What
To Eat in Athens and How to Order it
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Fried
Kalamari
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Grilled
Octopus
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Horiatiki
Salad
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Lamb
Fricasse
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The Greeks love to eat. (Who doesn't?)
Many Americans have a fear of coming
to Greece because they are afraid of
the food. There's nothing to be afraid
of. It's not like Mexican. Nothing is
so spicy you can't eat it and the
seasonings they use are the very same
ones you have on the spice shelf in
your Kitchen. And unlike the crappy
oil that terrorizes the hearts of many
Americans, Olive oil is good for you
and will keep you alive long after
many of your friends have taken the
next step in their spiritual
evolution.
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 What usually happens when you walk into a restaurant is after finding a
table (almost always outdoors between
the months of May and October), you
will be permitted or encouraged to go
to the kitchen to see what they have
to offer. There will be a large steam
table full of pots with different
dishes in them. Pick out what looks
good and don't be afraid to ask your
cook, waiter or host
"
Tea ee
neh
aff-toe
?". You have just asked "What is
this?" Try to remember what it's
called until you get back to the table
or else you can tell the guy right
there
"Theh-low
aff-toe
." It will magically appear on your
table. They will also show you their
assortment of meats and fishes for
grilling. It's usually all pretty
fresh. Some of the fish may have been
frozen and the squid generally comes
from the Atlantic or Monterey
California in the summer months. If
you see fried squid on a tray don't
order it. You don't want anything
fried unless it is cooked to order
which is generally the case. If I am
beginning to intimidate you remember
that 90% of the people in restaurants
speak English. Greek food is not spicy. If you like spicy food and can't survive without it bring a bottle of your favorite hot sauce. |
List
of foods and
Descriptions
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Marouli
Salata
|
Ouzo
Mini and Octopus
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Lakerda
|
Filet
of.... I forget
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-
Sadziki
(sahd-
zee
-key): Yogurt, cucumber and garlic, and salt.
Great on fresh Greek bread.
-
Melitzana Salata
(mel-its-
zan
-na
sal-
ah
-ta): Eggplant salad. Like Babaganoush in the
middle east. Eaten on bread.
-
Tarama Salata
(tah-rah-
mah
sal-
ah
-tah): roe of carp. Greek caviar. Don't be
afraid to try it. It doesn't taste like you
expect. Eaten on bread.
-
Saganaki
(saga-
nah
-ki): fried cheese. Sometimes comes with
tomato sauce. I like it plain with
lemon.
-
Capari Salata (cap-ah-ri
sa-
lah
-tah): Caper salad. Sifnos specialty. Goes on
bread.
-
Tiro Salata (tee-row
sa-
lah
-tah): Cheese salad. Strong sometimes spicy.
Spread on bread
-
Olives
(ill-
yes
): a hundred different varieties. Don't say
you don't like olives until you have tried
them all. You may find one you can't live
without.
-
Casseri(keh-
seh
-ree) Soft cheese like
mozzerela.
-
Keftedes
(kef-
teh
-des): Deep-fried Meatballs. Other areas have
their own variety of keftedes. Sifnos has
Revithiakeftedes
(reh-veeth-ya-kef-
teh
-des), made from chickpeas. Santorini has
Domatokeftedes
(tho-mah-toh-kef-
teh
-des) made from Tomatoes. There are also
Tirokeftedes
(tee-row-kef-
teh
-des) made with cheese and psarokeftedes
(psah-row-kef-teh-des) made with fish. They
are all delicious.
-
Spanakopita
(span-ah-
koh
-pee-tah) Spinach pie
-
Tiropita
(tee-
row
-pee-ta): Cheese pie
-
Kreatopita
(kray-ah-
toh
-pee-tah): Meat pie
-
Choriatiki Salata (hoe-ree-ah-tee-key
sa-
lah
-tah): Village salad or what we in America
call a Greek Salad, except here you usually
don't get lettuce. It generally consists of
Tomatoes(tho-
mah
-tes),Cucumbers(an-
goo
-ree),
Onions(crem-
ee
-thya), Feta,
Oil(
la
-thee), vinigear
(
ksee
-dee) and
olives(ill-
yes
). Sometimes they leave off the feta so you
have to ask for it and they charge you extra.
When I order I ask for a hoe-ree-ah-tee-key
meh feh-tah, a village salad with feta, just
to avoid this. If you want it without any of
the above items just tell the waitor:
hoe-
ris
(without) and the name of the
item.
-
Lakanika
(la-
cah
-nee-kah): Cabbage salad.
-
Horta
(
hoar
-ta): Boiled greens. Very healthy and good
with lemon, oil and vinigear.
-
Vleeta
(
vlee
-tah): Cooked and served like horta but
different greens. Restaurants will have one or
the other.
-
Yigendes
(
yee
-gen-des): Big beans like lima beans served
either with oil and lemon or with tomatoe
sauce.
-
Fava(
fah
-vah): Dip or stew made from yellow split peas
that can be eaten with a spoon or with
bread.
-
Kolokithikia
Vrasta(koh-loh-kee-
thak
-ya
vras-
tah
): Boiled zuchinni seasoned with oil, lemon
and sometimes vinegar.
-
Patates Tiganites
(pa-
tah
-tes
tee-gah-nee-
tes
): fried potatoes. Greek french fries blows
MacDonalds away. It must be the
oil.
-
Patates to Fourno
(pa-
tah
-tes toh
for
-no): Oven roasted potatoes. My favorite
dish.
-
Briam(bree-
am
): roast vegetables. Usually contains
potatoes, onions, zucchini, eggplant, garlic
and tomatoes.
