Greek Recipes

Ever wondered what sorts of foods the ancient Greeks ate? Here is a recipe for a healthful chewy snack that has satisfied and pleased children and adults alike for millennia. My Pasteli triangles - Click to Enlarge Image. Pasteli , the mere mention of the word will bring a smile to any Greek’s face. An all natural confection, in its simplest form, pasteli is composed of two ingredients: sesame seeds and honey. The addition of nuts such as walnuts, pistachios, or almonds is also common in some versions of pasteli . Sesame has been an ingredient in the Greek pantry since time immemorial. Mention of it is made in Linear B tablets found at Mycenae dated to the 14th Century BC. Indeed, the English word “sesame” is itself derived from the Greek word σησαμη or sēsámē. This combination of honey and sesame seeds to form wafers of chewy wholesome goodness is one Greek food concoction that has been around - quite literally - for ages. In the Archaic age and later in the Classical and H...

Pistachios are quite popular in Greece. They are used in all manner of recipes, and Greeks also enjoy eating them roasted with salt (as pictured below) or raw. In point of fact, there is hardly a Greek home during this holiday period which will not have a bowl of roasted and salted pistachios sitting out on a table for guests to nibble on. Pistachios are used in Greek baklava; they are made into brittles, added to cakes, cookies, and any number of baked goods and bonne bouches . Roasted & salted pistachios from Aegina. Click to enlarge image. As far as I have been able to ascertain, the pistachio seed has been a part of Greek food culture since at least the 2nd Century B.C., and likely much earlier. The English word pistachio is derived from the ancient Greek word pistákion (πιστάκιον). The ancients credited the origins of the pistachio tree to Arabia and Syria. Today, the island of Aegina and the region around Megara are the traditional epicentres of pistachio cultivation...