Fakes - a bean soup defined in many cookery books as the traditional Greek dish. It is made of beans, tomatoes, carrot, celery and a lot of olive oil.
Magiritsa - a traditional Easter soup made with lamb offal and thickened with avgolemono.
Psarosoupa - a 'fish soup'. It can be cooked with a variety of fish types, and several kinds of vegetables (carrots, parsley, celery, potatoes, onion), several varieties include the classic kakavia which is drizzled with olive oil.
Souvlaki - Anything grilled on a skewer (lamb, chicken, pork, swordfish, shrimp). Most common is lamb, pork or chicken, often marinated in oil, salt, pepper, oregano and lemon.
Briám - an oven-baked ratatouille of summer vegetables based on sliced potatoes and zucchini in olive oil. Usually includes eggplant, tomatoes, onions, and ample aromatic herbs and seasonings.
Domatokeftedhes - tomato fritters with mint, fried in olive oil and typically served with fava (split pea paste). Mainly a Cycladic Island dish.
Fasolakia freska - fresh green beans stewed with potatoes, zucchini and tomato sauce.
Lachanodolmades - Cabbage rolls, stuffed with rice and sometimes meat, spiced with various herbs and served with avgolemono sauce or simmered in a light tomato broth.
Spanakorizo - Spinach and rice stew cooked in lemon and olive oil sauce.
Yemista - Baked stuffed vegetables. Usually tomatoes, peppers, or other vegetables hollowed out and baked with a rice and herb filling.
Ameletita - a delicacy served in Greece and Cyprus made from grilled lamb's testicles.
Bekri Meze - 'drunkard's snack', diced beef marinated in wine, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, olive oil and cooked slowly.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ desserts
Galaktoboureko - custard between layers of phyllo. The name derives from the Greek "ghala", meaning milk, and from the Turkish börek, meaning filled, thus meaning "filled with milk."
Bougatsa - pastry consisting of custard, cheese, or minced meat filling between layers of phyllo.
Loukoumades - similar to donuts, loukoumades are essentially fried balls of dough drenched in honey and sprinkled with cinnamon.
Moustokouloura - cookies of flour kneaded with fresh grape must instead of water.
Loukoumi - a confection made from starch and sugar, essentially similar to the Turkish delight.
Tsoureki - a traditional Christmas and Easter sweet bread also known as 'Lambropsomo' (Easter bread), flavored with "mahlepi", the intensely aromatic extract of the stone of the St. Lucie Cherry.
Vasilopita - Saint Basil's cake or King's cake, traditional for New Year's Day. Vasilopites are baked with a coin inside, and whoever gets the coin in their slice are considered blessed with good luck for the whole year.
Diples - a Christmas and wedding delicacy, made of thin, sheet-like dough which is cut in large squares and dipped in a swirling fashion in a pot of hot olive oil for a few seconds. As the dough fries, it stiffens into a helical tube; it is then removed immediately and sprinkled with honey and crushed walnuts.
Kourabiedes - Christmas cookies made by kneading flour, butter and crushed roasted almonds, then generously dusted with powdered sugar.
Karidopita - a walnut cake.
------------------------------------------------------------------ drinks
Greek frappé coffee - a foam-covered drink derived from spray-dried instant coffee that is consumed cold.
Greek coffee - made by boiling finely ground coffee beans, and is served thick and strong, and often sweetened. It is always unfiltered, with the coffee sediment at the bottom of the cup.
Wine - the most common drink in Greece. Legend claims that wine was invented on the island of Icaria.
Beer - widely drunk; common brands include Vergina, Heineken, Amstel, Zeos, Mythos, Alfa Hellenic Lager, Fix,
Henninger, and Kaiser, all of which are produced locally, some under license.
Mavrodafni - Sweet, liquor-style, red wine with higher alcohol percentage than normal.
Metaxa - a brand of sweet brandy, 40% alcohol content.
Ouzo - (an 80-proof clear alcoholic beverage that is flavored with anise; it turns milky white with water or ice; the best said to be produced on the island of Lesbos).
Retsina - a white wine that has some pine resin added, originally as a preservative, but nowadays for the flavor; this is an Athens region specialty. It should not be aged.).
Tentura - a cinnamon flavored liquor from Patras.
Tsipouro - Mostly home-brewed, a clear drink similar to ouzo, often with higher alcohol content, and usually not flavored with herbs. The city of Volos at the centre of Greece is well-known for its Tsipouradika. In Thessaly tsipouro is always flavored with anise.
References
^ Gigantes/Yiyantes (Greek Giant Baked Beans)
^ Diples (Thiples) (Honey Rolls) Greek Dessert
