Well, February 12 was my birthday and I had my dream vacation in Greece! The best vacation yet.
Grab a drink and lets talk about the delicious food I found on the streets in Athens!
Did you know that the majority of street Greek food is rich in aroma and flavors?
The Greek cuisine has an interesting mix that is characterized by the use of Mediterranean cuisine ingredients and the adoption of recipes and preparations from Turkish and Middle Eastern cuisine.
The fusion of flavors and dishes transforms it into one of the most interesting and tasty cuisines in the world to experience. But to if we had to describe Greek cuisine in three words they would be yogurt, feta cheese and olive oil.
Falafel
The most popular food on Greek streets is Falafel is an easy dish to prepare and easy to obtain ingredients. If you do not like cooking this meal is a great way to eat legumes, since this dish is made with chickpeas. Falafel is a term used in Arabic cuisine to refer to a kind of meatballs or croquettes made from chickpeas, which originated in the areas that make up the Indian sub-continent.
At present it is mostly consumed in India, the Middle East and Pakistan. It is a classic dish that is usually served with yogurt or tahini sauce, with pita bread (Arabic bread), stuffed with chickpea croquettes, chickpea puree with fresh vegetables and sesame seeds.
Moussaka
Moussaka (or musaca) is a very traditional Greek dish (also present in the countries of the Balkans and the Middle East) made from eggplants, minced meat of lamb, potatoes (optional), tomato and white sauce, then it is baked. It is a pretty blunt and tasty street food of Greek.
Souvlaki
Souvlaki is one of most popular Greek Street Food dishes. It is a skewer of meat seasoned with spices and vegetables that is cooked on the grill and usually placed inside pita bread along with salad and yogurt sauce. It is also possible to find it in some restaurants on the plate accompanied by fried potatoes or pilaf (rice). Souvlaki is a typical Greek recipe, marinated meat, which can be chicken, lamb or pork. It is usually marinated with lemon, wine and mint.
Koulouri
If you think of Greece and street food, most likely the first thing that comes to mind is Falafel. However, today I am going to tell you the perhaps most popular and oldest street food of Greek that exists: the Koulouri. It is ring-shaped bread covered with sesame seeds with a slightly sweet touch (thanks to the molasses with which it is bathed before covering it with sesame seeds and baking it).
It is never missing at breakfast but it is also the ideal mid-afternoon snack. This type of bread is currently popular not only in Greece, but in all countries whose territories were part of the Ottoman Empire.
Loukoumades
Loukoum in the singular and Loukoumádes in the plural are a kind of fried buns that are part of the list of the most popular or most typical street Greek food, although they are also widely consumed in other countries such as Turkey, where they are called Lokma. It consists of fried bread balls that are soaked in honey or syrup and it is customary to sprinkle them with cinnamon and sesame seeds. Traditionally, they are distributed at Turkish funerals and sold on street stalls during the festivities that take place outdoors.
Bougatsa
Bougatsa is currently one of the most popular of Greek cuisine. This delicious dessert is a cake originally from the Middle East, incorporated into food on Greek street through its long membership in the Ottoman Empire. In Greece it is made with phyllo dough, a variant that developed among the Sephardic Jews of Thessaloniki. It also has a salty version that changes the custard for cheese or minced meat.
Bougatsa is a typical cake of Greek cuisine, which is composed of several layers of phyllo pastry stuffed with custard, although in the beginning, when it spread from the Middle East it was filled with cheese.
Tiropita
The tiropita or tyropita is a very distinctive salty cake from Greece. It is made with delicate phyllo dough and a cheese and egg filling. This pasta is very typical of oriental cuisine, used in recipes such as baklava or börek. It is normally believed that its origin is Greek. However, there are some hypotheses that ensure that this type of pasta would be born in Sephardic cuisine, since this pasta was already used in Spain during the middle age until it was finally replaced by puff pastry.
The tiropita, also the most popular Greek street food is traditionally a cheesecake popular throughout Greece and can be consumed as an appetizer or as a snack at noon. This feta cheese meal has different shapes and sizes. When it is rolled into individual triangular portions it is when it is called Tiropita. The ingredients used in this recipe are several types of cheese (mainly feta cheese). Melted butter and olive oil are also used while preparing this delicious dish
Spanakopita
Spanakopita is a kind of street Greek food pie made with phyllo dough, spinach and feta cheese. You find it in most bakeries. It is a fairly simple preparation with a fairly cheap price, ideal to buy to take and eat in step.
Spanakopita is a very popular salty cake of Greek origin that reminds us vaguely of Arabic pastry. For the chefs of Greece it is a pita (this is how they consider this type of preparation in general to which the Baklavas also belong). It is prepared with phyllo, spinach and feta cheese, although it admits other ingredients.
Dried fruits
The Greeks eat them because they like them have always produced them in abundance. The great climatic differences between the different territories: islands, plains and mountains, make Greece have a great variety of nuts: nuts, almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios. Other nuts consumed in Greece are apricots, peaches and even white apple as a street food of Greek.
Chestnuts
Chestnuts can be found in all forests. From Macedonia, to the north of the Greek geography, to the mountains of Crete to the south of the map, and each new collection, is a perfect excuse to celebrate a party, in various parts of the country. The chestnut is so well known Greek street food that in October they make a festival in honor of it.
They are served in cakes, breads and even soups. In this country they serve in many ways so that all people who wish so enjoy this dish.
Conclusion
Greek food extends its culinary influence throughout Europe and beyond. It is known as one of the countries with the best cuisine in the world. With an ancient tradition, Greek cuisine has been greatly influenced by both Eastern and Western culture. Fresh vegetables, fish and shellfish play an important role in the dishes, especially due to their long coastline, while meat is