Greek Food

There is much, much more to Greek cuisine than the well-known Greek salad. Greek food has a fascinating and delicious history that makes a large use of vegetables, olive oil, cheese, herbs wine, honey, filo pastry, various meats, fish, and much more. While many of the country’s regions and islands are isolated – causing inhabitants to eat what’s nearby – many dishes have become very widespread and exemplify Greek cuisine. Regional variations on dishes are also a large source of local identity. Additionally, Greek food has been heavily influenced not only by Greece’s own history and geography, but by the Ottoman Empire, resulting in arguments regarding the origin of various dishes. From modern day fast food such as the gyro, to popular meze
dishes such as spanakopita, and delicacies primarily eaten on special events such as Baklava, Greek food has undergone much development throughout history, though its origins are often debated. Whether walking along the streets of Greece or New York City, it’s not difficult to find gyros. This Greek dish is typically made of meat, tomato, onion, and tzatziki sauce, and is served in a flatbread such as pita. In Greece, pork, chicken, and lamb are most often used for gyro meat, but in America, beef and veal are more common. This fast food go-to is believed to be derived from the doner kebab, a Turkish dish invented in the 1800s. In a doner kebab, meat slices are stacked on a vertical rotisserie and cut as they cook – the same technique used in the making of gyros. The doner kebab came to Athens after World War II, when immigrants were coming to the country from Anatolia and the Middle East. The Greek made the dish their own by using slices of pork for the meat instead of a minced loaf and serving the disk with tzatziki sauce. Gyros became mass produced in the late 20th century after spreading to America. During this time, gyros went from being made one at a time in kitchens with family recipes to being produced at a large scale in manufacturing plants in Chicago thanks to rotisseries. The inclusion of meat in various Green cuisine, such as the gyro, is also a more recent development. In ancient Greece, meat was not eaten commonly, as eating a domesticated animal was often seen as barbaric. Sometimes meat would be sacrificed to the gods, and then eaten. Additionally, meat was very expensive, as Greece doesn’t have much pasture land proper for livestock. Fish was eaten much more often, largely due to Greece’s proximity to the ocean. However, as worship of the Greek gods declined and technology has made meat more available, meat, such as the pork used in a gyro, has become more common. Spanakopita, or spinach pie, is a common meze (appetizer) in Greece. The filling of this pastry typically includes spinach, feta cheese, onions, egg, and various seasonings. This filling is layered in phyllo pastry that is brushed with olive oil. There is also a vegan version of Spanakopita commonly eaten during religious fasts such as the Great Lent, which doesn’t include eggs or cheese. Spanakopita is often made in a large pan, from which rectangular servings are cut, or formed into triangles. Spanakopita is believed to come from Turkish cuisine, coming to Greece during Turkish occupation. After all, it is very similar to the Turkish dish called ispanaki borek. Ispanki borek is very similar to spanakopita both in ingredients and preparation, as it also uses phyllo dough, spinach, feta cheese, and olive oil. Greek spanakopita, however, uses onions whereas ispanaki borek uses shallots. Spanakopita’s use of feta, a white and salty Greek cheese, is just one example of the widespread use of cheese in Greece.
Greek scriptures suggest cheese dates back roughly 8000 years, with a mention in Homer’s “Odyssey” when Odysseus and his men come across it upon entering the cave of Cyclops Polyphemus. In the myth, Polyphemus made the cheese by accident, after realizing that milk he was transporting had taken a solid form. Today, feta cheese remains a staple in Greek cuisine, used commonly as an ingredient or a meze. It’s also exported on a large scale all over the world. Like many other Greek foods, spanakopita can be served with wine, which is very significant in Greek culinary history. Wine was considered a gift from the gods in ancient Greece, with wine festivals being held to honor Dionysus, the god of wine. Wine cultivation was passed down through generations and continues today to accompany many
meals. Spanakopita isn’t the only pastry that layers a filling with olive oil brushed phyllo dough. Baklava, a desert found all throughout Greece, uses these same ingredients. However, instead of a spinach filling, its layers contain a mixture of nuts: almonds, walnuts, and/or pistachios. After baking, it’s soaked in a syrup made from honey, lemon, and cinnamon. Despite its modern prominence in Greece, the origins of Baklava are heavily debated. It can’t definitively be said what country has the right to call Baklava their own because throughout history, the dish has developed as it’s been influenced by the many people in the various regions it has spread to. Besides the Greeks, many Turks and Armenians both claim baklava as their own.
