Greek Recipes
The history of (and recipes for) moussaka, tzatziki, and dolmades
Hello again, and welcome to the latest newsletter. It’s got a foodie theme this week, and not for the first time. Or the last, we’re sure. Food is always one of the big pleasures of visiting Greece.
We’ve put three new pages up on the website this week, as we felt the Food and Drink section needed more content. And we always like writing about food and drink. Initially we were just going to put some recipes for a few popular Greek dishes up there, but then we found the history of the dishes to be really interesting, so we’ve added that in too.
We were surprised to find how far back some of these common dishes go, dishes that you take for granted and see on every Greek menu.
Moussaka
Take moussaka, for example. It’s thought that it originated in the Middle East and came to Greece via Turkey. It was only under the Ottoman Empire that aubergines (eggplants) and tomatoes were introduced to Greek cuisine. You can read more and find a downloadable recipe here.
Tzatziki
Tzatziki had an even longer journey, coming from India to Persia and then to Greece. The name itself is a Greek version of a Turkish word, and you can read about that and get a downloadable recipe here.
Dolmades
Dolmades, or stuffed vine leaves, is another dish that we now think of as quintessentially Greek but that too originated in the Middle East. They were especially popular in Persia, and spread throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean. Read about it here.
If you have any foodie friends, do share this newsletter with them. There will definitely be more about Greek food in the future. We’ve been trying recipes from a book we reviewed some time ago, and we highly recommend it: Ikaria.
Till next time - Kali Oreksi!
Mike and Donna