Ancient Greece Recipes

Greek food is a wonderful mix of oriental and European dishes, cooked using different methods, from frying to broiling to boiling. Much of Greek food is seasonal and a lot of it is prepared during different times of the year, mainly around dates of religious events, such as Easter, Christmas or New Year.

The foods of ancient Greece were varied, with a concentration on vegetables, legumes, fruits, and fish - although meat was also eaten. Meats were roasted on spits, cooked in ovens, and boiled. Fish was often cooked with cheese

The basic flavors and ingredients of the ancient greek cuisine were: honey, vinegar, garos (a sauce based on salted fish), and many herbs and spices. Greeks were interested in combining sweet and sour flavors in very interesting seasonings. Fish was eaten a lot as well as oysters, mussels, lobsters, poultry, pig, lamb, birds, ducks, cheese, olives, onions, lentils, peas and other materials.

Wine was watered down and sometimes garlic was added. The technique to make the very thin phyllo dough had been discovered sometime around the 4th century B.C.E., so it's likely that sweets like baklava were also eaten - but no sugar! Honey was the traditional sweetener, as were figs and products made from naturally sweet grapes.Coriander, cumin, oregano, dill, parsley, mint, pinecone and poppy seeds, fennel and aniseed are among the most famous herbs.

Most of them are accessible even now. Others are difficult to find, such as silfio, ligistiko etc. Sweets were also very much loved. It is important to mention that Greeks were not the first to have used herbs and spices in cooking but they were definitely the first to develop food production into a form of art. Ancient Greeks used olives as their main source of fat instead of meat from animal because they thought it was an unhealthy way of getting fat, since the barbarians (non Greeks) ate that way. In actuality, the barbarians ate meat and their products such as milk and cheese because they were nomadic and had no way of growing an olive tree or preparing olives if they saw any.

The importance of a well - prepared meal was billitled. People were at first well fed and after their body was fulfilled with exciting flavors, came wine drinking and serious conversations.

During the second phase of symposiums i.e. the epidorpion phase, several kinds of pies, sweets, dried fruits, nuts, cheese was offered along with wine, always mixed with water. The host was responsible that his guests get drunk very soon.

Ancient Greek Life History / Ancient Greece Facts for Kids

We owe a lot to Ancient Greek Civilization. History of ancient Greece is a fascinating. On this site, we have given information on various ancient Greek life aspects - Arts, Boys and Girls, Architecture, Dancing, Gods, Myths, Medicine, Inventions, Houses, Government, Religions, Wars, Politics, Weapons and ancient Greece Cities.