Gyros is a delicacy that many adore. It is consumed by many people especially in Greece and neighboring Turkey (as a doner) on a weekly basis. Together with souvlaki they are our most popular and well known dishes around the world. The history of Gyros is not always clear and a lot of times its origins are contensted from many countries. Lets try and get an understanding of what Gyros is and how did it become so popular.
(more…)Tag: souvlaki
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Souvlaki: A bit of History
Ancient Delight, immortal in the passage of time. Perhaps the most basic delicacy of Greek gastronomy, but also one of the most famous ones! Ladies and gentlemen, I present you the souvlaki.
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My Top 10 Greek Foods to try
Oh Greece, lovely Greece! The sun! The historic monuments! The beautiful sandy beaches! …and obviously the famously tasty food! I guess there are so many things you can see and do in Greece if you ever go over there. As in any trip you do in any country the biggest problem you will encounter is that you don’t have enough time to see or do all the thing that you want!
Don’t worry! That’s why we are here!
The following are some of my personal favorite dishes that I will urge you to try if you ever go to Greece. Obviously there are many more available and special favorites depending the place you are but for this case we will only focus on some of them.
- Moussaka
You cannot start a discussion about Greek Food and the Greek kitchen without mentioning Moussaka, arguable the most famous of all the Greek dishes. Variations of the same dish can be found all around the Balkans, Turkey and furthermore to the east. However, the Greek version is one of the most famous ones and is based on layering: sautéed aubergine, minced meat fried pureed tomato, onion, garlic and spices like cinnamon and allspice, a bit of potato, and then a final fluffy topping of cheese and béchamel sauce.
Greens Boiled - Vrasta Horta – Boiled Greens
Well, that is something you certainly cant find in many places. I always remember my grandparents going out during summer out in the fields and trying to find the best leafy greens to boil. There are so many different types that I don’t even know. Packed with nutrients and flavor, these greens will compliment any meal. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and enjoy. Many times I remember my father asking for boiled greens as a salad to eat together with his fresh fish.
galaktompoureko - Galaktompoureko – Custard Phyllo Pie
If anyone manages to pronounce it properly I promise I will make one for him! Either way, its not important to learn how to pronounce but to find it and try it while you are in Greece. One of the best deserts you can have and obviously my personal favorite. If you manage and find a proper patisserie in Greece (and there are plenty) go and ask for one. It’s a divine combination of creamy custard and flaky phyllo dough that is baked to golden perfection then drenched with a lemon and orange infused syrup.
The Lazy Spinach Pie. This one is with out a phyllo sheet - Spanakopita – Spinach Pie
Greek and English have one thing in common. They both like pies! If you spend some time in Greece and especially wonder around in some of the villages in the North you will definitely find a lot of variations. Spinach pie is one of those classic popular pies that you can find anywhere, flaky phyllo sheets layered with a savory spinach and feta cheese filling. You can never go wrong with that!
The all too traditional Greek Souvlakia - Souvlaki – Pita Sandwich
The most famous fast food of the country. You can never go wrong with this one. Mentioned it thousand times on my blog and I am sure any other food blogger in the world has done it also. Small pieces of meat grilled on a skewer served on a pita bread with a variation of garnishes and sauces. Best thing you can have after a night out with value for money. Ideally its served with pork but nowadays in Greece you can find with so many different variations you cannot imagine.
- Fish – Just any kind of them
Honestly, in a country with so many islands and one of the biggest coastlines you can find around the world, you can never go wrong. Make sure that you find a nice recommended fish tavern and ask about the catch of the day. Usually when I go in Greece during summer I am dying to eat octopus either grilled or boiled. Then again eating grilled shrimps is not too bad either….or Sea Breams….or lobster pasta…or fresh Swordfish… or… or..or….
- Gemista – Stuffed Vegetables
Again, I could not have such a list without having one of my favorites dishes listed. Basically as it is made during the summer as it is the best season for most of the vegetables. You a create a heathen stuffing from rice and minced meat together with some seasoning and you stuff the vegetable with them. Let them cook in the oven and you have a dish for kings! Now we Greeks like to fight for anything so you will see many of them cooking them without minced meat as they believe that is the original recipe, which is equally good. Nevertheless, for me the ideal one would be with the minced meat added to them!
Our Patsa soup is ready with the addition of a bit of lemon - Patsas – Pork Soup
Ok, in order to appreciate the following dish properly you will need to do the following things.
- Go and enjoy the nightlife in Greece. Party until 6 o clock in the morning
- Find one of the restaurants called “patsatsidika” serving that soup and try it around 6 o clock in the morning after a hard night out
Pork soup seasoned with red wine vinegar and garlic, or thickened with avgolemono. Patsas has the reputation of remedying hang-over and aiding digestion, patsatzidika are often working overnight, serving people returning home after dinner or clubbing.
