What we love...: Food Edition
As far as food goes, there's not much here we don't like. We've had several unsuccessful "experiments": food items purchased on the basis of packaging or misread label that turn out to be horrible. But for the most part, we love all of the new flavors. As I explained to my patient family at the beginning of our stay, "Things will taste differently here, and it's fun to try new food." Of course it really helps that we've had plenty of delicious exposure to authentic Greek food over the years. Here are a few of our favorites.
1. The λαϊκή (pronounced la-ee-KEE, or lie-KEE), or farmer's market is definitely, definitely my own favorite. There are two that we visit, and the closest is on the next street. The majority of the fabulous, inexpensive produce is "local," and by local I mean grown in Greece. I have my apple-man, my egg-man, and my banana-man. (The bananas are from Ecuador. We can't win 'em all!)
2. Καφέ. Self-explanatory. I promise, it tastes different here.
3. I don't really know what these are called(the different shapes and sizes have different names), but they're basically enormous whole-grain croutons. We drench them in olive oil and eat them in Greek salads or with soup. Papa and Opie, if you're reading this, we think you'll both like them.
4. Mustard in a toothpaste tube? Yes, please. (It's German. I'm cheating, but I am such a sucker for packaging.)
5. Saturday is Bakery Breakfast Day, and it's a bit of a scuffle to get a picture taken before the goodies disappear. Clockwise from the top is a fresh doughnut, koulouri, bougatsa, and tsoureki with cherry filling.
6. "He who hesitates is lost. (Or she.)" All that's left of our Sunday Night Gyro Feast is the plastic bag they came in. I guess I'll never get a picture.
1. The λαϊκή (pronounced la-ee-KEE, or lie-KEE), or farmer's market is definitely, definitely my own favorite. There are two that we visit, and the closest is on the next street. The majority of the fabulous, inexpensive produce is "local," and by local I mean grown in Greece. I have my apple-man, my egg-man, and my banana-man. (The bananas are from Ecuador. We can't win 'em all!)
2. Καφέ. Self-explanatory. I promise, it tastes different here.
3. I don't really know what these are called(the different shapes and sizes have different names), but they're basically enormous whole-grain croutons. We drench them in olive oil and eat them in Greek salads or with soup. Papa and Opie, if you're reading this, we think you'll both like them.
4. Mustard in a toothpaste tube? Yes, please. (It's German. I'm cheating, but I am such a sucker for packaging.)
5. Saturday is Bakery Breakfast Day, and it's a bit of a scuffle to get a picture taken before the goodies disappear. Clockwise from the top is a fresh doughnut, koulouri, bougatsa, and tsoureki with cherry filling.
6. "He who hesitates is lost. (Or she.)" All that's left of our Sunday Night Gyro Feast is the plastic bag they came in. I guess I'll never get a picture.
Hi! It's Erica.
ReplyDeleteHadn't popped by your blog since your first weeks there - so fun to catch up =)
Those crusty bread things are common around Europe (or at least also in France, Italy, Switzerland). But it looks like you get a bigger variety of grains in them!
And three cheers for tube mustard and tube products generally. My favorite was in Swiss grocery stores they had tomato paste in a tube. Great for adding just a bit of flavor to something without committing to a whole can like you have to here. If they have imported things in tubes, buy the Thomy (Swiss or German brand but very common in France/Italy it seemed) lemon mayo. Yum-O!
Oooh, sounds delicious! Thanks for giving me more to drool over. :)
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