Hippocrates c. 460BC-377BC

The Greek diet is centred on fruit, vegetables, pulses and seafood. This is influenced by the Greek Orthodox faith where fasting occurs frequently. Meat and poultry is also consumed and includes chicken, duck, quail, lamb and goat. Snails are often eaten, especially in Crete.

Ingredients often used in Greek cookery include:

Avgotaracho & Tarama
Avgotaracho and Tarama are both considered Greek delicacies. Tarama is sea mullet fish roe and is used to make taramosalata. Avgotaracho is an orange-coloured roe of mullet, which is pressed, smoked and encased in beeswax. It has a caramelised salt-fish flavour. This is eaten as is and garnished with lemon juice or in Greek savoury dishes.

Capers & Caper Leaves
The Greeks love the capers and the leaves of the caper plant. We boil the leaves with other wild greens and dress with olive oil and lemon juice or we pickle them and serve them in salads. In late spring and early summer, it is not unusual to see capers beached all over the Greek islands, especially in gorgeous Santorini.

Filo Pastry
Filo are thin pastry sheets that are used to make sweet and savoury pies and sweets including baklava. This also comes in a shredded form and is called kataifi.

Fish Sauce
The ancient Greeks used to manufacture a liquid from fermented fish called “garos”. This was one of the main sauces in ancient times. It is believed that “garos” was created to avoid wasting fish. The Greeks then passed “garos” on to the Romans. Unfortunately, it doesn’t feature in as many Greek dishes today, but I still find opportunities to use it when I want to add a salty element to a marinade or dish.

Herbs and Spices
There are many unique herbs in Greece that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. They are essential in every dish to add an extra dimension to the taste and, of course, to delight the senses. Herbs in Greek cookery that will be familiar to you include oregano, basil, sage, mint, thyme, coriander, “throumbi” or savory and parsley.

Other spices used in Greek cuisine include, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, allspice, mahlepi, nutmeg and pepper. The most exotic and widely used is Saffron from the Kozani region in Greece. Of all the saffron I have tried I truly believe this is the best in the world. It has the most beautiful and vibrant deep red I have ever seen with pink tones, and the flavour is also much more pronounced.

Honey
Hippocrates, the father of medicine, emphasised the nutritional and pharmaceutical benefits of honey. The production of honey is a Greek tradition that dates back to antiquity. Greece has a variety of plants and flowers and therefore produces a range of different honey flavours.

In Rhodes there is wildflower and pine honey, in Psara and Crete thyme infused honey is popular, and so on. Other types of honey include oak toned, sage, savoury honey, nectar of fruit and citrus tree flavours. Honey is used in sweet and savoury dishes or simply drizzled over Greek yoghurt. Only your imagination limits its use.

Trahana
Trahana is also called Xinochondros. The word trahana can be traced to the ancient Greek words trakton or trakta, which it is believed are derived from tragos the word for the spelt grain.

Trahana was extremely popular with shepherds who needed food that was quick to prepare and easy to carry. Trahana could be boiled with plain water to produce a nourishing meal whilst they were away from home.

It is considered a primitive type of noodle and it is a dry granular grain product made with either wheat, semolina or bulgur and is mixed with either milk, yoghurt or buttermilk. There is a sweet and a sour version. It can be purchased in coarse lumps or in a smooth texture similar to semolina. Traditionally it is used in soups and added to stock however it can be used as a thickener in soups and can be used in similar ways to polenta.

Masticha
Mastic (mastic being the root of the verb to masticate), or “masticha” tree in Greek produces an almost clear crystal edible substance. It is a type of gum that grows in only one place in the world: the island of Chios.

Masticha is also used in the church for blessings. Legend has it that tears began to cry in sympathy when Romans tortured a Christian martyr and left him to die in a mastic grove. Herodotus, however, had noted its properties in 5th century BC, more than 7,000 years earlier.

In cooking masticha is used in savoury dishes, as well as to make sweets and ice cream. Masticha is one of my most favourite and treasured ingredients, and I use it in most of my dishes, because of its healing and therapeutic properties.