Traditional Greek dip tzatziki - Tzatziki – Garlic sauce
There is not a chance if you spend some days in Greece to not try Tzatziki. That famous garlic and yogurt sauce is used as a started or as a basic ingredient in Souvlaki and is one of the most famous dishes you can have in Greece. To be honest if you go to Greece you can have a variations of sauces as a starter dip that are quite underrated and deserve a bit more of your attention. Cool and creamy, this tangy cucumber dip flavored with garlic is perfect to compliment grilled meats and vegetables.
Photo credit by mygreekdish.com - Giouvetsi – Beef with Orzo stew
The following is one of the classic Sunday dishes that most of the Greek families have usually. Traditional recipe that you can find in many taverns around Greece with beef and orzo mixing up with melted cheese. One of my best memories when i was young about this dish was that my mother used to cook us Giouvetsi in clay pots which added a lot more on the taste. Good old times!
Obviously could continue the list with more and more dishes that i love but we would never stop. 10 are kind of hard to find but i think i made an honest attempt.
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Eating Souvlaki on Kalyvas
I am not sure which exactly is the most well known dish of the Greek cuisine. Most people know the greek salad, fasolada, gemista and many more but i am sure if you ask couple of…non greeks, a huge percentage will mention you also Souvlaki. The traditional fast food pita bread delicacy of greece.
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My Greek Souvlaki recipe
Anyone that has been to Greece , always comes back and talks about –THAT- specific food, that which was like a kebap but not exactly the same. That food where you could find it everywhere but still could be so different in the way it was made.
That …is souvlaki, the fast food dish that you have to try when you are in Greece. Reading along on the internet about souvlakia and opinios from different people I really liked the following that Jamie Oliver wrote in his blog regarding souvlaki.
“We Brits often think of kebabs as a guilty pleasure. But, having seen the love and attention that goes into preparing a proper Greek kebab, I can assure you there is nothing to feel guilty about. It’s all about quality ingredients and fresh zingy flavours.”
I couldn’t agree with him more on that. After living for 8 years in London I think the basic difference on the Greek Souvlaki is the attention that the cook puts and the distinct flavours that can come out of it depending on how you prepare it.
As every dish, every Greek has a different way to make a souvlaki changing the recipe a little bit more than the others and still keeping it original.
Adding potatoes rather than lettuce to my Souvlaki I can’t say that one is more right than the other but there are some basic rules I would say. In my opinion the traditional souvlakia are always being made with pork and tzatziki. Despite that there are different variations depending on the meat that you use (chicken and mustard or different kind of sauce etc) . Nevertheless, the main essence is that the results that comes in is a beautiful mix of flavours ideal for a Sunday barbeque or… any kind of day together with beer 🙂
GREEK SOUVLAKI RECIPE INGREDIENTS
- 800gr of pork fillets
- 1 medium onion chopped
- Thyme
- 2 garlic cloves cut
- 5 spoons of olive oil
- 5spoos of vinegar from white wine
- Salt/Pepper
- wooden sticks for the souvlakia
- 3 tomatoes in thin slices.
- (optional) some lettuce chopped
- (optional) potato chips
Tzatziki Sauce
- 3 cups Greek yogurt (around 350gr)
- 2-3 garlic clove, minced
- 1 large English cucumber, diced (the long, skinny ones)
- 1 tablespoon salt (for salting cucumbers)
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill (or both, depending on preference) or 1 tablespoon of fresh mint, chopped (or both, depending on preference)
The all too traditional Greek Souvlakia Method
- In one small oven pot we add the vinegar and the thyme and add the sticks to marinate a bit so they dont burn.
- We remove any white fat that our pork fillets might have with a good long pointed knife. Its important as if we dont it will remain hard no matter how we well we cook it
- Cut the pork in nice cubes of around 1 cm each
- Take the deep pot and add inside the meat.
- Cut the onion in slices of various sides and add it also in.
- Add any more seasoning you might want at this point.
- Now add, the olive oil, 5 spoons of vinegar, salt and pepper and mix them all together. You will notice that the pork will start to become more whitish because of the vinegar.Leave it on the fridge for 20 more minutes.
- After it marinates, take the meat and add it to our wooden sticks one by one until each one has around 5. (give and take..)
- Grill them, until they have a nice color and they are tender.
- Serve it together with pita bread that is already grilled.
- Add the tomatoes, tzatziki sauce and some chopped lettuce if you do wish.
Check here how to make tzatziki
Ok, to be honest you can change the order in the end but the result remains the same. Ideally in the end you eat it with your hands like a wrap. Hope you enjoy it!
If you do prefer i have embedded a nice video where you can make the same recipe but on a pan. Its a bit more heavy but faster.
