9 essential dishes to try on your next trip to Greece

National Geographic

11 hours ago

This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
Greek food sings of the summer — it's best enjoyed outside, from mainland mountaintops to island beaches. Mezze spreads celebrate punchy purple olives, garlicky dips and herb-sprinkled cheese, while salads of sun-ripened tomatoes, tangy feta and fragrant oregano are perfect with just-landed grilled fish or slow-stewed legumes cooked in outdoor ovens following recipes that date back to antiquity. Here are the nine essential dishes to try when in Greece. Lily Bellos sits at her Corfu home in Benitses as she showcases her pastitsada, or 'la pastizzada', as the island's Venetian colonisers called it. It's a dish that's been representative of Corfu for hundreds of years. Photograph by Marco Argüello Pastitsada is slow-cooked meat — beef, rabbit, rooster or, on occasion, octopus — stewed in a deep-red tomato sauce for hours and flavoured with the island's signature spetseriko spice mix. Photograph by Marco Argüello Pastitsada, Corfu
Pastitsada or 'la pastizzada' as Corfu's Venetian colonisers called it, is a dish that's represented this Ionian island for hundreds of years. Slow-cooked meat — beef, rabbit, rooster or, on occasion, octopus — is served atop a pile of pasta after being stewed for hours in a deep-red tomato sauce flavoured with the island's spetseriko spice mix. This fragrant blend invariably contains cinnamon and cloves along with nutmeg, allspice, cumin and several more besides. Found across the island, pastitsada has a distinct flavour profile that scents the air, notably during Sunday lunch, its traditional foray.
Like many of the island's 'native' dishes, pastitsada can be largely credited to the Venetians who put Corfu on the spice trail more than 500 years ago when they colonised it, forging commercial ties with Dubrovnik — another Venetian outpost. With them they brought powdered red pepper — both sweet and hot — and should you travel to Croatia's Dalmatian coastline, you'll find the same dish, known locally as pašticada, served with gnocchi instead of pasta. Corfu's olives are a prized Greek crop and can be found in many mezze spreads. Photograph by Alamy, Marco Kesseler
Where to try it: The Venetian Well in Corfu Town, Klimataria on the coast, and Ambelonas, set on a hill around four miles from Corfu Town, each put their own spin on the dish.
Where to stay: The Olivar Suites in Messonghi has double rooms from €230 (£193), B&B, and a restaurant, Flya, with a menu of local produce and traditional dishes. Sfouggato, Lesvos
Eleni Chioti remembers her grandmother putting a pan on the brazier, embers glowing below, and preparing sfouggato to swiftly sate hungry stomachs at home. Today, as the founder of the Women's Cooperative of Petra on Greece's northeastern Aegean island of Lesvos, she oversees a team of cooks who dish out multiple servings of the nourishing, flourless dish of vegetables and cheese to holidaymakers.
While sfouggato needs plenty of eggs, the traditional Lesvian dish is neither an omelette nor a souffle, but more a velvety pie. At the cooperative's restaurant, set in the northern coastal town of Petra, the recipe is straightforward yet strict. Shredded courgette and spring or red onion are sauteed in olive oil. Local feta, graviera cheese, eggs and a dash of pepper are added. Elena throws in a few tablespoons of tarhana — cracked wheat with sheep's milk — for the sfouggato to retain volume and absorb juices. Chopped dill and spearmint are sprinkled in for aroma then the mixture is poured into a pan lined with a little crushed rusk and baked in the oven. Once it's ready to serve, she likes to garnish the dish with fresh courgette flowers.
Eleni remembers with great fondness the close friendships formed with guests over the years through the cooperative, established in 1983. 'The aim was to take women out of the home. You can't have equality if you don't have money,' she says.
Where to try it: At the Women's Cooperative of Petra sfouggato is served piping hot with a little grated graviera, the sfouggato at this warmly-welcoming dining spot is considered among the best in town. Walk-ins are fine for lunch while dinner reservations are highly recommended. Open from early April till about mid-October. Sfouggato costs €5 (£4.30) and lunch for two, including drinks, is around €30 (£26).
