Peppers

Peppers arrived from the Americas along the same route as the tomato and settled into Greek cooking just as thoroughly. They stuff, which is their main job: a gemista tray is built from peppers and tomatoes together, the peppers chosen squat and flat-bottomed so they stand upright in the dish, filled with rice, herbs and sometimes mince, and baked slowly with potatoes wedged between them.

Two specific types matter beyond the ordinary bell pepper. Florina peppers, long and deep red, grown in the north around the town they are named after, are roasted until the skin blisters and then peeled and dressed with oil, garlic and vinegar, or blended into the roasted pepper and feta dip htipiti. Long thin green frying peppers are fried whole and eaten with their charred skins on.

Spetsofai, the sausage and pepper stew from Pelion, is the dish that shows what peppers can do when they are the point rather than a container, cooked down with country sausage and tomato until sweet and soft. Jarred roasted red peppers are a fair substitute for home-roasted ones in a dip, though they are usually packed in vinegar and need draining and tasting before more acid goes in.