Reference
The Greek Pantry: Ingredient Guide
Every herb, spice, vegetable, fruit, cheese and meat in Greek and Cypriot cooking, with its history and the recipes that use it.
Herbs
The fresh and dried leaves that give Greek food its identifying smell before the pan even heats up.
Spices
Warm, sweet spices used with a surprisingly light hand in savoury cooking and a heavier one in festive baking.
Vegetables
What a Greek market stall is actually built around, and the base of the whole ladera tradition.
Fruits
Citrus, stone fruit and the specific sweetness that turns up in savoury dishes as often as sweet ones.
Dairy and Cheese
Sheep and goat milk long before cow's, and a cheese culture built on brine and hard grating wheels rather than soft ripening.
Meat and Poultry
Festival meat more often than everyday meat: lamb tied to Easter, pork to winter, chicken to the ordinary Sunday table.
Fish and Seafood
A coastline longer than mainland France's, and a tradition of cooking it simply enough to leave it alone.
Grains and Pulses
Bread wheat, rice, bulgur and the dried pulses that carried every household through Lent and through lean years.
Pantry Staples
Oil, honey and nuts: the fat, the sweetener and the crunch behind most of the rest of the repertoire.
