Introducing Greek Food

Greek cuisine is a healthy one - olive oil is cheap and abundant so animal fats are seldom used. Vegetables are traditionally cooked carefully and slowly without boiling so their nutritional value is preserved. Greek cooking tends to be very seasonal and relies mainly on fruit, vegetables, meat and fish of the season.

Breakfast, proyevma, is generally very light consisting of fresh fruit, sheep's-milk yoghurt with honey, bread and cheese and coffee. Lunch, yevma, in rural communities is the main meal eaten at midday, after which schools and businesses close until the early evening and people stay at home for an afternoon rest. Supper, deipnon, is a light meal eaten in the late evening. City dwellers working in offices and industry tend to have a light lunch and main meal in the late evening.

In the late evening, before the meal, appetisers called mezethes are served. Greeks end their meals with a simple dessert of cold, fresh fruit. Cakes and sweet pastries are not eaten directly after a meal, but are enjoyed with coffee or iced water generally in the early evenings, a couple of hours before the evening meal, and on special occasions such as weddings, christenings and festival days. With this emphasis on fresh food for each meal, shopping is very much part of the daily routine.

Try these Greek Recipes

Avolemono | Baklava | Souvlakia | Back to Map

Greek recipes on the Internet

Recipes including Traditional Walnut Cake

Collection of Recipes

Other Greek Recipes