Greek Culinary Dictionary I - Q

I		Imam baildi = Melitzanes Immam, literally: "the imam(priest) is exhilarated"; even more literally: "the imam fainted", one of the most notable lathera (olive oil) dishes, is braised eggplant stuffed with onion, garlic and tomatoes, simmered in olive oil, and served at room temperature. It is a variation of Melitzanes papoutsakia , which additionally contains minced beef topped with béchamel sauce .
J		Julamas = Sweet and savory Cretan pie made of liver, rice and sultana raisins.
K		Kalathaki Limnou, from the northern Aegean island of Limnos, is made like feta but the curd is shaped into small, one-kilo (2.2-pound) heads in basketlike molds (kalathaki means small basket). Sheep’s milk with a maximum of 30% goat’s milk is used. Matured in brine, the little heads develop a special flavor. It is a table cheese, milder than feta with a pleasant taste and no evidence of ageing.
		Kalitsounia = Small pies from Crete. Some are plumped with hard cheese, orange juice, and cinnamon. Some are loaded with goat, oregano, and brandy, and served with yogurt. Some hold shrimp and feta cheese. Others hold black-eye peas and macaroni. At times bechamel sauce and custard surround the ingredients, and often they are fried as well as baked.
		Kata-i-fi = called  καταϊφι or κανταϊφι in Greek (kataïfi or kadaïfi), is using a crust made from long thin noodle threads. The threads are used to make pastries of various forms (tubes or nests), often with a filling of chopped nuts, like that used for baklava. A kadaif pastry is made by putting down a layer of wire kadaifi, then a layer of a filling of chopped nuts, then another layer of wire kadaifi. The pastries are painted with melted butter, baked until golden brown, then drenched in sugar or honey syrup. A variation of this, is Gianniotiko, where the filled rolls of kadaifi are wrapped in phyllo pastry and then baked.
		Kaskavali = One of the oldest cheeses of Limnos island. It’s a buttery flavored cheese from ewe’s milk.
		Kasseri = (Ka-SE-ree). is semi-hard with a unique, unmistakable flavor and buttery, pleasant texture. Kasseri is produced in the following PDO regions: Xanthi in Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, and on the island of Lesvos. The best is made from 100% sheep's milk, although goat's milk and up to 10% cow's milk may also be added. It belongs in the “pasta filata” family of cheeses; traditional kasseri is made by hand-kneading the warmed, malleable curd to just the right consistency. The master craftsman's skill plays a key role in the kneading and forming of the nine-kilo (20-pound) round heads and in the maturing process, in air at cellar temperature, for many months. The finished cheese shows complex flavors and buttery aromas. Kasseri is a wonderful table cheese to enjoy with full-bodied white wines.
		Kopanisti, produced in the Cyclades islands of Mykonos, Tinos, and Syros, is grainier, sharper, and saltier than the soft naturally fermented cheeses of the mainland. It has complex, intense flavors and a characteristic pepperiness. It is often part of the meze menu offered with spirits such as tsipouro or with the dark, earthy, tannic wines of the Cyclades. Katiki Domokou is made in Domokos, central Greece. A goat cheese, with some sheep's milk added occasionally, it is mild, slightly tart with texture and flavor reminiscent of strained yogurt. It is often eaten like yogurt and used as a topping for grilled and roasted meats.
		Kavourmas = It consists of slow braised meat (pork or beef) along with its broth. It looks like a pâté but the meat pieces are visible. Recently, a local manufacturer in Northern Greece uses meat from a rare local breed of buffalo.
		Kefalograviera = (ke-fa-lo-gra-vee-AIR-a). Another pale-yellow cheese with a hard rind and an abundance of small air holes. As its name indicates, in both flavor and texture it falls somewhere between graviera and Kefalotyri. It can range from sweet and mild to quite piquant. Kefalograviera is the cheese of choice for grilling and frying, but it can also be eaten as a table cheese.
		Kefalotyri = (ke-fa-lo-TEE-ree).  A very hard, light-yellow sheep's or goat's milk cheese with a sharp tangy flavor. The cheese is made mainly in Crete, as well as in Naxos, Cephalonia, Thessaly, and Epirus. It is a popular grating cheese.
		Keftedes = usually fried meatballs, but the word also refers to croquettes made of other ingredients such as potatoes (patatokeftedes), split peas (revithokeftedes) or even tarama/fish roe (taramokeftedes).
