Greek Cuisine - Greece Index

Greek Cuisine is not only mousaka, souvlaki and horiatiki salad

greek tavern Its unique tastes of the Greek cuisine are some of the things which set Greece apart. You are in for pleasant culinary surprises while in this country. Contrary to common belief you will soon discover that Greek cuisine does not solely consist of mousaka, souvlaki and horiatiki salata.

Greek cuisine has a great variety of dishes and can be an extremely satisfying culinary adventure for both meat-eaters and vegetarians. It could not be otherwise in the country that gave birth to the symposiums and the Epicurean philosophers. It was, in fact, Archestratos in 330 B.C., who wrote the first cookbook in History and let us not forget, that cuisine is a sign of civilization. Greece has a culinary tradition of some 4,000 years.

Nevertheless, like most national cuisines, the Greek, has both influenced others and embraced ideas from its easterly and westerly neighbours.

Greek cuisine enjoys renewed popularity with health-conscious consumers

greek salad With the get-back-to-basics craze in cooking these days, more and more people are turning to ethnic dishes, traditionally prepared, to realize better health. For years, Americans have idealized the Mediterranean diet for its simplicity and intense flavors. Now dietitians are heralding the fare as healthy cooking.

Like Italian cooks, Greeks use fresh ingredients when they are in season, varying their diets with the changing harvests

Cheryl Byers Shipley, a registered dietitian and assistant professor at WCCC, notes the healthy side of Greek cooking.

“The fats that Greek dishes call for are very healthy fats,” she said, explaining that Greek food is high in monounsaturated fats, which lower cholesterol. “The Greek diet is based in olive oil, fish and goat milk cheeses, all of which are lower in cholesterol than the American diet, with few trans-fatty acids.”