Nuts
Greek cuisine uses a wide variety of nuts, which add both flavour and texture to dishes. Nuts commonly used in Greek dishes include almonds, pine nuts, walnuts, pistachios, sunflower seeds, and hazelnuts. Nuts are most commonly used in Greek pastries and desserts, but they do also appear in savoury dishes.

Petimezi or Mousto
Petimezi or mousto are the Greek words for grape must syrup and grape must juice. In Greek antiquity, grape juice was of great importance as it was used as an alternative to honey when sweetening dishes. The ancient Greeks used several variations of sweet grape juice that was boiled down at different degrees, which meant the thickness and texture varied. The Romans witnessed this and followed suit with their own similar grape sweeteners. It is used in many dishes including the biscuits moustokoulourakia.

Vine Leaves
Vine or Grape leaves are used to wrap fillings up, such as the signature Greek dish dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves). You can purchase vine leaves in brine or dried and salted. The best way to have them is fresh off the vine. Look to see if one of your neighbours has a grape vine in their back yard, or better yet, plant your own. Remember to always pick the young and tender ones.

Vinegar
Greece has a variety of vinegars made from wine. These include white, red wine vinegar and barrel-aged balsamic vinegar. My favourite is the fig-sweetened balsamic vinegar from Kalamata. It has gorgeous and pronounced flavour tones of fresh figs.

Yoghurt
Thick, strained yoghurt is a must in Greek cooking. Greek yoghurts are made with either goat’s milk, sheep’s milk or cow's milk. Yoghurt is used in both savoury dishes and sweets and includes the famous Greek yoghurt cake drizzled with lemon syrup.

Cheese is considered a royal and divine gift from the gods, as legend has it that a demi-God, Aristaeus (the son of Apollo and King of Arcadia) invented cheese, which was heartily welcomed by the whole of Greece. The Greeks pioneered and advanced cheese making techniques from the basic to the modern sophisticated methods of today. There are hundreds of cheeses in Greece, and every island and region in Greece has its proud examples. Some of the common cheeses found locally in Australia are:

Feta - Feta is the most well known Greek cheese in the world. It is usually made from goat or sheep’s milk. The European Union's highest court recently ruled that feta cheese is a traditional Greek product that deserves protection throughout the 25-nation block. As a result, non-Greek European feta producers are no longer permitted to call their product "feta”, which will guarantee the quality and purity of feta for the rest of us.

Haloumi - This wonderful cheese originates from Cyprus. It is traditionally made from a mixture of goat and sheep's milk. It is often garnished with mint and is great when fried.

Kasseri - This creamy white/golden coloured cheese is made from sheep or goat’s milk. This cheese melts well and is great for grilling, grating or to accompany a fruit platter.

Kefalotiri - A hard and mildly salty cheese made of goat or sheep's milk. It can be used grated over pasta or in Greek pies.

Kefalograviera - Is made of sheep and cow's milk and has a mild nutty flavour with salty tones throughout. You can use this the same way as you would Kefalotiri. In Crete at weddings they drizzle it (or graviera cheese) with honey and offer it to their guests.

Mizithra - In Greece it comes in many forms and tastes from sweet to sour or salty. It has a soft ricotta-like texture, or can come in a harder form. In Australia we have the hard form made from sheep’s milk. It’s great grated over pasta, on its own or in pies.

Other favourites of mine include manouri, anthotiro, galotiri, ladotiri, kopanisti, metsovone, mastello, graviera, xynotiro, and sfela to name a few. You will need to travel to Greece to try many of these, but I can think of worse reasons to travel!

Delicatessen - cured meats & sausages
The Greek delicatessen is so diverse and encompasses so many different varieties of sausages called “loukanika” in Greek that I would need a series of three books to cover all of the products!

Each region and island of Greece has its own smoked sausage and cured meats such as beef, pork and lamb. Each item is focussed on the local produce and regional traditions. For example, in Kalamata the smoked sausages are made with ingredients including pork, orange zest, and juice.

Before refrigeration was common the preservation of food, especially meat, was critical. The ingenuity and creative thinking of the Greeks led to a wide range of signature-cured meats across regions.