		Kokoretsi = traditional for Easter; (though it can be found all year round in traditional grill houses) pieces of lamb offal (liver, heart, lungs, spleen, kidney and fat) are pierced on a spit and covered by washed small intestine wound around in a tube-like fashion, then roasted over a coal fire.
		Kontosouvli = Kontosouvli another rotisserie offering where large chunks of pork are marinated then skewered and secured by a rod/spit and slow-roasted over an open charcoal pit.
		Koulouria = butter or olive-oil cookies. Also “Voutimata”, after the Greek word voutao, which means to dunk, are usually small, round or wedge-shaped cookies, pressed cookies with a filling, or cookies half-dipped in chocolate. Their size defines them to a certain degree; voutimata have to be small enough to hold between two or three fingers, the better to facilitate dunking.Texture is important, too. They have to be firm enough so they don’t become soggy or disintegrate when immersed in a steaming cup of coffee.
		Kourambiedes = Christmas cookies made by kneading flour, butter and crushed roasted almonds, then generously dusted with powdered sugar.
		Kumquat Corfu = Kumquat in Chinese means “golden orange” and it resembles indeed little, very little oranges. It can be eaten with the skin and its flavour is bittersweet. Kumquats where brought to Corfu by the British (Botanist Sidney Merlin, to be precise) in 1860. It seems the plant liked the Corfiot climate and the people of Corfu liked its taste and aroma. Nowadays, kum quats are mostly grown in northwest Corfu, especially near the village of Nymfes. Kum quat liqueur has become a trademark of Corfu, and it can be found in both the characteristic bright orange and in the, more natural, yellowish colour. But kum quats are also used in cooking and processed into sweets, jam, marmelade and even perfume!
L		Ladotyri Mytilinis = (la-tho-TEE-ree). Another unusual product, the name of which means "oil cheese."  The cheese, which is shaped like miniature barrels, is steeped in olive oil and aged for several months. Lesvos is the most famous place in Greece for ladotyri and most of what is in the U.S. is produced there. The cheeses is sharp, nutty and with a distinct, almost crunchy, texture. It’s excellent as a table cheese.
		Loukaniko choriatiko = country sausage.
		Lountza =  From the word for loin, as in pork loin, loutza is a wine-and-spice cured meat made in Syros, Tinos, and Andros.
		Loukoumades = similar to small crusty donuts, loukoumades are essentially fried balls of dough drenched in honey and sprinkled with cinnamon, typically served with crushed walnuts.
		Loukoumia = is a confection made from starch and sugar, worldwide known as the Turkish delight. A variation from Serres is called Akanés. Loukoúmia are flavored with various fruit flavors, with rosewater considered the most prized.
M		Mandolatto = nougat of Zakynthos
		Mandoles = Red coloured almond praline, local sweet of Kefallonia Island.
		Manouri = (ma-NOO-ree) produced in Thessaly and Macedonia, is an unusual whey cheese made with the addition of fresh sheep's cream to the whey left after the production of hard cheese or feta. Its texture is smooth, dense, and buttery. It is shaped into logs by the cloth bags in which the curd drains. Very lightly salted, it retains the sweetness of the fresh cream. A delicious instant dessert can be created by spreading honey or fruit jam on a thin Manouri round and topping with a few chopped walnuts, almonds, or pistachios.
		Mantineia = It is the name of a Protected designation of origin of Greekblanc de gris wine, made of the moschofilero grape traditionally grown in the region of Mantineia in Peloponese..
		Mastiha Chiou = Mastic Gum comes from the resin that seeps like teardrops from the bark of the mastic tree (Pistacia lentiscus). It is an exclusively Greek product, because although the mastic tree grows in many places it only sheds its tears, thus producing its valuable crystals, in the Aegean island of Chios. In cooking, mastic flavours Greek cakes and breads, myriad confections an ouzo-like liqueur, and a chewing gum. It is also used in making varnishes and adhesives. But the most important thing about mastic today is that scientists are confirming what earlier savants had observed and Hippocrates had pointed out: mastic is good for myriad ailments. For example, a research team from the UK’s Nottingham University has found that even small amounts of mastic can destroy the helicobakter pylori bacteria, which only a decade ago was recognised as the prime cause of peptic ulcers and stomach cancer. Furthermore, mastic adhesive bandages heal rather than hurt your skin, as do mastic-based surgical sutures; mastic appears to be able to lower cholesterol levels, it has an anti-inflammatory properties, acts as an antioxidant (smoothing wrinkles inside and out) and may even offer protection against arteriosclerosis.
