Spoon Sweets

Called “glyka tou koutaliou” in Greece, spoon sweets, the colorful preserves of fruits, nuts, and some vegetables put up in sugar syrup, are age-old hallmarks of Greek hospitality and deliciously versatile products with applications way beyond dessert in the international kitchen.

These preserves are made in every season: delicately threaded orange peels, bergamot, citron, lemon, and bitter oranges in winter; apricots, cherries, and immature nuts such as walnuts and pistachios in late spring and early summer; sour cherries, sweet cherries, watermelon rind, pumpkin, even tiny eggplants and whole tomatoes in summer and early fall. They match well with cheese and yogurt.

Bakery Products

The materials of the Greek land, such as mastic, fruits, almonds, the unique in taste and aroma thyme honey, local delicious dairy products, and particular aromatic herbs are the basis for a separate Greek gastronomic proposal.

Sweets and bakery products in Greece have always been interwoven with the joys and sorrows of the Greek family. This tradition holds till now. The morning coffee, the evening visits to homes, the so-called ‘veggeres’, official visits to homes, the feasts of Easter and Christmas, but also the hard times are all enriched by the unimaginable wealth of Greek gastronomy of pastries and bakery goods.

Keeping the love and passion of the past and using the best materials available today, we continue this excellent sweet tradition … like in the old days…

Filo Pastry

Filo Pastry is a paper-thin sheet of dough and it is one of the basic ingredients of Greek cuisine in baking. You can also find it by the names Fillo or Phylo.

Filo Pastry is very elastic and by folding it, rolling it or stacking it in different ways you can have different presentations of your recipe. Filo pastry is lighter and more healthy than puff pastry, since it contains no fat or margarine and for baking it Olive oil is usually used. During the years of the Ottoman Empire, Filo Pastry became well known throughout the Middle East and the Balkans and it is widely used in all local cuisines.

Typical Greek dishes with Filo Pastry are the famous Tiropita (Cheese Pie), Spanakopita (Spinach and cheese Pie) and Baklava (a desert with almonds, walnuts covered in light syrup). Filo Pastry was discovered by Haute Cuisine, because of its fine texture, excellent presentation and discrete flavor that accentuate the taste of the ingredients that fill it. For Filo pastry, the only boundary is the chef’s imagination.

Greek Cheese

Feta

Feta is arguably the best-known Greek food abroad. In 2004, the European Union granted Greek Feta a PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status and issued a decree, prohibiting European countries other than Greece to use the name Feta. In Europe, similar cheeses are called “brined white cheese. ” Within Greece, Feta can be made only in specific regions: Macedonia, Thrace, Thessaly, Central Mainland Greece, the Peloponnese, and Lesvos.

Greek Feta production abides by very specific rules that control the manufacture and the allowed percentage of goat’s milk in the cheese. Feta is made predominantly with sheep’s milk, although a small percentage of goat’s milk (up to 30%) can be added. Cow’s milk is never used in the production of true Feta. While texture varies from feta to feta, one telltale sign to help you discern the quality of the cheese is to press a little of it between your tongue and the roof of your mouth; if you get a grainy, almost floury feel on the palate, chances are the cheese has been made with milk solids. Real feta, whether sharp, mild, hard or soft, always has a creamy finish.

Greeks are very particular about their Feta. Some like it soft and moist and rather mild, others prefer it as hard and crumbly as you can make it. Others want the distinct flavor of the goat-hide. Still others like their Feta to be lemony sour.

Other Greek Cheeses

Anthotyro [an-THO-tee-ro]

The word literally means “blossom” cheese, after the way the curds “blossom” as they are stirred, the curds rise to the tops of the vats and open in a shape resembling blooms. The cheese is similar to ricotta, but lightly salted. It is eaten fresh with jam or honey, and often baked into sweet pastries, especially around Easter time.

Graviera [Gra-vee-AIR-a]

One of the best table cheeses in Greece produced in several areas. Graviera is generally a nutty, pale yellow cheese with a hard rind made either from sheep’s milk or from cow’s milk, depending on the region. Graviera, sweet, mellow, and nutty, is one of the most delicious Greek cheeses. Some of the best-known sheep’s milk gravieras come from Crete, Mytilene, Dodoni, Arta and Kalpaki. Crete is actually the most famous graviera-producing region, and here one of the unusual ways to serve the cheese is with honey and walnuts. Cow’s milk graviera, which is yellower and a little creamier, is made mostly in Tinos, Syros, Naxos, Corfu, Larissa, and Serres.

