Greek Appetizers or Starters Page 4

Bon-vivant's may fill up on appetizers alone, for a light lunch. Large groups of friends will invariably order a whole slew of orektika and side dishes from which to share by spooning from plates or onto the small individual plates
(pia-tak-ia) you often have to ask for and sometime never arrive.

There are many orektika to choose from and some restaurants will have the waiter bring a tray over to the table for you too choose from.

The dish below right is called "Horta" and is an appetizer with a direct translation of "Greens". "Horto" on the other hand is "weed" as in marijuana and its important not to confuse the two.

It looks like spinach and will definitely satisfy your green leafy vegetable requirements (squeeze some lemon juice on it). Horta is a good choice when you are not too sure what to order because it won't upset anyone's stomach and will help your digestion. As an added plus, it also tastes good.

Left, we have Okra or "Bam-yess" which is another one of my favorites usually done in a tomato sauce. Right is baked eggplant or "Meli-tzan-ess"

These are two examples of the type of Greek food called "La-ther-ra". "Lathie" is the Greek word for oil, the term describes the cooking technique of using oil.

Nine times out of ten it will be Olive Oil, "Elle-e-O-Ladho".

Left is a really delicious fried head cheese kef-a-lo-tireeappetizer called saga-nakee and right a similar dish, baked feta or feta tis four-no.

Saghanakee can be made with various cheeses including feta and be baked or fried. In a Koutoukaki type restaurant its often it is served in a clay pot. Koutoukakia are a take off on a traditional taverna but were the chef lets their imagination run free and usually to the good. In a strange town, the koutokakia are the places to try and track down if you want a bit more variety. Kalamata has some great ones as does Athens and Hania, Crete!

Far right is a boiled octopus dish that can be quite good but It's even better grilled. The seafood dish near left was one I never had tried before and I was very pleasantly surprised by it. It's called Gavro-Xydato. I just bought a book on Greek fish and Gavro isn't in it. Who cares...it tastes great. What's nice about it is that its raw and been marinating in the fridge for 3 days in vinegar ( xydie ). It's a welcome change from fried fish and greece answer to sushi.

Far left , the remains of a side of feta and olive oil. There are quite a few other appetizers I like too but don't have pictures of. Near left are Fried Balls or "Crokiro Keftedes" as mentioned above; a puree of zucchini or eggplant battered and then deep fried to a delicious golden brown.

 

 

 

More about Greek Salads and Appetizers: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4