Epic Greek Food

It was a rainy day in Athens (yes, believe it or not … it happens!). So, we went on an odyssey through the city's streets and alleys with Alternative Athens tours sampling all the foods that make Greek cuisine epic …

Greece is in the middle of an economic crisis, but it doesn’t feel that way – in Athens the restaurants and bars are packed to the gunnels and not just with tourists. It’s the Greek way of responding to austerity explained our taxi driver, Michail. “If a Greek person only has 10 euros left, he’d rather go out and spend it in a coffee shop or restaurant than sit at home being miserable.” As Euripides said: “When a man’s stomach is full it makes no difference if he is rich or poor.”

In Greece, food is an important part of the culture, inextricably linked to family and celebration of life. Rooted in mythology, tradition and religion, the Greek diet is also healthy, associated with longevity, reduction of heart attacks, strokes, Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes, allergies, lack of birth defects and numerous other health benefits.

So, how do you eat like a Greek? Tanya Fiore, our guide from Alternative Athens Tours, met us in Thissio close to the centre of the city to show us how. A fluent English speaker having studied at Brighton University, she was young, enthusiastic, charming and … very wet! We huddled together under our umbrella (formerly known as the sunshade) and splashed off through the puddles.

First stop was on Agiou Filippou, where we sampled a vital part of Hellenic culture: Greek coffee.  The rustic taverna was one of a few of older establishments in Athens where the drink was still prepared and served in the traditional manner. Greek coffee is the same as Turkish coffee, though it’s not advisable to make that observation in Greece as the name was changed after the Turks invaded Cyprus back in 1974. It’s a brew of pure caffeine, so thick and sweet you could stand a spoon in it, and is considered the fundamental start to the day.  Made, as we witnessed, in a careful and loving manner, the freshly ground coffee beans are gently heated over coals in a long-handled, small copper pot called a briqi. The resulting brew, which comes in varying degrees of strength and sweetness, has a foamy top, and is best sipped very slowly.

It’s common to see the older men sitting outside cafes, playing board games and whiling away the morning with a Greek coffee. Apparently younger Greeks prefer the variety of espressos, cappuccinos, mochaccinos and (delicious) iced fredos on offer in trendy bars and urban coffee shops. Certainly, authentic Greek coffee is an acquired taste. After a silty demitasse of the stuff, my tongue was slightly furry - but on the plus side, I was wide awake. 

Tania told us there was a longstanding tradition amongst older folk to read the grounds left at the bottom of the cup and she could remember her own grandmother twisting the cup three times in a clockwise direction to glean what the future had in store.

For us, the future was a visit to the bakery in Pittaki, a once prosperous street become derelict, now re-vitalised with cool, urban graffiti and an eclectic array of lights, chandeliers and lanterns donated by the people of Athens, that dangled from overhead wires. Belying its hole-in-the-wall façade, the bakery provided freshly baked fare for most of the city’s restaurants and shops including the ubiquitous bread snack we had come to sample – Koulouria. Sold by food vendors everywhere, Koulouria is shaped in a ring. Its outside is covered in crunchy, toasted sesame seeds and the centre is soft and slightly chewy. As Tania explained, Kolouria’s importance as a snack is due to the Greeks’ rather idiosyncratic eating pattern. Because they eat so late, dining at 9pm or later, many people wake up still feeling full, hence on the way to work they may grab a Koulouria or pastry to tide them over till lunch at around 3 o’clock in the afternoon, after which they may have a

tapas-like snack or dessert, after which they start all over again. At lunch, they tend to eat things that are baked, such as moussaka or Stifado whereas in the evening, it’s more likely they will eat food that is prepared there and then.

We discovered that there is nothing Greeks like better than a pie or pastry (it’s a miracle how they remain so slim, maybe because they also eat a lot of fruit and drink copious amounts of water). Our next destination was the famed Meliortos, a contemporary bakery, café and dessert shop. Here, we sampled some of Greece’s most famous products

including the famous Tiropita or cheese pie made with three different types of cheese wrapped in filo pastry. We tasted an exquisite Elixir jasmine flavoured vinegar you could down by the spoonful; Taxini tahini paste made from toasted sesame seeds; local honey produced from species of thyme, and the Greek equivalent of Turkish delight (presumably also re-named). A new one on us was the Mastic, an aromatic resin found only on the island of Chios, used in Greek breads, desserts and, interestingly, to make chewing gum (which explains the origin of the word ‘masticate’). Top marks went to the velvety Pamako extra virgin olive

oil, the base of most Greek dishes.  Although Greece is the third largest producer of olive oil in the world, Greeks are not so good at marketing and exporting the product as European rivals, Italy and Spain. In current economic times, you can’t help thinking this is a shame. And if, like me, you’ve ever wondered if it’s worth paying more for the extra virgin version, listen up. Extra virgin oil is made without the use of any artificial processes, with the oil pressed from only the olive fruit itself. As it’s not treated with chemicals, it not only tastes better, it also retains more natural vitamins and minerals.