Kasseri [Ka-SE-ree]

Kasseri is the most popular table cheese after feta. It is a mild, yellow, spuncurd cheese made from either ewe’s or cow’s milk.

Kefalograviera [ke-fa-lo-gra-vee-AIR-a]

Another pale-yellow cheese with a hard rind and an abundance of small air holes. As its name indicates, in both flavor and texture it falls somewhere between Graviera and Kefalotyri. It can range rom sweet and mild to quite piquant. Kefalograviera is the cheese of choice for grilling and frying, but also as a table cheese.

Kefalotyri [ke-fa-lo-TEE-ree]

A very hard, light-yellow sheep’s or goat’s milk cheese with a sharp tangy flavor. The cheese is made mainly in Crete, as well as in Naxos, Cephalonia, Thessaly, and Epirus. It is a popular grating cheese.

Ladotyri [la-tho-TEE-ree]

Another unusual product, the name of which means “oil cheese.” The cheese, which is shaped like miniature barrels, is steeped in olive oil and aged for several months. Lesvos is the most famous place in Greece for ladotyri. The cheese is sharp, nutty and with a distinct, almost crunchy, texture. It’s excellent as a table cheese.

Manouri [ma-NOO-ree]

This is a creamy, buttery mild white cheese that is sold in log-shaped loaves. It is excellent as a dessert cheese, topped with honey, or with poached fruits, and complements the sweet wines of Greece exceptionally well.

Metsovone [me-tsoe-VOE-ne]

This is a rich, hard, smoked yellow cheese made in Metsovo, Epirus. It resembles smoked Provolone. Metsovone is made in large sausage- like loaves, usually from raw cow’s milk. It is delicious as a table cheese, but it is also delicious fried (saganaki), as the local tavernas serve it -with a sprinkling of paprika- and melted into cheese sauce.

Myzithra [mee-ZEE-thra]

The word dates to the 16th century, when it referred to a kneaded cheese. Myzithra is a feta byproduct. Traditionally the whey from feta is combined with some whole milk, and curdled for several days. The curds are collected, drained, lightly salted and pressed. Myzithra is sold either as a soft table cheese, or aged into rockhard balls and used as a grating cheese.

Greek Herbs

Greece has one of the richest floras in the world, especially in the field of aromatic herbs. Greek Herbs since ancient times were used as seasonings and medicines of traditional medicine.

Greek oregano is considered to be the best worldwide due to the climate and plant’s natural selection. Today, it is used mainly as a spice in food, salads, sauces since it gives them a unique scent and an exclusive taste. Aslo, it is essential to be used in marinating the meat since it adds fiber.

Mountain Tea exists since ancient times and is referred by all ancient naturalists. It is collected and dried in a purely natural way without any chemical procedures. It is very tasty and aromatic and can be consumed as a beverage, cold or warm with honey or plain. It presents many beneficial properties that are due to the anti-inflammatory, bacteriostatic and antioxidant action of its precious ingredients.

Greek Salep refers to the powder that comes from the bulbs of a kind of a wild orchid that thrives in the high regions of Greece. It is a warm drink that prevents colds and flu and is considered to be an excellent soothing beverage for the stomach and the general gastrointestinal system.

Greek Honey

The quality of Greek honey remains as stunning today as it has been throughout time. There is good reason: Greece’s countryside continues to yield an unrivaled variety of vegetation with the attendant of pollens.

Most of the plants from which Greek bees gather are wild, sun-baked until their flavors and tints maximize. In most other honey-producing countries, bees feed off cultivated monocultures. Greek honey also undergoes a minimum of processing, therefore retaining all the nutrients, flavor, and texture dictated by nature.

Honey takes its name from what bees feed off, hence thyme honey, blossom honey, pine honey, orange blossom honey, chestnut honey, etc. Beekeepers move their hives from place to place, slope to slope, field to field, in order to reap the rewards of the season and provide fodder for their hives.