The Turkic nomad’s practice of using portable griddles to make thinly layered bread suggest they have a strong claim to baklava, as this is similar to the layering of phyllo dough. Other historians point out that the word “baklava” suggests Armenian influence because of its closeness to the Armenians words “bakh” and “halvah”, which mean Lent and sweet respectively. However, one of the most prevailing theories is that baklava dates back to the Assyrians of the 8th century (BC), because they layered flat bread with chopped nuts between it, covered it in honey, then baked it in a wood burning oven, which is very similar to modern
baklava. In antiquity, Greek seamen and merchants commonly visited Mesopotamia, and it is here that they likely discovered Baklava and brought it back to Greece. This is where the Greek claim for the credit for baklava comes in, as the Greek made a major improvement to the pastry. They mastered how to roll dough extremely thin and applied this technique to the making of baklava, which stands in contrast to the rough, bread like texture of the Assyrian dough that was previously used. This thin dough is the same as is used in spanakopita. It’s called phyllo dough because phyllo is Greek for leaf, which references the extremely thin nature of the dough.
Even after reaching Greece, Baklava continued to spread, further changing as it did so. For example, Arabs added rosewater and cardamom, and the Armenians used cloves and cinnamon. However, all these variations came together with the rise of the Ottoman Empire in the 14th century, as many of these distinct cultural styles of making baklava were now under the Ottomans. Chefs that were previously from different regions now worked together in the kitchens of Constantinople, and it is believed that this is where baklava was perfected. After the Ottoman Empire fell, baklava continued to spread across Europe and to other parts of the globe, such as America.
It is important to note that baklava was not a food for the common people, as it is traditionally only baked on special occasions and is often considered a food for the rich. This is because it contains expensive ingredients and requires a lot of time to make. Additionally, ingredients in baklava such as honey and cinnamon have given it aphrodisiac qualities, making it not something to be eaten for a typical everyday snack. While baklava isn’t just for the wealthy today, it is still commonly served at special events. It’s often found at religious ceremonies in Greece, such as weddings, Christmas, Ramadan, and Rosh Hashannah. On Easter, baklava is sometimes made with 40 sheets of phyllo dough to represent the 40 days of the Great Lent.
The various cultural influences on baklava have caused the pastry to have many variations both globally and within Greece itself. In America, the phyllo dough used in baklava is often brushed with melted butter, whereas in Greece olive oil is used instead. This is because in Greece, butter is expensive, whereas olive oil is plentiful. Additionally, in modern times, premade phyllo can be found in the grocery store. However, it was traditionally rolled by hand with a rolling pin. In some regions of Greece, such as Evros, hot olive oil is poured over the baklava before its baked, where as in other areas it’s brushed on. Other variations in baklava throughout Greece are also seen in the different nut combinations used for the filling. For example, on the island of Aegina, pistachios are often used because they grow abundantly there.
Because baklava has changed so drastically as it spread, it can’t be credited to a single country, as it is the result not of a single ethnic group but rather the accumulation of the impact of various cultures. Through the Assyrians arguably have the strongest claim for being the first to layer nuts with flat bread and honey, this doesn’t tell the whole story because of the profound impact the Greeks, Turks, Armenians, and others all had on the pastry. Despite debate over where dishes such as baklava originated, food is something that brings families together in Greece. Eating together is heavily valued in Greece, and the different regional variations on dishes such as baklava have helped to create strong local identities. Greece’s economy may be a mess, but hey, at least they have good food.