exceptional taste and high nutritional value. You will find it
everywhere – in glass or plastic containers with the words “virgin” and “extra virgin” printed on them.

Cheese
You will find unique cheeses of exceptional quality in the
market, and you should make the effort to try these cheeses, such as kaseri, graviera, kefalotiri, myzithra and metsovone. These cheeses vary according to their origin, taste and
name. Some of these cheeses are found throughout the
country, while others are locally produced for local
consumption. The most famous is of course Greek feta
cheese. This is a white semi-soft, heavily salted cheese
which is the basic ingredient for the Greek or Horiatiko
salad, but it is also used in many other recipes.

Wine
Greece is not only the birthplace of Dionysus (god of wine), but also the birthplace of wine making. This wine came from the
islands of Chios and Thassos and was famous throughout the Ancient world. Historical and social reasons, as well as various
natural disasters, were the main reasons why the art of wine making was neglected from the middle of the 19th century up to
the beginning of the 60’s. Greek wines are produced from various varieties of grapes, many of which are unknown to Western
wine lovers. The four basic distinctive categories are: the “controlled appellations of origin” (CAO), the “appellations of origin of superior
quality” (AOSQ), “local wine” and “table wine”. The “controlled appellations of origin” category includes only sweet wines
such as Mavrodaphne from Kefalonia and Patras, Moschato from Patras, Limnos, Kefalonia, Rhodes and Gliko from Samos. The category of the “appellations of origin of superior quality” includes many of the best wines of Greece. To date, there are
20 regions that have A.O.C. rights In Northern Greece there are Zitsa, Amyntaeo, Goumenitsa and Naoussa wines. In
Chalkidiki the Plagies Melitona wine and in Thessaly the Agchialos and Rapsani wines. Near Athens is the Kantzas wine, while the Peloponnese has Patras, Mantinia and Nemea wines. The Ionian islands have Robola Kefalonias wine, while on the
islands of Paros, Limnos, Rhodes and Santorini we have Paros, Limnos, Rhodes and Santorini wines. Finally, on Crete the
brand-names include Archanes, Peza, Siteia and Daphnes wines.

Ouzo

The world famous Greek aperitif, with the best from Lesvos
and from Chios. It is produced from distilled alcohol, water
and aromatic ingredients, with aniseed prevailing. It is
drunk neat or with added water or ice, and is the perfect
accompaniment for mezedes (appetizers).

Honey
Greek honey is famous for its high quality, aroma and
outstanding taste. Its many variations in taste and aroma is
due to the rich Greek flora. The flower-honey is well-known
and high-selling, produced from the nectar of mainly citrus
and other fruit, thyme with its incomparable aroma, and
pine honey produced in the highland regions from conifer
trees.

Mastic
A product that is unique in the world, as it is grown
exclusively on the Aegean island of Chios. It is produced
from the resin of the mastic trees (Pistacia lentiscus) and
can be consumed untreated without chemical or industrial
processing. The father of medicine, Hippocrates, had noted
the many therapeutic properties of mastic, especially for
stomach disorders. These properties have been adopted by modern medicine.

Crocus of Kozani
The Crocus, the “gold from Greek soil” as it is called, is included among the most precious and valuable spices from ancient
civilizations, for its aromatic, colour, pharmaceutical and aphrodisiac properties. Cleopatra used it in her cosmetics, the
Ancient Phoenicians in their offerings to the goddess Asparte, Homer referred to it in his writings, while we even come across
it in the Old Testament. Its history in modern Greece began when Kozanite traders transported it to Austria in the 17th C. For
three hundred years now the Crocus has been cultivated and grown under the Macedonian sun, in a area that encompasses
many small villages in the Kozani Prefecture. The residents of the region plant the Crocus every summer, and when autumn
arrives, they remove the most one stigma of the beautiful flower by hand and desiccate it carefully until they have a slender
deep red strand. Around 50,000 stigmas are needed to produce 100 gr red crocuses. The Crocus, or Greek saffron as it is
usually called, belongs to the best-quality saffron in the world and is also called the “flower of Mediterranean cuisine”.

Sweet Preserves (spoon sweets)
Linked to the sweet welcome of a visitor, it is the foremost
traditional treat in Greek homes. When served, it usually
fills a teaspoon, hence its name. The majority of these
sweets are prepared during the season when each fruit
ripens: wild cherries, grapes, figs, apricots, berries, plums, quinces, bergamots and citrons, with each ripening one after
the after from the beginning of summer up to the end of
autumn. However, there are variations to these sweets, which are prepared from fruit or seeds that have not yet
ripened (e.g. pistachios, walnuts, bitter figs), while there are
also spoon sweets with various vegetables as the raw
materials (small tomatoes or small eggplants). Not only are
these raw materials used in spoon sweets, they are also great
as jams, marmalades or preserved (stewed) fruits.

Traditional liquors
Local liquors cannot but be included among the
protagonists in Greek tastes. Products such as roses, cranberries, plums, mint, mastic, walnuts and many more
“lend” their aromas and their tastes to alcohol with exciting
results. The most well-known is the mastic from Chios, from the renowned mastic tree which grows only on the
southern side of the island; the citron from Naxos; the
koum-kouat, or as it is called, the “golden orange”; the
aromatic Tentouro from Patras, made from distilled
cinnamon; and clove, which according to tradition dates
back to the 15th C. It was known previously as “moschovolithra”, due to its strong aroma, and is drunk as a
digestive drink after a heavy meal.