#2796 Athens food tour

The Friday night Lizzie and I were in Athens, we went on a food tour. It was a small group of people, I think there were just eight of us, plus our guide, Antonia. We met at Syntagma Square around 18:30 (6:30pm) and the plan was to go to five places to have typical Greek food and learn a little something about the food, the people, and the city as we walked along. 

Athens was lively that Friday night. The weather was in the mid 60s (F), and it was pleasant out. There were lots of people out enjoying the evening.

Our first stop was at a little shop for olive oil tasting. In my mind, the olive oil tasting would consist of chunks of bread around a few bowls of olive oil. We would dip the bread in the oil, and eat it. That's not how it went down at all. We all gathered in the little shop around a small table. There was brown bread on the table, cubed into tidy pieces. There were four bottles or jars of olive oil on the table, but no bowls to be seen. We were each given a spoon.  The shop owner, a woman who I believe knows pretty much everything there is to know about olive oil in Greece, briefly talked about the first oil, then Antonia walked to each of us and filled our spoon with that oil. We swallowed the oil, savored it, tasted the flavor, and felt it slide down our throats. As a group, we talked about what it was like, then we sort of chased it with a chunk of bread. That process was repeated with the remaining three oils. We weren't there very long, 15 or 20 minutes, but it was an education. Oh yes, there were also whole olives on the table for anyone who cared to have some. 

I was surprised that each of the four oils had different flavors. The first one was very mild, while the final one had a delicious flavor and left kind of a mild burn in the throat - not in a bad way, but it was distinctive. The shop owner explained about oil tasting competitions were growers will bring their oils to be judged and awarded prizes. Olive oil is a BIG THING in Greece. 

The owner asked us not to take photos inside the shop, but I did take a pic of the window.

Our next stop was on a relatively quiet street to try out "Greek pizza." The dish is actually called peynirli, and what makes it similar to pizza is that is in a doughy crust and is covered with cheese. There's no tomato sauce, and the toppings might be a bit different that we would expect, as is the cheese itself. Our peynirli had a type of sausage similar to Spanish chorizo, which is cured like a salami. It was delightful. The crust was tender and chewy. There was a piece left on our table, and it took everything I had, plus the thought of the food that was coming, to stop me from shoving it in my face.

quiet street (it was still early in the evening)

the name of the cafe

peynirli

It wouldn't be a proper Athens food tour with a souvlaki, so that was our next stop. The outdoor seating had this fun artwork on the wall:

I didn't catch the name of this place. Truthfully, I didn't get the names of many of the cafes and restaurants we ate in because the names were Greek, of course. 

Lizzie and I chose to share a pork souvlaki rather than each have our own, because you kind of have to pace yourself on these food tours. I'm glad we chose to share, even though sharing is difficult and kind of messy. It was so incredibly good. The pork was tender and flavorful. The pita is fluffy, pliable, and warm. The sandwich is stuffed with Greek fries, onion, tomato, and tzatziki. Do you know what tzatziki is? It is Greek yogurt, seasoned with garlic and cucumber, and probably a bit of olive oil, too. The cucumber might be in tiny pieces, grated, or just a suggestion through the juice or something. There might be some dill in it, but not every time, and not overwhelming.. If you know me, you know I don't care for cucumber or dill. I learned to like tzatziki in Greece. (Side note: I had some tzatziki when I got home and it was so loaded with dill that I couldn't have more than a taste.)

Here's a pic of Lizzie with our souvlaki:

Unrelated to our food, but across the street from the souvlaki shop was a little Mexican restaurant. The menu included all the stuff we know, like tacos, burritos, and chimichangas. It also had this little sign:

LOL

Three stops in to our food tour, we were about to have the big family-style gathering at a taverna. The original part of the taverna was really cute. It was decorated to be like a store that also had a small kitchen in it that would provide fresh-cooked meals to workers in the area. Antonia, our guide, told us about these little store/restaurants that were in some of the small villages. I guess this restaurant was a growing concern, because they had another seating area near the original restaurant - I'm talking there was a little bookstore wedged between the two places. Here's a photo of the original taverna:

We were seated in the newer area. Antonia ordered a bunch of stuff for our table to share, and as the food was brought out, she explained what everything was and told some fun stories about her own experiences with the food because her family made those same dishes at their home. Mostly what we had were dips. We smeared the dips on bread, not pitas. There were so many, I don't know if I remember them all. There was one that was some type of cheese. One that was roe mixed with something, maybe yogurt. It was very fishy tasting. There was one made with potato. My favorite was called fava, it is a split pea dip with garlic and olive oil, of course. I found a recipe for it, and I might try to make it someday when I get a blender. We also had a taste of a traditional bean dish made with tomato sauce and herbs. That dish was also really good. It would be easy to be a vegetarian in Greece. Antonia said that her family mostly ate veg and grains and only had meat on special occasions. We did try a meat dish, though, that was absolutely delicious. It was a roast beef that was simmered in tomato sauce with herbs that you might not think would belong there, at least to our way of thinking, like nutmeg and a dash of cinnamon. Some Greek dishes are heavily influenced by Turkish cooking. Peynirli, for example, is from Turkey, if I recall correctly.

I didn't take any photos of the food at the taverna. I realized I was the only person taking photos, and I felt a little self-conscious. I don't know if a photo would have done it justice, anyway.

We left the taverna feeling full and satisfied, and we still had one stop left to go. What's a food tour without dessert? And can you say you had dessert in Greece if you don't have baklava? The answer is probably no. 

Fortunately, we had a little bit of a walk to get to the dessert shop. You can see there are people out and about. It's probably around 21:30 by this time. People tend to eat dinner later in Greece, as in other parts of Europe. 

We ended up at this cute shop...

...to have these delicious desserts:

On the left is baklava. On the right is orange cake, and the ice cream is flavored with mastic. Let's take a moment to discuss.

Baklava in Greece is typically made with phyllo dough, walnuts, and a syrup made with honey. Baklava may also be made with other nuts, too, but that may not be traditional Greek. This baklava was so good. The nuts were crunchy, the phyllo on top was thin and crispy, and on the bottom, soaked with the honey syrup so it was chewy. 

The orange cake was an interesting texture because it is made of finely chopped phyllo dough mixed into the cake batter. You can see the phyllo "straws" poking out of the edge of the cake there. The cake is baked, I think, then covered with a honey syrup with orange juice (honey is a thing in Greece) and orange slices while it is still warm, so that all the syrup and orange flavor seeps in. The orange cake was my favorite thing. 

The mastic flavored ice cream was unlike anything I'd ever tasted. The flavoring comes from the resin of the mastic tree. It is sort of vanilla tasting with an almost woody flavor. It is a pallet-cleanser, I'd say. You have a taste of the ice cream, and it would cleanse your mouth of the flavor of the baklava or the cake and leave it clean and ready for a new taste. I gobbled every last bite of everything on that plate, and smiled the whole time. 

Overall, it was a fantastic tour and a really good fun. MT and I did a food tour in Rome that we loved, and that's what spurred Lizzie and I to find a food tour in Athens. If you are going to a European city, I totally recommend booking a food tour. It is a great way to see the city at night, see local people out living their lives, talk to fellow travelers, and learn about a country and it's food. 

Our tour lasted about four hours. It was nice to walk back to the hotel after all that intake. It took probably 20 minutes or so to walk from Monastiraki Square back to the Plaka area. I've been asked if I felt nervous about walking around the city at night, and I can tell you that I did not feel nervous at all in Athens or in Chania. 

To finish off the night, here is a photo of the Acropolis from Monastiraki Square. It's not a great pic, but there were so many people and cars all around, I did the best I could.

The Acropolis

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A follow up to yesterday's Dip Day discussion. Lizzie wanted to know if I contributed anything to the festivities. The answer is yes, I did. I brought (store-bought) Hot Pepper Bacon Jam which I poured over a brick of cream cheese and served with Wheat Thins. There was not a scrape of it left on the plate  by early afternoon. It had good flavor, not really hot and spicy, but more smoky. Yum yum.

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