food411 blog

Having just returned from a wonderful biking/eating trip in Greece, we will be composing a few posts based on our experiences.

First, a bit of background about the Grecophiles that accompanied us. Our biking guide was Colleen McGuire of Cyclegreece. Colleen is an amazing woman. Formally, a housing rights lawyer in NYC, she has cycled in 60 countries and cycled solo across the USA!! She left her law practice to move to Greece and start Cyclegreece with her “Greek God”. Colleen had the wisdom to include in our trip 3 other guides – each one contributed their area of expertise to make our journey an experience that will never be forgotten. Our Greek history expert ( and cycling guide) was Brady Kiesling. Brady was US diplomat at the US Embassy in Athens ( he resigned in protest of the Iraq war) – he holds a degree in Ancient Greek & an MA in Ancient History & Archaeology! Our gastronomy & culture guide was Regina Tassitano. Born in Brazil, she has lived in Greece for over 20 years. She created the very first Brazilian restaurant in Athens. Fluent in many languages, her enthusiasm for traditional Greek foods and their surrounding culture was intoxicating. Our biking mechanic and van driver was Fotis- a marathon runner that has not only run the Athens, Barcelona & Rome marathons, he also runs mountain marathons! An expert cyclist as well, Fotis kept us moving forward at all times.

Ok, now that you realize what extremely capably hands we were in, on to the food! One of our favorite parts was the meze ( the small plates). Serve before the main entree – usually with ouzo ( licorice tasting liquor serve over ice with water). Ouzo is to be consumed slowly with food and friends. “Slow food” is a way of life here.

There are many types of meze – all are delicious. the most memorable for us were Melitzanosalata: eggplant purée dip with finely chopped garlic/olive oil, Tzatziki (Greek yogurt with finely chopped/shredded cucumber, garlic and olive oil) – this is used as a dip, or to top just about everything! Saganaki: Fried cheese – large squares of cheese (different types) – excellent when homemade. Horta: Boiled wild greens with olive oil, salt and lemon. Briam: roasted potatoes, eggplants, onions, garlic, tomato sauce and olive oil. Kalamarakia: Small pieces of fried squid with lemon juice. Htapodi: small pieces of octopus served grilled or boiled, with olive oil, vinegar and oregano. Fried fresh anchovies. Greek salad ( serve everywhere) fresh local tomatoes, cucumbers,pepper, olives olive oil, topped with feta or the villages local cheese & oregano. Patzaria Salata: Beet and Garlic Salad & Fasolakia – big flat green beans stewed in a tomato sauce. After eating these dishes – who really wants the main entree!!