This is how you stock your Greek pantry
Diving into a new cuisine can be overwhelming. Recipes call for spices you don’t have at home, or combine ingredients in a different way than you’re used to. Once you’ve got the perfect pantry in order, you’ll be able to whip up those new recipes in no time. FavorFlav is happy to help you get started with the basic ingredients for each cuisine, this time focusing on Greece.
Greek cuisine is characterized by grilled meat and vegetable dishes, mildly spiced stews, flatbreads, crunchy salads and sugar-sweet pastries. If you stock up on these ingredients, you can recreate all of that at home in no time.
Olive oil
As in most southern cuisines, butter is hardly ever used for cooking in Greece. Olive oil, on the other hand, flows freely. It is even said that Greeks consume more olive oil per person than any other people in the world. In Crete, Lesbos and also in mountainous areas on the mainland, they produce their own olive oil, which generally has a fresh, grassy flavor.
Yogurt
Besides olive oil, they love dairy products such as yogurt. Greek yogurt is thicker than ‘regular’ yogurt. This is because, during the preparation process, the yogurt is left to drain, causing it to lose moisture and become more compact and fuller in flavor. It is the basis of one of Greece’s best-known sauces: tzatziki, but it is also widely used in pastries, ice cream and desserts, often combined with walnuts or pistachios and honey.
Herbs and spices
Greeks like to cook with mild herbs such as dill, mint and oregano. Fresh, but also often dried. Dried oregano, for example, is sprinkled over a simple salad with tomato, cucumber, onion, olives, feta and a drizzle of olive oil. Fresh dill and mint taste great in a refreshing watermelon salad with feta. When it comes to spices, they make extensive use of cinnamon, which means that savory dishes can sometimes taste slightly sweet as well.
Feta and halloumi
Soft white cheeses such as feta and halloumi, unlike our Dutch cheeses, are usually made not from cow’s milk but from goat’s or sheep’s milk. And while we add a few cubes of feta to a salad here, they often serve a generous slice of feta on top of crunchy vegetables there as a side dish. Halloumi originally comes from Cyprus. Because it doesn’t melt, it is perfect for frying and grilling. Halloumi burger, anyone? Greeks love it and often garnish it with a little honey and sesame seeds.
Eggplant, zucchini and spinach
Eggplants and zucchini are often fried, grilled or stewed in tomato sauce and served as a side dish. A well-known dish in which eggplant plays the leading role is moussaka: layers of eggplant, potato and ground meat covered with a creamy béchamel sauce. Spinach is often used in combination with feta and puff pastry, as in the savory pie spanakopita.
Orzo and pasticcio
Orzo looks a little like rice at first glance, but it is actually a type of pasta. These small grains are used in salads with fresh herbs and olives, but also in hot dishes such as youvetsi: a traditional stew made with beef or lamb. Besides orzo, there is another type of pasta they can’t get enough of: pasticcio (also known as pastitsio). This tube-shaped pasta looks a little like Italian penne and is used in the baked dish of the same name with ground meat and béchamel sauce.
Lamb and beef
Greeks love grilled meat, especially lamb and beef. On a skewer, as in popular street food dishes such as souvlaki or kofta, or in a pita wrap with gyros. They often serve the grilled meat with flatbread, tzatziki and a simple salad.
Read also:
