One of my friends visits Athens twice a year. She neither dreams of romantic Paris nor saves money for wintering in Southeast Asia. “The food” was her laconic reply to my question “Why?”. Perhaps the Greeks know something that makes gourmets from all over the world strive to Hellas, and fall out of their messengers and social networks life reveling the local cuisine tradition.
The most delicious dishes of Athens are listed below. They can catch your breath and make you feel dizzy. We warn you in advance but still hope that you will risk trying them. Let’s go!
Musaka which it is impossible to refuse
If your stomach could talk its first word would be “Musaka.” This legendary and juicy dish is served in every self-respecting restaurant in Athens. It consists of spicy aubergines, tomatoes and chopped meat baked in the oven with cheese and white sauce. There is a restaurant near the Acropolis which is called “Arcadia”. It specializes in traditional Greek cuisine. Moussaka is best prepared there. One portion is usually enough to eat full, but if you want more you should know: there can’t be too much of Musaka!
Caviar with white chocolate
Zeus himself used to feast on the Athenian bottarga and asked his wife Hera for more. Today this melting in the mouth, pressed mullet caviar is eaten with white chocolate or sugar candy. You can try it in а “Funky Gourmet” restaurant where the chefs experiment on the basis of traditional recipes and create new combinations including molecular cuisine. In any case, bottarga is worth taking tickets to Athens and eating the most unusual dish in your life.
Greek Shaurma
We all know Shaurma, but we do not always trust its quality. Even children eat it in in Athens. And at the weekends, the local families go to the city centre to enjoy meat with vegetables wrapped in a thin lavash. Gуros is the traditional everyday Greek food. And for many years they have learned to make it really tasty. So go towards the central square and there you will find the most delicious gуros in the city.
Forbidden Sweets
The Greeks say that if you don’t stop on time, you can miss the moment when you have eaten the whole baklava in the city. And in Athens it is fairly considered the best in the country. This crispy piece of pleasure is a real art because the dough has to be as thin as paper. For example, the confectionery “Karakoy Gulluoglu” in Syntagma Square offers dozens of types of bakalava which are equally good! Thin layers of filo dough are spread with homemade butter and sprinkled with nuts. Then they are baked in the oven and finally poured with a honey syrup. Would you agree it’s impossible to stop here?
Resin Wine
Retsina is the most famous Greek wine . It is made of resin, which gives the drink an unusual taste and aroma. Ancient amphorae used to be packed by a mixture of gypsum and resin, and the wine got saturated with this smell. When the Greeks liked the new taste, they started to add the pieces of resin to the drink on purpose. Now they stick to this recipe, however, they take away the resin before bottling. Some people might find this taste too saturated, so it is often mixed with water.
There is really a lot to admire and overeat in Athens. While I was writing these notes, my friend took a ticket to Athens again, and now she is flying there to visit the Street food festival. By the way, she’s not going there alone but with a group of people who are desperately in love with moussaka, gyros and battargu as well as her. Lucky guys!