At Thessaloniki at Psiri, a bakery, come coffee shop, come bar in the heart of edgy Iroon Square, we discovered the queen of the Greek desserts - the 
Bougatsa, a filo pastry with a sweet cream custard centre. We watched in awe as a chef rolled out and tossed pastry around as if he was changing feather-light sheets on a bed. Coffee shops like Thessaloniki are relatively new, Tania told us, as for a man to pay money for cakes back in the day when the women’s place was in the kitchen, was tantamount to admitting his wife was a bad cook – probably the worst insult any lady (or husband) could get.  

We forged onwards, through more colourful streets, towards the famous food quarter of Athens, pausing at Miran, a charcuterie with a frontage festooned with dangling sausages and hams. Greeks love cured meats and cheeses and inside we found out why. A wooden platter of delights awaited with Armenian Soutzouki made of air-dried veal meat; Pastourma from veal or camel meat; strong-tasting bull meat products from the Kerkini region; dolmades and local cheese, all washed down with a cheek pulsating,  honey-flavoured raki.

A couple of doors further down the spice shop beckoned. Resembling an old apothecary, every spice and herb imaginable was stashed away in glass fronted drawers so the rich colours could be seen. Spiky chilli and garlic bulbs cascaded down walls. Dried herbs hung in bundles over the counter crammed with an assortment of bottles and packets. Herbs grow abundantly in Greece but the most loved is oregano, widely used in meat dishes, sauces, soups and salads. Thyme is another favourite for flavouring meats and honey. Spicy food is not so common,

although black pepper is used extensively.  However, paprika and saffron are popular and Allspice gives meats and desserts an exotic flavour. Cumin is also added to spicy meatballs called soutzoukakia whilst sweet cloves and cinnamon flavour many desserts.

Through the alleys of Varvakios, we proceeded to the central market known as the “belly of
Athens” the Dimitoki Agora. 

Bordered by Ahinas and Sofokleous Streets, the covered meat market surrounds the fish stalls with fruit and vegetables across the street. The atmosphere was chaotic and lively. Above the din, merchants called out their prices, voices echoing, meat cleavers chopping. Single traders from villages perched on boxes selling herbs or garlic amidst rows of stalls packed with cheeses, olives, spices and sweets. Meat counters displayed a horrific selection of animal parts: pigs’ feet, calf’s heads, brains and intestines, with carcases hanging above. In the fish market, vendors were selling all manner of seafood from the Aegean and Mediterranean, with others imported from as far as China, Portugal and North Africa. As the floor was awash with fishy substances, we congratulated ourselves on not wearing sandals. We tried the olives, so many different types, so plentiful. The black and burnished Kalamata, cracked ones from Peloponnese, rose pink olives like grapes, bright green Halkidikis, shrivelled varieties that resembled raisins, and nutty olives from the Island of Thassos recommended as an accompaniment to a glass of ouzo.

Most restaurants in Athens source ingredients daily from the Agora which explains why the food always tastes so fresh.  You can pick out your fish and have it cooked there and then in the basic restaurants in the market. These establishments are also famous for their soup made from the foot of a cow, popular with late night visitors as a reputed hangover cure, while the Patsa, a broth made from the intestines of a pig, is said to aid conditions of indigestion, bad blood or overindulgence. We took note for later.

Fruit is an important part of the Greek diet. At the end of a meal it is customary for restaurants to serve a complimentary plate of fresh orange, pears or grapes rather than a pudding (which is usually enjoyed at a separate time of the day). The end of the fruit and vegetable market led to the beginning of Athens’ China Town, and the Indian and Pakistani neighbourhoods of the city where The Royal Curry House on Omonia Square served a multi-cultural mix of dishes from Indian, Bangladesh, Pakistani, Chinese, Arabic and Thai cuisines. It was tempting but we had to stick to our remit of ‘eating like a Greek’.

As no food had passed our lips in at least 15 minutes, we stopped for an energy boost at
Krinos on Aiolou Street 87. Established in 1923, Krinos is the oldest shop of its kind in Athens and specialises in Loukoumades; a sweet pastry from fried dough, like a doughnut, served hot and crispy on the outside and fluffily doughy on the inside. Combined with cinnamon, honey, hot chocolate nuts or cheese, they were mouth-meltingly delicious.

In fact, they were so delicious that the grand finale of our trip was in danger of being overshadowed. At Plateaia Agias Eirinis in a place Tania said remained unchanged since she was a little girl, we ended our epic Greek food Odyssey. At Kostas, a ramshackle, father-and-son run kebab shop, hardly discernible under its camouflage of billboards and posters, people lined up to enter one at a time to order the best souvlakis in town. Greece’s favourite fast food, these souvlakis were as far removed from t he congealed British kebab of dubious provenance as a Bockwurst from a battered sausage. It was hard work forcing down the warm homemade pitta bread bulging with fresh tomatoes, oregano sprinkled salad and succulent grilled pork, smothered in Kostas’s special rich tomato sauce … but we did it!

Our fantastic tour was with Alternative Athens Tours. For further information visit www.alternativeathens.com