The best Greek culinary specialties

What to eat absolutely in Greece

Breakfast and sweets

Salty, Sweet and Brunch

must#1 the Bougatsa: focaccia filled with meat or spinach or cheese or dessert with cream. It is found in specialized bakeries (usually open in the morning until 3 pm), the best and most famous is Bougatsa Iannis which is located near the White Tower and is also open at night.

must#2 theTrigona Panoramatos: triangular puff pastry filled with cream. A bomb of happiness that drives away the diet in a second!! Being a specialty of Thessaloniki, the best ones can be eaten at Trigona Elenidi between the White Tower and the Rotunda, but they are also very frequent in the Chalkidiki Peninsula.

Koulouri: typical for breakfast is bread with sesame seeds, it is often found in an elongated shape and stuffed with creamy cheese.

Crepes (which here are called pleasantly Crepa κρέπα) and brunches are very trendy in the city and among the best places we tried are Ergon Agora and Donkey Garden.

Among the other typical desserts there are the famous: baklava, kataifi, galaktoboureko (semolina cake) and chocolates with various fillings such as wafers and dried fruit which are usually wrapped with designed foil.

During Christmas, there are delicious honey biscuits called melomakarono.

At lunch and dinner: the dishes to try absolutely

Appetizers, Cheeses, Pasta and Vegetables

Bougiourdi (Μπουγιουρντι): the feta is melted together with another cheese in an earthenware bowl, usually there are also sliced tomatoes and green peppers.

Tzatziki: the famous yoghurt and cucumber sauce to eat with pita bread or with fried courgettes which are always on the menu in Thessaloniki.

Smoked eggplant: under the coals it becomes very soft, it is cut in half and seasoned with garlic, oil, tomato or cherry tomatoes and feta cheese.

Feta (ΦΕΤΑ) fried and covered with honey and sesame

Zucchini balls in batter

Talagani (Ταλαγάνι): it is a good grilled cheese served with tomato jam.

Salads: in Thessaloniki, you will find the famous Greek salad in every tavern but also many other types of delicious and creative salads.

Dakos (Ντάκος): is a specialty of Crete that is commonly found on menus, probably by great-grandfathers of our Frisell, it is a dry round bread seasoned with oil, cherry tomatoes and feta.

Dolmadakia or dolmades (Ντολμαδάκια): they are vine leaf rolls stuffed with rice.

Orzotto, risotto, and pasta in Thessaloniki are incredibly good and tasty.

Perek: a large puff pastry pie filled with cheese that is hard to find in the city. We always go to eat it at the Greek flavor tavern in Mesimeri because it is very good there.

In addition, there are many Cretan taverns where you can eat the delicious potatoes with staka (a buttery and cheesy cream) and the sfikianopita, which is a small pastry similar to crepes filled with cheese and covered with honey.

Meats

Grilled meat is the queen of Greek dishes.

Pita Gyros: pita (bread) with pork, chicken, mutton or any type of meat underneath, along with lettuce, tomato, tzatziki or other sauces

must# Souvlaki (Σουβλάκι): pork or chicken skewers

Panseta (Πανσέτα): grilled or baked bacon slices

Loukaniko (Λουκάνικο): sausages different from the Italian ones with different herbs or spices inside

Soutzoukakia (Σουτζουκάκια): meatballs, usually grilled but also with gravy

Bifteki (βιφτέκι): grilled burgers

Kreatopita: pies of various kinds with meat and vegetables

Fish

Thessaloniki is a sea and port area where every day the fishermen bring fresh fish to the tables, to the restaurants and to the market. Just ask what the fish of the day is and the cost per kilo.

Octopus (Χταπόδι) grilled or marinated which is usually served as one or two long tentacles

Calamaro (καλαμάρι kalamari) fried or grilled

Grilled sardines (σαρδέλες sardeles) and marinated anchovies (Γαύρος μαρινάτος)

#must fish and mussels in Saganaki, which is a sauce made of oil, lemon and feta and sometimes tomato. The prawns (γαρίδα garida) which are our prawns in size are exquisite in saganaki and usually have tomato sauce or cherry tomatoes.

Wine, Beer, Retsina, Tsipouro, Ouzo, Mastiha

Among the retsina wines (although the Greeks consider it as our tavernello), white or red wine; among the quality DOP red wines there is the Xinomavro of Naoussa.

Among the light and refreshing beers are Mithos, Alpha and Nymfi.

Tsipouro (brandy with or without aniseed), ouzo and raki (from Crete) are half-brothers and are usually used as a meal; in fact, there are Ouzeries where you just need to order ouzo or tsipouro to drink to receive complimentary small plates of food.

Our favorite is rakomelo: raki with melted honey that is drunk hot in winter but is also good cold.

Among the after-meal liqueurs, the best is the Mastiha, a sweet liqueur that leaves a good taste in the mouth and helps to digest; this is flavored with the resin of the mastic tree, which is produced only on the island of Chios in Greece.

After dinner, cocktails can be expensive and spritzers are very common to find.