In the incredibly rich and varied Greek flora, there are at least 120 different flowering plants and trees that provide fodder for Greek bees, and theoretically just as many different types of honey, but only a handful are commercially viable. Among them: dark, thick pine and fir honey, orange-blossom and flower-blossom honey, heather, and, of course, arguably the best known of all, thyme honey.

Thyme honey is unique to Greece although more than 60% of Greek honey comes from pine. Almost all Greek honey, around 80%, comes from bees that forage off wild, not cultivated, plants.

Greek Olive Oil

Greek Extra-Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

Nothing is more closely associated with Greek cooking than its delicious, excellent olive oil. Here are some basic facts about Greek olive oil:

• Most (more than 80%) Greek olive oil is extra virgin by nature.
• The country’s predominant oil olive is the small Coroneiki.
• Most groves are small and family owned, which means farmers tend to their trees, harvest their fruits, and extract their oil with great care.
• Greece is the third largest producer of olive oil in the Mediterranean and the first in consumption.

Olive Oil Regions and Flavour Profiles

Peloponnese General

Oil from the Peloponnese is made predominantly with the Coroneiki olive, which imparts a deeply herbaceous tone to oil.

Southern Peloponnese, Kalamata and the Mani: When made with pure Coroneiki olives these oils tend to be robust, with plenty of grassy tones, bitter almond skins and spicy pepper.

Messinia, also in the Peloponnese, produces olive oil that is typically made with a mixture of Coroneiki and two other varieties, the local Manaki and the Athinolia, which result in a lighter oil, with more citrus and nutty tones.

The Mani peninsula, further south, with its arid, rough terrain produces oil from the Coroneiki olive that is softer and gentler, but still with those characteristic herbaceous tones. This is a remote area which sticks to traditional methods and many of the oils are certified organic.

Laconia, over the Taigetos mountains, offers more first-class oils with three PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) regions and a more general PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) for the whole region. The Greeks themselves praise the sweeter oils of Lygourio and Kranidi, also PDO areas, in the eastern Peloponnese, where the Manaki olive is dominant. These oils offer subtle aromas of apples and citrus fruits with only a touch of bitterness and pepper.

Crete general

Crete leads the islands in production and international presence and accounts for a large portion of total Greek olive oil production. Coroneiki dominates here as it does on the mainland but there are some local varieties such as Tsounati in Chania, Throumbalia in Rethymnon and Hondrolia in Heraklion and the taste and flavors of the oils are quite varied.

Kolymvari

On the western side of the island, swept by the sweet sea breezes of the coastline which lies but a few kilometers away, Kolymvari produces some of the fruitiest olive oils on the island, with grassy, apple, and lettuce overtones and a peppery bite.

Sitia

Situated on the opposite, eastern side of Crete, Sitia’s oils have been award winners at international competitions time and again over the past decade. These oils, also produced with the Coroneiki variety, tend to have a peppery finish, and to be buttery and herbaceous on the palate. Most production is in co-operatives but there are also a number of smaller producers who press excellent oils.

Lesvos

An island in the northeastern Aegean with approximately 87,000 inhabitants, Lesvos is home to 11 million olive trees, or about 126 trees per inhabitant. Almost one third of the island’s entire land mass is planted with olive trees. The trees are generally of two local olive varieties, the Kolovi, which accounts for 65% of production, and the Adramytiani, which accounts for about 30%. Needless to say, Lesvos, after the Peloponnese and Crete, is Greece’s most important olive oil producing region. The oil produced here tends to be a lighter, almost golden color, and not the emerald green color typical of Cretan and Peloponnese oils; it is light on the palate, with a mildly herbaceous aroma.

Greek Olives

Kalamata & Other Greek Olives

Most consumers recognize Greek table olives either by their place names (Kalamata, Atalanti, Amfissa, Halkidiki, etc.) or by their curing and processing (cracked, split, salt-cured,brine-cured, etc.). While there are dozens of “different” kinds of olives, only three main varieties are commercially important as table olives. The confusion starts here—these few types of olives just happen to come in many sizes, and from many different parts of Greece, so that they all look different and are all called by different names. All olives change from green to black as they mature, and all are bitter and inedible unless cured. Depending on the variety and the curing method, some olives are processed unripe, or green, while others are left to mature and darken on the tree. Others still are purposely harvested late, when their skins are leathery and wrinkled. Following is a list and brief description of Greek table olives as they are most commonly called at the market.

