Greek Food

Ice cream and chocolate

Carrot and cabbage salad

Cheese staganaki (fried cheese)

Moussaka, grilled vegetables, and lima beans

Gyros

Greek food is amazing and deserves its own entry. In all of Europe, I think Spanish food might still be my favorite, but Greek food is a close second. Unlike Spanish food, Greek food has a lot of options for vegetarians. My biggest and greatest discovery in Athens was Moussaka, which looks like lasagna but is made with a layer of potatoes, eggplant, minced beef, and what I think is mashed potatoes and cheese blended together. It was amazing. The first night in Greece, I had Moussaka and a Greek salad. The produce here is so fresh, as is the cheese. I have never been a huge fan of salads, but Greek salads are so fresh, and drenched with aromatic olive oil. I also had a lamb gyro. The tsatziki sauce is nothing like tsatziki sauce in the states. In Greece, the sauce is so fresh that you can taste the individual components—the tartness of the yogurt, the spiciness of raw garlic, and the refreshing cucumber together makes it difficult to dislike anything that is smothered in tsatziki. The pita bread is often sprinkled with sesame seeds, and is warm, chewy, and delicious on its own, let alone wrapped around meat, tomatoes, and lettuce (that is slathered with tsatziki and spices).

I’ve always thought that baklava is too sweet, but I liked it here. I walked into a baklava store that sold types of baklava like gourmet chocolate stores would sell truffles—they are lined in trays behind a glass counter, with flavors like walnut, pistaccio, caramel, milk chocolate, vanilla…with different shapes and garnishing. I only had a pistaccio one, and I do regret not trying more before I left.

During my second day in Greece, I had grilled lamb for lunch, which was also amazingly tender. Arielle ordered greek yogurt with honey, which I like much more than normal yogurt. It is much creamier and a bit more sour. That night, we walked down a small alley and up a bunch of stairs with tavernas. Two neighboring restaurant owners got into a fight over us. The first one claimed to be the oldest tavern in Athens. His neighbor claimed the same thing, and insisted that “everything my neighbor says is a lie.” We ended up going to the one that was very slightly cheaper (by 50 cents) and had a fixed menu. Fixed menus in Greece, like those in Spain, are such a good deal. Usually they come with a salad, main course, and dessert (or multiple courses). We had fried calamari (which I always like), stuffed grape leaves (I’m not a fan, too sour), fried cheese (also just ok), and Greek salad (very good).

For brunch the next day, I had spinach pie, which was also delicious. Coffee in Athens is also very good, with my new discovery being cappuccino freddo, which is iced cappuccino. I tried Greek coffee, which is very grainy and bitter, and not to my liking. I had moussaka again that evening, and resolved to find a recipe for it at home.

Since I heard, from multiple sources, that the best gyros are in Monistiraki, I went there. I had a pork gyro, and then kebabs, which are made from a mix of beef and lamb. The kebabs, along with a cabbage and carrot salad, were spectacular and cheap. These gyros to go are around 2 euros. I love watching them slice the meat from the huge, rotating spit (is it called a spit?). That night, I tried lima beans in sauce (which was very good), and walnut pie, which was just ok. Before dinner however, I went to an amazing chocolate/ice cream café. There, we got ice cream in the middle of thick chocolate that was kind of like a pudding. It was sprinkled with toffee, candy stars, and covered with caramel. To be honest, it was not as amazing as it looked, but the café had a very impressive menu. On my last day in Greece, I had moussaka again, and a giant heart shaped donut that was both covered with and filled with chocolate. Basically, the highlight of my Athens trip was the food (with moussaka and gyros in the lead).

On a side note, Swiss air is great—the food is delicious, and does not seem to have a lot of preservatives based on the ingredients; everything tastes really fresh.