Iconic Greek food products

Greece enjoys a huge variety of agricultural products. Olives and olive oil, cheeses, wine, honey, mastic, saffron, certain fruits & vegetables, fish products and so on, are but a few of the products that have won international acclaim and received international distinctions for their quality and taste. Greece ranks among the first in the European Union, regarding the number of agricultural products registered as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and protected geographical indication (PGI). These are a result not only of the richness of the Greek soil, but also the passion and traditional cultivation, preservation, and cooking methods, handed down through the generations.

Famous products

Olive Oil

Greek olive oil is the basis of the Mediterranean Diet. As the main ingredient of every recipe found in Greek traditional cuisine, olive oil plays a dominant role in Greek nutritional habits. Greek olive oil is known worldwide for its purity, exceptional taste, and high nutritional value.

Olive oil can be mainly classified as Extra Virgin, Virgin, or Pure, depending on the way it is produced, its chemical composition, and its flavor.  Greece is among the largest olive-oil producing countries in the world, along with Spain and Italy.

Wine

According to mythology, Greece was the birthplace of Dionysus, the god of wine. Greek vineyards are among the world’s oldest and have produced wine for thousands of years. Thanks to its geographical location in the temperate Mediterranean region, Greece is endowed with favourable weather conditions for vine growing.

Greek wines, like many agricultural products in Greece, carry a long history and a heritage which comprises unique vinicultural practices and a treasure of indigenous grape varieties. This fact, combined with the application of modern wine production techniques, give Greek wines high quality and exceptional taste.

The great number of grape varieties native to Greece, like Assyrtiko, Moschofilero, Agiorgitiko, Xinomavro, and hundreds of other lesser known varieties, offer seasoned wine lovers a glorious terrain for exploring the diversity and uniqueness of Greek wines.

Almost all Greek wineries participate regularly both in wine competitions and other eminent wine-tasting meetings from which numerous award-winning Greek wines have emerged, placing Greek wine in a coveted position on the international wine scene.

Cheese

Greece produces some of the finest cheeses in the world, for every type of cooking and every occasion. Apart from the widely known feta, many other varieties, equally protected under the PDO provisions, are not only flavorsome but also of significant nutritional value.

Greek cheeses, such as the hard, salty kefalotyri and graviera, the sweet manouri, the fresh myzithra or the smoked metsovone, are all produced following traditional methods.

Did you know?

The first recorded cheese maker ever is the one-eyed giant Cyclop, as mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey.

The annual per capita consumption of cheese in Greece is about 25 kilos, more than in France or Italy, who are also famous European cheese lovers.

Mastic

Mastic is a product of the island of Chios (Mastiha Chiou) and is characterized as a PDO-protected product, exported from Chios to counties all over the world. It is a natural, aromatic resin, produced from the mastic trees that grow exclusively on the Aegean island of Chios. It is used as a natural chewing gum, but most importantly, it is used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, but also in the culinary world. Thanks to its various qualities and unique taste, mastic is used to enhance a large range of products such as sweets, jams, ice-creams, chocolates, chewing gums, tooth paste, candies, bakery products, beverages, tea, coffee, dairy products, pasta, sauces, and drinks like liqueurs and ouzo.

Did you know?

Although mastic trees grow in many Mediterranean countries, they produce little or no mastic, except for those of south Chios. Therefore, Chios Island is the only place in the world where mastic is produced, possibly due to the volcanic composition of the soil and the island’s climate.

The abundant therapeutic properties of mastic had been already noted by the father of medicine, Hippocrates, while its use as the first natural chewing gum and as a cooking spice has also been documented since antiquity.

Saffron

The Greek red saffron (krokos), produced in the region of Kozani in northern Greece, is PDO-protected and placed among the most precious and valuable spices inherited by ancient civilizations, due to its aromatic, colour, and pharmaceutical properties.  The prefecture of Kozani is one of just four regions in the world where saffron is grown, and the Greek variety is considered of supreme quality, a distinction worthy of the attribute ‘flower of the Mediterranean cuisine’.

Did you know?

Frescoes in the palaces of Knossos on the island of Crete (1600 BC) clearly depict a young girl gathering saffron flowers. Wall-paintings at the archaeological site of Akrotiri, on the island of Santorini, depict saffron gatherers who offer the precious spice to a seated lady, perhaps a goddess. Moreover, in his writings, Homer calls dawn a veil of saffron.