Reference
Greek food glossary
The terms that appear again and again in Greek recipes, with what they actually mean and how they are pronounced.
Avgolemono Αυγολέμονο
A liaison of beaten eggs and lemon juice used to thicken soups, stews and sauces without flour or cream. The mixture must be tempered with hot liquid off the heat or it curdles.
Ladera Λαδερά
Vegetable dishes cooked slowly in a substantial quantity of olive oil, where the oil is the sauce rather than the cooking medium. Central to fasting cooking.
Meze Μεζές
Small plates served together rather than in sequence, usually alongside ouzo, tsipouro or wine, and intended to be eaten slowly over a long period.
Nistisima Νηστίσιμα
Fasting foods permitted during Orthodox fasting periods: no meat, dairy or eggs, and on stricter days no olive oil or fish either. Effectively a centuries-old vegan tradition.
Horiatiki Χωριάτικη
Village salad. Tomato, cucumber, pepper, onion, olives and a slab of feta, dressed with olive oil and oregano. Contains no lettuce.
Phyllo Φύλλο
Literally leaf. Paper-thin pastry used in both savoury pies and syrup desserts, layered with fat between each sheet.
Kefalotyri Κεφαλοτύρι
A hard, salty sheep or goat milk cheese used for grating and for frying as saganaki. Pecorino is the closest common substitute.
Stifado Στιφάδο
A slow stew characterised by a large quantity of small whole onions and a sauce sharpened with vinegar and spiced with cinnamon and bay.
Souvla Σούβλα
A large spit used for cooking sizeable cuts of meat slowly over coals, as opposed to the small skewer, souvlaki, used for cubes.
Spoon sweet Γλυκό του κουταλιού
Whole fruit or peel preserved in heavy syrup, served by the spoonful with coffee and a glass of cold water as a gesture of hospitality.
Tsipouro Τσίπουρο
A pomace brandy distilled from the residue of winemaking, drunk alongside meze, particularly in northern and central Greece.
Dakos Ντάκος
A Cretan dish of barley rusk soaked briefly, topped with grated tomato, soft mizithra cheese, oregano and olive oil.
Kritharaki Κριθαράκι
Rice-shaped pasta, known elsewhere as orzo, used in soups and in baked dishes such as giouvetsi.
Saganaki Σαγανάκι
Both a small two-handled frying pan and any dish cooked in it, most often a slice of hard cheese fried until molten and served with lemon.
Trahana Τραχανάς
A dried pasta made from cracked wheat fermented with milk or yogurt, used mainly in winter soups. Sour and sweet versions both exist.