Food plays a large role in Greek culture, and Greek food plays a very large role in culinary tradition around the globe. In fact, Greek food is often cited as the prime example of Mediterranean cuisine. shares characteristics with the tastes of Italy and the Balkans, and makes heavy use of meat, cheese, bread and oil.
Cheese
If you've ever ordered a Greek salad, you've probably tasted the most popular of the Greek cheeses: feta. Feta is a medium-soft, crumbly cheese made from sheep or goat milk. Feta cheese is typically aged, and produced in blocks, and plays a large role in many Greek salads, sandwiches and main dishes.
Other Greek cheeses include Kasseri (a hard yellow cheese), Kefalotyri (a very salty cheese often served with pasta), Manouri (a soft white cheese often eaten on its own as an appetizer) and Mizithra (a soft, unsalted cheese used in pies and pastries).
Appetizers
Appetizers, or mezes, are commonly served before the main course in Greek cuisine. Many meals begin with pita bread and dip, including tzatziki, a yogurt and cucumber puree popular in the US. Other common mezes are cheese and olives, Greek salad, stuffed grape leaves, and spanakopita (spinach, feta cheese, and onions, among other things, stuffed into a phyllo-dough pastry).
Soups
In Greece, it's common to eat soup daily. One of the most famous Greek soups is fakes, a lentil soup. Fasolada, made with beans, carrots, celery, tomatoes and assorted seasonings is another popular soup in Greece, and is even sometimes referred to as Greece's national food. Other soups include trahana, made with fermented grain and yogurt, and revithia, made with chickpeas.
Meat
Many of Greece's most famous dishes involve some sort of meat. Gyros, which have become a fast American favorite in the past few years, are meat (typically lamb) roasted on a spit, served with sauce and veggies on a folded pita. Lamb and potatoes is another extremely common Greek dish, as is souvlaki, which comprises anything made and served on a skewer. Chicken, pork and lamb souvlaki are the most common types.
Dessert
Dessert may be the most famous of Greece's culinary contributions, and Baklava, in particular, may be the most well-known. This phyllo-dough pastry is filled with nuts and covered in sweet syrup, and has become an American favorite. Other Greek desserts include Loukoumi (a starch and sugar treat), Koulourakia (butter cookies) and plain yogurt, flavored with honey or syrup.
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