A cured beef that you can purchase here in Australia is Pastourma. It is a pungent, spicy, cured beef and is usually rubbed with lots of ingredients including cumin and fenugreek.

Even though pastourma is thought to be a delicatessen of oriental cuisine, it is produced in many regions in Greece that are closer to Turkey, including Thrace and North-East Aegean. Other cured meats include apaki from Crete, loutza from the Cyclades, siglino from Mani and pasto from Kalamata. Many of these unfortunately are only available in Greece.

The olive tree is a symbol of knowledge, wisdom, abundance, peace, strength, beauty and health and its produce is essential in Greek cuisine. It is telling that at the first Olympic Games in 776BC an olive tree branch was awarded to the winners, symbolising the armistice of any hostility and as a paean to peace.

Legend has it that the wise Goddess Minerva gave birth to an olive branch and since then its foliage has not only adorned the brows of the goddess, but also crowned victory or given rise to sweet hopes of peace. The deadly arrows of Hercules were said to be made of olive wood. The cultivation of the olive tree was widespread throughout Greece and a host of poets sang in honour of it. The Romans were not acquainted with it until later; even in the year 249BC, they possessed very few olive trees.

Greek olives, and olive oil, are considered among the best in the world. Olive oil is the basis of the Greek diet and cuisine and is extremely healthy for you. Medical research has proven that it is one of the reasons why the people of Crete live longer than international averages. There are many varieties of olives, including the famous Kalamata olives. Most regions of Greece produce award winning olive oil. Greek olive oil is so good that some Italian producers purchase it from Greece, re-label it and sell it as Italian.

It is also important to be aware that there have been reports of Italian counterfeit extra virgin olive oil destined for export. The oil is made from soya beans or sunflower seeds mixed with beta carotene and industrial chlorophyll. The country's consumer organisation says people buying Italian produce "will have the same doubts as when they buy Chinese products." (Guardian News & Media) (Sydney Morning Herald, Good Living, 28 April 2008). A good reason to buy Greek olive oil instead!

Drinking wine and spirits is an integral part of the Greek culture and tradition. It is a mark of respect, and a passion for food, hospitality and sharing to offer wine and spirits to guests. Hippocrates recommended that we drink pure wine, and to drink enough for joy, to dissipate our grief, and rock us in sweet errors of hope.

According to legend, the god Dionysus introduced winemaking to Greece - where wine processing was born and winemaking has been a tradition since ancient times. There were huge festivals in Athens called Dionysia, and a three-day feast each year in the spring to celebrate the broaching of new wine. These festivals have been traced back to before 1000BC and continue to this day.

According to the Hellenic Republic Embassy of Greece and findings published in the "Antiquity" journal the ancient Greeks loved grape juice and were  making wine nearly 6,500 years ago. Valamoti and her team excavated four homes at a Neolithic site called Dikili Tashcharred and found 2,460 grape seeds and 300 empty grape skins. 

Wine is frequently used in Greek cookery and the country has a diverse variety of wines including red, white, rose, sweet and dry. There are beautiful wines of Naousa and Santorini, the sweet red wine Mavrodafni from Patra and Vinsanto from Santorini, Commandaria from Cyprus and too many more to mention.

Spirits also have a role in Greek cuisine and are used to flavour both savoury and sweet dishes. These include the classic ouzo, tsipouro, tsikoudia, zivania, the sweet tsikoudia, and cinnamon and clove, rose petal and lemon flower liqueurs. In Greece, different regions make different types of spirits, such as the magnificent Rhodesian coffee ouzo.

Ouzo is readily available in Australia. Ouzo is made from distilled residue of grapes, with anise and herbal flavouring added during production. The drink turns cloudy when water is added, with about 40 percent or more alcohol by volume. Tsipouro and tsikoudia are considered variants of ouzo, produced by a similar process but often without anise flavouring. Zivania is also made from grape residue but is typically stronger than its Greek equivalents.

The European Union recently backed Greece's request to continue trade protection of the ouzo, tsipouro, tsikoudia and zivania (made on the island of Cyprus) as exclusively Greek.