I’m all for equal opportunity. The following are my Greek Food and Drink Faves:
1. Saganaki Midia: Mussels in a tomato and feta cheese wine sauce. Yummy! Not to be confused with plain saganaki, which is fried cheese, or saganaki garides, which contains prawns instead of mussels. But if you make a mistake, don’t worry; you just can’t go wrong here!
2. Kolokithokeftedes: That’s a mouthful in more ways than one! These are a zucchini-herb mixture formed into balls and fried.
3. Greek Yogurt with Skopelos honey, walnuts and fruit: Yes, you no longer have to travel to Greece to experience Greek yogurt, especially if you have a Trader Joe’s close by. If you want, however, to experience the typical Greek yogurt, we’re talking sheep’s milk. And you’ll just have to travel to the Mamma Mia Island to sample Skopelos honey…pine tree flavored…no kidding! (See pic)
4. Greek Salad- Horiatiki: Okay, this may be boring, but it’s close to perfect. You get a combination of veggies—usually tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and perhaps green peppers with very healthy Greek olives and great protein, feta cheese. It even works for vegetarians, and is usually an economical choice.
5. Beets with Skordalia: I know that I already mentioned this one, but it is a favorite. The garlic is great for the immune system too.
6. Favorite ouzos: I have two. Plomariou and Barbayannis. Both are produced in the town of Ploumari on Lesvos. There’s nothing more to say; you’ll just have to try them. If you can have only one meze (appetizer) with ouzo, then ask for a bowl of great-tasting Greek olives. If you want protein (probably a good idea) then order #7.
7. Fresh grilled octopus: This plus a glass of ouzo is just about as close as one can get to heaven.
8. Horta: A Greek food staple, horta literally means “grass.” It’s boiled dandelion greens. There are many varieties—some more bitter, some less so. This dish is served with lemon, olive oil and salt. Women in particular benefit from this extremely healthy dish, because it is rich in phytoestrogens (weak naturally-occurring plant compounds that bind to estrogen receptor sites, thus providing some protection against the effects of stronger estrogens.) The previously low incidence of breast cancer in Greek women was attributed to the high intake of olive oil, but I wouldn’t be surprised if horta played an important role. Are you seeing a pattern? I’m sure you’ve heard by now that the original Mediterranean diets are the best!
9. Fried zucchini withTzatziki: Okay. This one’s not so healthy, but wow is it yummy. Realize that there are as many different tzatzikis as there are Greek cooks. I like mine with—yes, you guessed it—lots of garlic and lemon (not vinegar). For those of you who haven’t yet tried it, this is a thick yogurt dip (the Greeks call all their dips salads, salata) with garlic, lemon or vinegar, cucumber, olive oil and dill.
10. Favorite dessert: Oh, I have so many, but if I had to pick one, it would be the loukoumades with Skopelos honey. Sorry, I’m biased. I can’t remember the name of the particular zacharoplastio (sweet shop), but if you’re headed to Skopelos, send me an e-mail and I’ll give you directions. Loukoumades are large donut holes. My favorite ones are huge, the gigantic variety to match the big beans, gigantes…oops that’s #11, and I committed to just ten.
It’s no surprise that my Fave List is much longer than my Warning List. Hope these show up on your Fave List too!
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