What Is All This Stuff?
Welcome to Katies' Greek Food dictionary! We get a lot of questions about our Greek dishes. Here is a handy reference of the most common Greek food items.
- Arni:
- Lamb. A Greek delicacy!
- Avgolemono:
- An egg and lemon mixtures used as a sauce or a soup base.
- Baklava:
- the most famous Greek dessert, made of layers of fila pastry, chopped nuts, and a honey-flavored syrup
- Bourekakia:
- fila puffs made with various fillings
- Dolmades:
- grapevine leaves stuffed with rice or meat
- Feta:
- the classic white goat cheese of Greece
- Fila, filo, or phyllo:
- the paper-thin pastry dough essential for appetizers, entrees, and desserts.
- Gouvetsi:
- the Greek word for casserole, or baked in the oven
- Garides:
- shrimp
- Kafes:
- coffee
- Kalamaria:
- squid
- Kalamata:
- probably the most famous Greek olive
- Kasseri:
- creamy farm cheese with a bitey flavor
- Kefalotiri:
- a hard, salty cheese, good for grating
- Kourabiedes:
- butter cookies topped with powdered sugar
- Mezethes:
- small savory appetizers
- Moussaka:
- a layered casserole usualy made with eggplant and chopped meat, and topped with a custard sauce
- Orzo:
- tiny melon seed-shaped pasta
- Ouzo:
- a colorless alcoholic drink flavored with anise.
- Pastitsio:
- a layered casserole of macaroni and chopped meat topped with a custard sauce
- Pilafi:
- rice boiled in broth and flavored with onion and spices
- Psari:
- fish
- Retsina:
- white or rose wine flavored with pine resin
- Rigani:
- oregano, an indispensable herb used in countless dishes
- Skordalia:
- garlic sauce
- Souvlakia:
- skewered food
- Spanakopeta;
- spinach fila pastries
- Tahini:
- crushed sesame seed paste
- Tarama:
- fish roe from gtray mullet
- Taramosalata:
- fish roe spread
- Tiropita:
- fila stuffed with Greek cheese
- Tsatziki:
- cucumber yogurt dip
Tyria (Greek Cheeses)
- Haloumi:
- A semisoft cheese, not very salty; usually made from sheep's milk
- Kefalograviera:
- a mild Gruyère-type cheese; made from either sheep's or cow's milk
- Manouri:
- a soft unsalted cheese; made from sheep's or goat's milk whey; served with fruit
- Mizithra:
- soft and hard varieties; made from sheep's or goat's milk whey
Greek Olives
- Amfissa:
- black and round with a nutty-sweet taste; from the central mainland of Greece
- Green:
- large and crunchy with a mild flavor; from various Ionian islands
- Cracked green:
- made by cracking unripe green olives, placing them in water for several weeks to remove their bitterness, then storing them in brine
- Black:
- small, wrinkled, dry-cured olives with a very strong flavor; from the island of Thassos
Glykismata (Desserts)
- Karidopeta:
- Single-layer, dark, moist nut cake (made with coarsely chopped walnuts or almonds) topped with a light honey/sugar syrup
- Pasta Flora:
- a lattice-topped tart filled with apricot purée
- Ravani:
- Golden yellow cake made with farina or semolina and topped with a light sugar/honey or orange-flavored syrup
- Fenikia or Melomakarouna:
- Oblong, honey-dipped cookies covered with chopped nuts
- Diples:
- Thin strips of dough tied, folded, or twisted into bows or loops and deep-fried, then dipped in a honey syrup and topped with chopped nuts
- Rizogalo:
- creamy rice pudding with a sprinkling of cinnamon on top
- Loukoumades:
- made-to-order deep-fried honey balls topped with honey; served warm
- Galatoboureko:
- A custard-filled dessert made with phyllo topped with a light honey/sugar syrup
- Kadaife:
- Shredded dough filled with chopped nuts and cinnamon and topped with a honey/sugar syrup
- Koulourakia:
- Crisp, golden-colored, subtly sweet cookies shaped by hand; sometimes covered with sesame seed
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