Greek Cuisine
Contemporary Greek cookery is typical of Mediterranean cuisine, making wide use of olive oil, grains and bread, wine, fish, and various meats, including poultry and rabbit. Typical ingredients in the Greek cuisine are the meat of the lamb or pork, kalamata olives, feta cheese, grape leaves, zucchini and yogurt. The desserts are dominated by nuts and honey. Some dishes use phyllo pastry. Ouzo opens up the appetite or orexi (oh-RE-ksi) and blends well with many different flavors. Traditionally, ouzo bars or ouzeries (oo-zeh-REE-es) will offer a long list of mezethes to go along with the drink. What are Mezethes? They are small plates of savory snacks that are served as a compliment to drinks.
RECIPES
OUZO
Ouzo history is somewhat murky, but some claim it may date back in one form or another to ancient times. Its precursor is tsipouro (known by some Easterners as raki), a drink distilled throughout the Byzantine Empire and continued throughout Ottoman times. Traditionally, Tsipouro is said to have been the pet product of a group of 14th century monks living in a monastery on holy Mount Athos. One version of it is flavored with Anise. It is this version that eventually came to be called Ouzo. Ouzo is traditionally mixed with water, until it takes on a murky, white demeanor, and served with ice in a small glass. Ouzo can also be drunk, straight, from a shot glass. The European Union now recognizes ouzo, as well as the Greek drinks tsipouro and tsikoudia, as products with a protected designation of origin, which prohibits makers outside Greece from using the name.
