Greek Products – Gastronomy Greece

    Traditional Greek Foods

    OLIVE OIL
    Olive oil plays a unique role in Greek dietary habits, being the basis of all recipes of traditional cuisine. Greek olive oil enjoys worldwide distinction for its purity and exceptional taste. You will find it everywhere in glass bottles and cans under the designations virgin and extra virgin olive oil.

    HONEY
    Greek honey is famous over the world for its good quality, aroma and outstanding taste. It owes its wide diversity in taste and aroma to the rich Greek flora which comprises a large number of wild flowers.Honey in Greece is mainly flower-honey from the nectar of fruit and citrus trees (lemon, orange, bigarade trees), thyme honey, with incomparable aroma, and pine honey from conifer trees.

    MASTIC
    A product unique in the world, as it is grown exclusively on the Aegean island of Chios. It is produced from the resin of mastic trees (Pistacia lentiscus) and can be consumed untreated without having undergone any chemical or industrial processing. The father of medicine, Hippocrates, underlined the multiple therapeutic properties of mastic, especially for stomach complaints; properties which are accepted and proven by modern medicine.

    OUZO
    The world famous Greek aperitif. It is produced from distilled alcohol, water and aromatic ingredients (the prevailing one being aniseed). It is drunk straight or with the addition of water or ice and is the perfect accompaniment for appetizers (mezedes).

    CHEESES
    FETA: A semi-soft, crumbly, well-salted white cheese made from goat or sheep milk. Used in pies, added to salads and served with meals.
    KASSERI: Creamy in colour, with a mild flavour similar to Cheddar. Usually served on its own or with bread.
    KEFALOTYRI: A hard and very salty cheese similar to Parmesan, used mainly for grating and serving with pasta.
    GRAVIERA: Like Gruyere, it is served with meals or used for grating and serving with pasta.
    MANOURI: An unsalted soft white cheese served on its own or used in savoury or sweet pies, just like Mizithra.
    MIZITHRA: An unsalted soft cheese made from ewes\’ milk. Served on its own or used in sweet or savoury pies (a substitute for this is fresh cottage cheese).

    COFFEE
    Varis Ghlykos: Strong and sweet.
    Metrios: Medium strong with little sugar.
    Sketos: Without sugar.
    Ghlykis Vrastos: Sweet and boiled.
    To make Greek coffee, use a very small coffeecup and measure into the pot as many cupfuls of water as you wish to serve. Add a teaspoon of sugar for each cup of water and put to boil. Then add a heaped teaspoon of ground Greek coffee for each cup of water. Let the coffee boil to the brim of the pot and serve immediately. The coffee is served pouring a little at a time into each cup, so that the froth is equally divided.