Where to stay: Archontiko Petras 1821, in Petra, is a romantic five-room boutique hotel housed in a stone-built mansion dating to 1821, where guests can enjoy a home-style breakfast often featuring sfouggato. Doubles from €106 (£88) per night, B&B. Craving skordalia? You can find it in Thessaloniki, home of the 15th century-built White Tower. Photograph by Getty Images, Panos Karapanagiotis Skordalia, Macedonia
This potent garlic dip dating to antiquity is served throughout Greece, but its most eclectic version is found in the northern Greek region of Macedonia. Here, skordalia is traditionally made with walnuts – which have become a rarity due to rising costs. If you do find the dish done this way, it's most likely to be in the regional capital, Thessaloniki, at the fish tavernas of Kalamaria or the tapas bar-like mezedopolia of Ladadika. In Athens, chef Konstandina Stavropoulou says she considers walnut skordalia — on the menu at her fish taverna Thalassinos — to be exceptional. 'When crushed, walnuts release essential oils that balance out the flavours of the garlic and olive oil,' she says. 'It has quite a robust taste.'
Today, however, across Greece the recipe usually combines garlic, olive oil, salt, and lemon or vinegar, with either boiled potatoes or stale white crustless bread. And skordalia is inextricably linked with Greek Independence Day, celebrated on 25 March, when it's served with bakaliaro – crisp-fried salt-cured Atlantic cod.
Where to try it: Sample loukoumades-style cod with two types of skordalia — walnut and beetroot — at Thessaloniki restaurant, Maiami.
Where to stay: Matriarch Mrs Loulou pairs walnut skordalia with fried cod, mussels or courgettes at Akroyiali, the seaside taverna dating to 1924 that forms part of family-run Hotel Liotopi, in northeastern Halkidiki. The dish is also a staple of the monks on Halkidiki's Mount Athos. Doubles from €131 (£109) half board. Many know mastiha as a digestif but, in Chios, its bitter-sweet, herbal flavour has long enhanced local desserts and pastries. Photograph by Getty Images; Iremtastan Masourakia, Chios
On Greece's northeastern Aegean island of Chios, mastiha is king. Said since the fifth century BCE to aid digestion, this aromatic resin is gently coaxed by hand from mastic trees that grow in the south of the island. It has myriad uses, from chewing gum to face cream, while studies have found evidence of anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties. Many know it as a digestif but, in Chios, its bitter-sweet, herbal flavour has long enhanced local desserts and pastries. And masourakia, buttered filo almond pastries, are by far the local favourite.
Anna Moniodi, born in the mastiha-producing village of Tholopotami, says home cooks created masourakia around 1965. And, soon enough, the filo-wrapped tubes of almond and mastiha found their way to patisseries like Moniodis, owned by her family.
'Masourakia are unique to Chios. You can't find them anywhere else,' Anna says. Due to their shape, they're believed to have taken their name from the Greek word for spool. 'Traditionally, masourakia were served to guests at weddings and baptisms with a glass of soumada, a local drink made from bitter almond. But it's really an everyday sweet,' she adds.
Chios has long been known for its excellent almonds, so it makes sense that many local sweets feature this ingredient. Masourakia are no exception. Anna offers three types of masourakia at Moniodis, all made with almond. Mastiha flavours the original version, while another has the addition of Chian thyme honey syrup, coated in a thick layer of finely chopped almond. Local mandarin adds zing to a third, equally popular version.
Where to try it: Take your pick from Moniodis' masourakia, which come individually wrapped, or sample all three flavours. Track them down at one of two locations in Chios town (at 26 Voupalou St and 4 Psychari St).