-
Rivithia
(reh-
vee
-thya): Chickpea stew. Araka
(ah-rah-
kah
): Peas. Cooked with onions and
tomatoes.
-
Stifado(stee-
fah
-doh): Stew made with lots of small onions,
tomatoes and either rabbit
(kou-
nell
-ee),
lamb(ar-
nee
), or
octopus(ock-toh-
poh
-thee).
-
Dolmades
(doh-
mah
-des): Grape-leaves stuffed with rice, onions
and sometimes ground beef.
-
Macaronia
(mak-ah-
ron
-ya): Spagetti as we call it. Served with
ground beef (meh
kee-
mah
) or tomatoe sauce
(
sal
-tsa). If you want to say without meat say
ho-ris kray-ahs.
-
Mousaka
(moo-sah-
kah
): Baked and similar eggplant parmegeon but
not as tomato saucy. Contains eggplant,
potatoes, onions, ground beef, oil, cinnamin,
and a flour, milk and butter
topping.
-
Pastitsio(pah-
sti
-tsyo): Like Lasagna but not as saucy. Layered
noodles, meat, tomato sauce and topping
similar to mousaka but denser.
-
Anginares
(ang-ee-
nar
-es): Artichokes in lemon and egg sauce with
potatoes.
Lamb (arn-nee)Dishes
-
Fricasse
(arn-
nee
free-cah-
seh
): Stew made with spinach, lemon, eggs and
oil.
-
Psito(psee-
toh
) Leg of lamb roasted with
potatoes.
-
Sti
Carbona(stee-
car
-bon-ah): charcoal grilled.
-
Pidakia
(pie-
dye
-kya): Ribs grilled.
Chicken
(Koh-
toh
-poo-loh)
-
Psito or To Fourno (toh
four
-no): Oven Roasted with potatoes or
roast.
-
Me Saltsa (meh
sal
-tsah): In red sauce.
-
Tis skaras(tis
ska
-ras): On the grill
-
Souvlas
(
sou
-vlas): Shishkabob
-
Stithos
(
stee
-thos): Breast
-
Podi
(
po
-thee): Leg
Grilled Meats
-
Brizoles
(bree-
zoh
-les):Steak
-
Khirini
(khe-ree-
nee
) Pork
-
Souvlakia
(sue-
vlak
-yah): Shish-cabob
-
Loukanika
(lou-
con
-ee-kah): sausage
-
Kokoretsi(ko-ko-
ret
-see): Entrails of lamb wrapped up and roasted
on a spit.
-
Kontosouvli
(konto-
sou
-vli): Big hunks of pork cooked on a
spit.
Fish
-
Astako
(as-tak-
ko
): Lobster. Mediteranean style no
claws
-
Garides
(ga-
ree
-des): Shrimp, usually large and
grilled
-
Xifia
(ksee-
fee
-ya): Swordfish. Grilled steaks or
souvlaki.
-
Barbounia(bar-
boon
-ya): Red Mullet. Expensive and delicious
grilled or fried.
-
Marides(mar-
ree
-des): Small deep-fried fish that can be eaten
whole, heads bones and all.
-
Gopes
(
go
-pes): Small tasty inexpensive fish served
fried or grilled.
-
Soupia(soup-
ya
): Cuttle fish. Served grilled or with a red
wine-sauce.
-
Midia
(
Me
-dia): Mussels, Steamed or in a wine
sauce.
-
Bakaliaro(bak-ah-
lar
-oh): Fried codfish served with garlic sauce
(skor-da-ya).
-
Galeos
(ga-
lay
-os), shark is also served this
way.
-
Octopodi
(ock-toh-
poh
-thee) Octopus. Delicious like filet-minion.
Can be served grilled (tis ska
-ras) or boiled
(
vrah
-stah). Excellent with ouzo by the
sea.
-
Kalamarikia
(kah-la-ma-
rike
-ya): Squid. Frozen is usually fried in small
pieces. Fresh is usually fried whole. Both
delicious with lemon.
-
Sardeles
(sar-
dell
-es): Sardines. Can be served fried, or from
the can with oil. In Lesvos a special treat is
pastes
(pas-
tess
) which means that the sardines were caught
that morning, salted on the boat and served
raw that night. With ouzo it can't be
beat.
-
Rega(
reh
-ga): smoked herring in olive oil. Usually an
appetizer.
-
Psarosoupa
(psar-
oh
-soup-ah): Fish soup. Potatoes, lemon and egg
base, can be ordered with or without
fish.
Misc.
-
Bread is
psoh-
me
.
-
Eggs are
av-
ga
.
-
Omelet is
Om-eh-
let
-ah. Try it with feta or the famous potato
omelets(pa-ta-to om-eh-let-ah).
-
Watermellon is
kar-
poo
-zee
-
Honeydew Melon is
peh-
pon
-ee
-
Apple is
me
-lo
-
Rice pudding is
ree-
zo
-gah-low
-
Yogurt is
ya-
oar
-ti
-
With fruit is me
fruit
-ta
-
With honey is me
meh
-lee
-
Wine is
Krah-
see
. Red is Koh
-kee-no. White is as
-pro. Kee-ma is homemade from the
barrel.
-
Patsa
(Pat-sa): Tripe soup. Good for
hangovers.
-
Glass is
po-
tee
-ree.
-
Caraffe is
ka-ra-
fa
-kee.
-
Bottle is
boo-
kal
-ee.
-
Water is
neh-
ro
.
-
Menu is
cat-
ah
-lo-go.
-
Check is
lo-ga-ree-as-
mo
.
-
Thank-you is
ef-ka-ree-
sto
.
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