Kalamata

The king of Greek table olives and one of the best-known olives in the world. Kalamata olives are shiny, brownish-black, tight-skinned with a characteristic “almond” shape. The Kalamata is the most highly prized black olive, and it is usually slit on two sides and preserved in vinegar and/or olive oil. Volos, Amfissa, Agrinio, Stylida, and Atalanti olives all belong to the Conservolia variety. This is the large, oval olive which accounts for more than 80% of all the table olive production in Greece. It starts off a rich dark green when it is unripe and changes into a whole spectrum of different colors as it matures: greenish-yellow, greenish red, mahogany, and finally, dark, bluish-black. Conservolia is the most versatile Greek olive, processed with equal success as both a green and black olive.

Tsakistes

These generally belong to the Megaritiki variety and colloquially are called tsakistes, or “cracked.” Tsakistes grow mainly in Attica. They are almost always cured as a green olive, often flavored with garlic and lemon wedges.

Wrinkled black olives

There are many different wrinkled olives in the Greek larder. The best known is the Throumba, closely associated with the island of Thassos in the northern Aegean. These are the wrinkled, reddish brown, meaty olives that are left to ripen on the tree and are salt-cured.Another excellent wrinkled Greek olive comes from Halkidiki.It is larger and meatier than the Thassos Throumba, with a thinner skin and brownish, not black, color.

Greek Pasta

There are, indeed, dozens, if not more, different traditional Greek pastas, and certainly dozens of ways to cook them. Some are truly unusual.

Most Greek pasta was made and dried at the end of the summer. Among the most common, and most widely available today, are the Greek hilopites. These are noodles that come in two basic shapes: small squares or thin, fettuccine-like strands.

Greek Peaches

From the 1950s onwards, peaches have been one of the agricultural main stays in the area, cultivated systematically in Northern Greece. Nectarines arrived later and gained commercial importance among growers from the 1970s onwards.

Most of the peaches grown commercially in Greece are yellow-fleshed, although there are a few white-fleshed varieties cultivated, too. Peaches for industrial use are suitable for canning purposes, for purees concentrate and aseptic production. These peaches are known as yellow cling and the varieties are: Katerina, Loadel, Andros (a37-A39) Evert.

The color is considered as yellowish to light orange. Canned peaches from Greece apply over 55% to the international canned peach business; and are well known for the fresh taste, flavor and the unique aroma that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. In order of commercial importance, the main table-fruit varieties cultivated in Greece are: Red Haven, Spring Crest, Spring Lady, June Gold, Flavour Crest, Maria Bianca, Sun Cloud, Sun Crest, May Crest, J. H. Hale, Fayette and Flaminia.

Other varieties, such as Early May Crest, Spring Belle, Royal Glory and O’ Henry are also cultivated. Peaches are the third most commercially important fruit export from Greece. The main variety exported is the Red Haven.

Greek Yogurt

Greek yogurt, called yiaourti, is thick and creamy, nothing like the runny commercial yogurts found in Western Europe and in the U.S. Yogurt has been a tradition in Greece, indeed throughout the Balkans, probably since the first itinerant shepherds tried to store milk in their goat skins only to find that the agitation and the heat had turned the milk into something else, sour, unusually refreshing, and delicious. Traditional Greek yogurt is made either with sheep’s milk or with goat’s milk, although today cow’s milk yogurt prevails in most supermarkets.

There is unstrained yogurt, which is somewhat like the plain yogurt known to Americans, only a bit smoother in texture; and there is the strained, or strangismeno, yogurt which has the consistency of American sour cream. It is available widely in Europe and the United States.

Roasted Red Peppers from Florina

These are long, fleshy, thin-skinned peppers from Florina and its northern Greek environs that are surprisingly mild when fresh, but change dramatically when grilled. Grilled or roasted, the famed red peppers of Florina, in Northern -Greece, impart a wonderful, sweet fragrance, one of the telltale signs of the rustic cooking of western Macedonia.

Their robust flavor, ruby red color and glossy sheen make them one of the most renowned local products. Greek food manufacturers now produce excellent quality grilled Florina peppers, put up either in brine or olive oil.