Where to stay: Pearl Island Chios Hotel & Spa, often offers sweet masourakia as a welcome at check-in. Doubles from €153 (£128) per night, B&B. This bakaliaros plaki recipe comes from Kalamata native Yiayia Niki, who has been making it this way for decades. Photograph by Marco Argüello Yiayia Niki's dish of bakaliaros plaki. Once known as the 'mountain fish' recipe, this dish can be tailored to vegans with an extra potato and red pepper in place of seafood. Photograph by Marco Argüello Bakaliaros plaki, Peloponnese
This simple baked fish sings of the flavours of Greece's Peloponnese peninsular. The native dish was once known as the 'mountain fish' recipe, due to the salt cod used, which used to be cheap and wouldn't spoil easily — perfect for those living far from the coast in the remote hills of this vast southern region. The cod is baked along with some tomatoes, onions, garlic, potatoes and red peppers, flavoured with fragrant bay leaves, oregano, cinnamon, allspice seeds and sweet Kalamata currants (dried grapes). A perfect balance for salty cod, the currents are a prized commodity in this particular region of Greece, which is better known worldwide for its purple-black Kalamata olives. For those who aren't a fan of this preserved fish, the dish can also be made with fresh cod fillets seasoned with salt. Peppery green Peloponnese olive oil, which is another essential ingredient and a staple in the region, is added during cooking and also in a dressing flourish to serve. And for vegans, the dish can be transformed into a plentiful plant-based meal by omitting the fish and adding some extra potato and red pepper. Either way, it's usually garnished with some chopped parsley and served with a slice of bread to soak up the juices.
Where to try it: On the west coast of the Peloponnese, in the village of Limeni, dine at either of the long-established neighbouring waterfront tavernas, Takis and Kourmas, while watching turtles splash about in the bay. These seafood restaurants have frequently changing menus, but often include various local baked and grilled fish dishes, from around €25 (£22).
Where to stay: Over on the far east of the Peloponnese peninsula, Kinsterna Hotel uses homegrown and local produce on the menus of its two restaurants — including in regional baked fish dishes. It also uses these in its lovely bathroom products, fragrant with olive oil and malvasia grapes, plus wines and tsipouro spirit are made in the estate's surrounding vineyards. Doubles from €180 (£154) B&B. Soufiko, Ikaria
Eleni Karimali fell into the business of cooking classes after her family abandoned Athens for the northeastern Aegean island of Ikaria. Here, at their winery and farmhouse, she teaches guests how to make local dishes including the satisfying vegan stew soufiko.
Ikaria is one of five places in the world where pioneering author Dan Buettner has studied why people live longer, healthier lives, many well into their 90s. His studies led to the concept of 'Blue Zone' cuisine, which revolves around fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains. Ikaria's organic plant produce is the cornerstone of its home cooking and is crucial to soufiko, a hearty, ratatouille-like stew of summer veggies.
'Our ancestors prepared high-quality, pure food, often without eggs or cheese because we didn't always have access to them,' explains Eleni. Legend has it that soufiko originated when an Ikarian woman threw some summer vegetables into a pot as an impromptu meal for her husband. She sauteed onions, garlic, potatoes, aubergine, courgette and tomato in olive oil, adding oregano, summer savoury herb and parsley. The story goes, says Eleni, that when the stew was ready, the woman was so taken with the result, she said to herself: 'Andra mou, na sou afiko, i na mi sou afiko?' (Dear husband, should I leave you some or not?).
Today, soufiko is among the dishes Eleni demonstrates to guests, using organic produce from the family's farm. 'I cut the vegetables lengthwise so they retain their shape,' she says, adding: 'Soufiko shouldn't be mushy.'
Where to try it: Mary Mary in Armenistis, an old school-meets-new restaurant, where chef Nikos Politis pays tribute to Ikarian tradition with tummy-warming soufiko paired with kathoura, a local goat's cheese.
