Traditional Greek food belongs to Mediterranean cuisine. Locals try to use high-quality and fresh products in their recipes. The most popular ingredients are olives, cheese, eggplant, zucchini, herbs, yogurt and lemons. Here are five traditional Greek recipes.
With these recipes, you can recreate the Greek atmosphere in your home, or simply treat your friends to some extraordinary Mediterranean cuisine.
Moussaka
Moussaka is a Greek lasagna that uses thinly sliced eggplant instead of sheets of dough. This is one of the most famous and oldest Greek dishes.
Ingredients:
- Potatoes - 2 pieces
- Eggplant - 2 pieces
- Minced meat - 450 grams
- Onion - 2 pieces
- Garlic - 3 cloves
- Tomatoes in their own juice - 350 grams
- Tomato paste - 2 tsp
- Egg - 1 piece (+ 2 yolks)
- Salt and spices to taste (pepper, oregano, parsley, cinnamon)
- Dry red wine - 1/2 cup
- Butter - 120 grams
- Flour - 1/2 cup
- Milk - 3 cups
- Cheese - 100 grams
- Nutmeg - 1 pinch
Cooking method:
Peel the eggplants and cut them into thin slices, sprinkle with salt and leave for 30 minutes. Potatoes need to be peeled and cut into slices, immersed in boiling salted water for 5 minutes. Remove carefully and place on a paper towel to remove excess water.
Next, prepare the meat sauce: heat a little vegetable oil in a frying pan, put the minced meat there and fry, stirring occasionally. Add diced onions and minced garlic. Fry for another 7 minutes, then add the tomato paste and tomatoes. Pour in red wine and add salt and spices to taste. Simmer for 30 minutes over low heat. Then remove, cool a little and beat in the egg, mixing everything thoroughly until a homogeneous consistency.
In a separate frying pan, it is necessary to fry the eggplants until light golden brown on both sides. The last preparatory step is the bechamel sauce. Melt the butter, add flour. Pour milk in a thin stream and, stirring constantly, boil the sauce. Add salt, grated cheese and a pinch of nutmeg. Remove from heat, let cool, add yolks. Mix thoroughly again.
Now you can collect the moussaka. First, put the potatoes on the bottom of the mold, then half the eggplants. Spread the minced meat evenly on top and lay the remaining eggplants on top. Pour the béchamel sauce over everything. Moussaka should be baked for about an hour at 180 degrees in the oven.
Suvlaki
Souvlaki is a kind of Greek fast food. Locals serve souvlaki in pita bread, adding pieces of meat, vegetables and sauce to taste. A big plus is that the dish can be prepared from almost any meat, and the recipe's trick lies in the marinade. Today we will take turkey meat as the basis of the dish.
Ingredients:
- Turkey breast - 1 piece
- Garlic - 5 cloves
- Lemon - 1 piece
- Olive oil - 4 tablespoons l.
- Oregano - 1 tbsp l.
- Thyme - 1 tbsp l.
- Pete
Cooking method:
Peel the garlic and chop finely, squeeze the juice out of the lemon. Pour 4 tablespoons of oil into lemon juice, add thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, garlic. Cut the turkey into cubes, so that it is possible to put on skewers. We put the meat in a dish and pour in the marinade. Mix everything well, close and send to marinate in the refrigerator for four hours, or better for the whole night. When the meat is ready for cooking, string it on skewers and then fry it in a pan.
We serve meat along with pita and vegetables.
Melomakarona
We could not pass by the Greek desserts. Therefore, on the eve of the New Year, we are telling you about the traditional Christmas Greek cookies.
Ingredients:
- Vegetable oil - 1 glass
- Concentrated orange juice - 1 glass
- Sugar -2 cups
- Semolina - 1 glass
- Wheat flour - 4 cups
- Ground cinnamon - 2 tsp
- Soda - 1.5 tsp.
- Orange zest - 1 piece
- Oranges - 1 piece
- Flower honey - 1/2 cup
- Water - 1 glass
- Cinnamon sticks - 1 piece
- Walnuts - 130g
Cooking method:
The method of making cookies is quite simple - mix dry ingredients separately, wet ingredients separately. Then add a little wet to the dry mixture and knead into the dough. Put parchment on a baking sheet, on which to arrange the formed cookie balls in a row. Each ball must be pressed down with a fork to create a pattern. Next, bake the cookies in the oven at 180 degrees for 15 minutes.
While the cookies are cooking, let's prepare the syrup. To do this, mix in a saucepan 1 cup of sugar, the juice of one orange, water and honey. Bring to a boil over low heat. Top the biscuits with a mixture of ground walnuts and cinnamon. The last step is to dip the cookies into the syrup and put them on a platter. Until the syrup is completely absorbed, sprinkle with nuts.
Metaxa (Metakha)
It is a unique traditional amber-colored alcoholic beverage that originated in Greece. It is a blend of brandy and Greek muscat wines with a more intense and mellow flavor. To reveal all the features of the drink, it should be tasted in its pure form. However, Metax is often used as an ingredient in cocktails. We decided to introduce you to a few signature recipes that will help you imbue even more with the Greek atmosphere.
Metakha Orange Summit
Ingredients:
- Metax7 stars - 50ml
- Orange fresh - 50ml
- Lime fresh - 20
- Chocolate bitter - 3 drops
- Sugar syrup - 15ml
- Lime zest
Cooking method:
Combine ingredients and filter into a glass. Garnish with lime zest.
Metakha Demeter's Day
Ingredients:
- Metax12 stars - 50ml
- Lemon (fresh) - 20ml
- Cointreau - 10 ml
- Sugar syrup - 10 ml
- Orange jam - 1 tsp
- Orange (zest)
Cooking method:
Mix and shake all ingredients, then pour into a glass and garnish with orange zest.
Photo: Getty Images
Related materials
- Greek yogurt: why and with what it is eaten
- Secrets of choosing and storing olive oil from Greek experts
- Why fans of the Mediterranean diet are not at risk of depression
- 5 books about national secrets of happiness