Greek cuisine is the Mediterranean diet's home turf: olive oil, wild greens, grilled meats and fish, thick yogurt, honey. The taverna is the institution: the meze spread, the catch of the day on the grill, the carafe of house wine. Regional cooking is the point: Crete's dakos, Epirus's pies, the islands' cheeses, the north's Ottoman sweets.
The taverna is the everyday restaurant: grilled meats, the meze spread, horiatiki in summer. The mageirio is the home-style cookhouse for moussaka and oven dishes. The ouzeriserves ouzo with small plates; the kafeneio is for Greek coffee, never rushed.
Etiquette: dinner starts at 9 or 10 pm; bread and water arrive by default; tipping is modest, 5 to 10 percent for good service. Raki or dessert often arrives on the house.
Eight dishes that define Greek cooking, from the grill to the honeyed sweet.
Each region has its own culinary traditions.
Attica · Souvlaki from the Monastiraki grills; Koulouri (sesame bread rings) from the street carts; Greek coffee in the Plaka kafeneia
Central Macedonia · Bougatsa (custard pie), the Thessaloniki breakfast; Trigona panoramatos (cream-filled triangles); Seafood along the waterfront
Western Macedonia · Lake fish and trout; Florina red peppers (the famous sweet peppers)
Eastern Macedonia and Thrace · Kavala's seafood and the region's cured meats; Soutzouk loukoum (the local sweet)
Epirus · Epirus pies (the region is famous for its pites); Metsovone smoked cheese from Metsovo; Frog legs, the Ioannina speciality
Thessaly · Spetzofai (spicy sausage with peppers, the Pelion dish); Tsipouro, the region's spirit
Central Greece · Formaela cheese of Arachova (PDO); Trahanas soups of the mountain villages
Western Greece · Mavrodafni, the sweet red wine of Patras; Tentoura, the Patras liqueur
Peloponnese · Kalamata olives and olive oil; Nemea's Agiorgitiko red wines; Diples (honey pastries of the region)
North Aegean · Ouzo of Lesbos (Plomari); Mastic products of Chios; Ladotyri cheese of Mytilene (PDO)
South Aegean · Santorini's Assyrtiko wines and tomatokeftedes (tomato fritters); Kopanisti, the spicy cheese of Mykonos; Pitaroudia (chickpea fritters) of Rhodes
Crete · Dakos (barley rusk with tomato and mizithra); Raki (tsikoudia), the Cretan spirit; Graviera cheese and kalitsounia (cheese pies)
Ionian Islands · Sofrito (Corfu's veal in white wine and garlic); Pastitsada (the Sunday meat and pasta dish); Kumquat liqueur of CorfuWhat to drink in Greece, from the anise spirit to the volcanic whites.
Ouzo · The anise spirit, served with ice and meze; Lesbos is its capital. It turns milky white when water is added.
Assyrtiko · Santorini's volcanic white wine, grown in the island's ash soil; Nemea's Agiorgitiko is the great red.
Raki (tsikoudia) · Crete's clear spirit, served after dinner whether you order it or not, with honey rakomelo in winter.
Greek coffee · Brewed in the briki with its foam (kaimaki) on top; freddo espresso and freddo cappuccino rule the summer.
Mavrodafni · The sweet red wine of Patras, made from the Mavrodaphne grape.