Where to stay: Family-run Karimalis Winery comes complete with a guesthouse and restaurant serving exemplary Ikarian cuisine. Doubles from €70 (£58), B&B. Six-day all-inclusive stays from €1,478 (£1,235) per person. Revithada is a baked chickpea stew traditionally served on Sundays and made in a skepastaria, the small clay bowl dedicated to its cooking. Thanks to its rich clay deposits, Sifnos has become known as an island for ceramicists. Photograph by Marco Argüello 'When I was growing up, many of the men on the island were potters,' says Maro, owner of To Maro boutique apartments. 'That left the women to farm the land and the children at home to prepare dinner. That's how I learned to cook revithada myself, from the age of seven". Photograph by Marco Argüello Revithada, Chios
Thanks to its rich clay deposits, Sifnos is known as an island of ceramicists. Clay pots have been used to cook with for centuries resulting in dishes native to this wind-battered Cycladic isle, unique to the vessel in which they're slow-baked. None is more Sifnian than revithada — a baked chickpea stew traditionally served on Sundays and made in a skepastaria, the small clay bowl dedicated to its cooking.
Left in a wood-burning oven overnight, the ultra-soft chickpeas are infused with lemon and bay leaves, and these few ingredients achieve a perfectly comforting dish that sings with the zing of local citrus. Island cook Maro, owner of To Maro boutique apartments, stresses the importance of baking on a low heat for a number of hours. She makes hers, sometimes for guests in the garden outside the holiday rental in Kastro, over an open flame in her specially built outdoor oven.
'When I was growing up, many of the men on the island were potters,' says Maro. 'That left the women to farm the land and the children at home to prepare dinner. That's how I learned to cook revithada myself, from the age of seven. 'Even on a Sunday, our parents would leave the house by donkey to go out and work while the revithada baked slowly, until they returned home.'
This wholesome, hearty meal is often served with slice of myzithra or feta cheese, a couple of olives and hunk of bread.
Where to try it: To Steki, in the bay of Platis Gialos, serves revithada alongside other Sifnian claypot-baked dishes such as beef stewed in a rich red wine sauce. Set almost on the water, this favoured local spot has its own vegetable garden, which provides most of its organic produce.
Where to stay: To Maro has apartments from €45 (£38), room only. Verina Hotel Sifnos offers the opportunity to try your hand at the potter's wheel. The hotel organises classes in one of Sifnos's oldest clay pottery studios, alongside revithada cooking workshops. Doubles from €253 (£212) per night, B&B. Bougatsa, Thessaloniki
Philippos Bantis is one of Thessaloniki's few remaining bougatsa-makers. Take a short stroll from the northern Greek city's crumbling Byzantine fortifications, and you'll find him working at hole-in-the-wall Bougatsa Bantis, which has been supplying the breakfast staple for the best part of a century. The crisp phyllo pie filled with vanilla-spiked semolina custard, says Philippos, arrived with Cappadocian migrants in the population exchanges of the 1920s.
'My grandfather said they were always made in a wood-fired oven,' he says. 'The pie of the poor people, in Byzantine times, women made it at home for their husbands to take to work — something you don't see any more.'
There are probably only a handful of young bougatsa-makers these days, according to Philippos. 'To make a decent bougatsa you need to put in the time. It takes hours to make but doesn't have a shelf life of more than a day, so I suppose it's not the most cost-effective food item. The skill needed to make the phyllo exceptionally thin takes years or practice.'
A good bougatsa has layers thin as tracing paper. 'Traditional 'sketi' bougatsa ('plain') have no semolina in the dough and the phyllo is so thin, crisp and full of butter,' says Philippos. 'By far the most delicious in my opinion. You have to eat it hot out of the oven and always with a sprinkling of cinnamon and icing sugar.'
Where to try it: Bougatsa Bantis, at Panagias Faneromenis 33, Thessaloniki.
Where to stay: Stately boutique hotel On Residence has double rooms from €157 (£131) per night, including breakfasts featuring hand-made sweet and savoury pastries, northern Greek cheeses and locally sourced seasonal produce. Published in Issue 28 (summer 2025) of Food by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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