Discover Greek Cuisine

Greece is known for its delectable cuisine made with fresh ingredients. If you’ve never sampled it before, it has some common elements with Italy, Turkey, and the Balkans, using meat, vegetables, fish, olive oil, wine and grains. Some dishes are made all around the country, but others are specific to a specific region or island.

A yacht charter in Greece is the best way to immerse yourself in the flavor of the Greek isles, whether you savor these dishes in a restaurant or taverna, or have your chef prepare them for you. Here are the dishes you have to try while visiting Greece.

Moussaka – a famous dish that layers potatoes, eggplant, onion, tomato minced beef, spices, cheese and bechamel sauce. It can also be easily adapted into a vegetarian or vegan version.

Taramosalata – a classic dip made of fish roe blended with potato or bread and finished with olive oil and lemon.

Tzatziki – Greek yoghurt and finely diced cucumber seasoned with garlic, served as a dip or used to top meat, vegetables or pita.

Dolmades – grape leaves stuffed with meat, rice or a combination of the two, often seasoned with herbs and spices including thyme, dill, fennel and oregano.

Spanakopita – flaky filo pastry pies filled with spinach and feta.

Paidakia – Grilled lamb ribs served with lemon.

Pastitsio – a popular dish made with spaghetti, topped with minced beef, onion, tomato sauce and bechamel.

Horiatiki Salata – also known as the Village Salad, it is a mix of fresh tomatoes, olives, cucumber, onions, green pepper, feta cheese, olive oil and oregano.

Melitzanosalata – eggplant puree with garlic and olive oil, served with fresh bread.

Souvlaki – skewered meat — such as lamb, chicken or pork — that is grilled and either served on its own, with various side dishes, or in a pitta bread with tomato, onion and tzatziki.

Kolokythokeftedes – grated or pureed zucchini (also known as courgette) blended with dill, mint or other combinations of spices. It is formed into a ball and lightly fried, then served with tzatziki.

Kalamarakia – small pieces of fried squid served with lemon juice.

Htapodi – small pieces of octopus either fried with lemon juice, or boiled with olive oil, vinegar and oregano.

Saganaki – fried cheese, often made with golden-white graviera, and served with a zest of lemon.

Tiropites – triangle shaped pastries made with filo and filled with a mixture of cheeses.

Revithokeftedes – similar to falafel, these fried chickpea fritters are made with a unique blend of Greek spices.

Keftedakia – fried meatballs made with beef, garlic and house made breadcrumbs.

Baklava – a classic Greek dessert made with layered filo pastry, honey and ground nuts.

Galaktoboureko – a decadent semolina custard-filled in filo pastry.

Tirokroketes – golden fried cheese balls that melt in your mouth.

Feta Me Meli – feta cheese wrapped in filo, baked and then drizzled with honey.

Loukoumades – fried donut balls soaked in honey and sprinkled with cinnamon.

Halvasi – a butter cake made with semolina, raisins and almonds, served on its own or with vanilla ice cream and pomegranate syrup.