		Mavrodafni = Mavrodaphne is initially vinified in large vats exposed to the sun. Once the wine reaches a certain level of maturity, fermentation is stopped by adding distillate prepared from previous vintages. Then the Mavrodaphne distillate and the wine, still containing residual sugar, is transferred to the underground cellars to complete its maturation. There it is "educated" by contact with older wine using the solera method of serial blending. Once aged, the wine is bottled and sold as a dessert wine under the Mavrodafni Protected designation of origin. Mavrodaphne is a dark, almost opaque wine with a dark purple reflected color and a purple-brown transmitted color. It presents aromas and flavors of caramel, chocolate, coffee, raisins and plums. Mavrodaphne literally means 'black laurel'. The name was chosen by Gustav Clauss, the founder of the Achaia Clauss winery, because of the berries' resemblance to those of the laurel, though there are various stories about a lover, fiancée, or wife named Daphne, who had black eyes or who died.
		Meli = honey.  Certainly honey was the first – and for quite a while the only – sweetener Greeks had in their diet. Even now, it remains the most prestigious one. With its importance from ancient times, honey, along with the olive and the grape, marked the beginning of Greek gastronomy and a cuisine that retains its unique and original aspects today. Cheesecakes sweetened with honey are still found all over the Greek islands, especially at Easter. The chefs of Byzantium simmered Greek honey to pour over their famous layered sweets, baklava, galakobourico, kadayifi, and the fried doughnnut – like puffs called loukmades, all sweets still savored in today’s Greek kitchen. Honey in Greece is mainly honey from the nectar of fruit trees and citrus trees: lemon, orange, bigarade (bitter orange) trees, thyme honey, and pine honey from willy trees.
		Melitzanosalata = eggplant (aubergine) based dip. Read the recipe here.
		Melomakarona = "honey macaroons", Christmas cookies soaked with a syrup of diluted honey (méli in Greek) and then sprinkled with crushed walnuts.
		Metsovone = (me-tsoe-VOE-ne). This is a rich, hard, smoked yellow cheese made in Metsovo, Epirus. It resembles smoked Provolone. Metsovone is made in large sausage like loaves, usually from raw cow's milk. It is delicious as a table cheese, but also is delicious fried (saganaki), as the local tavernas serve it--with a sprinkling of paprika--and melted into cheese sauce.
		Mezes (μεζές) is a collective name for a variety of small dishes, typically served with wines or anise-flavored liqueurs as ouzo or homemade tsipouro.
		Mizithra = (mee-ZEE-thra). The word dates to the 16th century, when it referred to a kneaded cheese. Myzithra is a feta byproduct. Traditionally the whey from feta is combined with some whole milk, and curdled for several days. The curds are collected, drained, lightly salted and pressed. Myzithra is sold either as a soft table cheese, or aged into rock-hard balls and used as a grating cheese.
N		Naoussa wine = Xinomavro grape variety  is the sole king of the red-wine-only Naoussa appellation, producing wines full of breed, with a firm tannin and acidity framework, and an intense aromatic presence, full of ripe tomatoes, complex herbs, and graceful red fruits, such as strawberries, blueberries, and currants. Naoussa's wineries embrace every wine-making philosophy and produce a full range of styles, from the traditional to the modern, the latter often characterized by a noticeable new-oak influence. There are winemakers who concentrate on making good, light, fresh, everyday wines, and others who make wines meant to last decades. Naoussa's local wine culture has a healthy infrastructure. The region boasts large producers who make great-value wines, medium-size wineries that focus on higher price points, and boutique growers who exploit the potential of single vineyards. One of the most important issues among Naoussa producers now is the variety of styles and even the quality potential within the appellation   itself. For example, there is some evidence that the vineyards around the village of Gastra are producing quite tannic wines, while higher-altitude locations such as Yiannakochori, show fresher fruit aromas. These are very complex issues, and the Naoussa wine community will need some years to identify the region's possible Grand Cru areas.
		Nemea wine = The area of  Nemea is unique for many reasons, none more important, however, than the most basic: the indigenous vinis vinifera grape, Agiorgitiko, or St. George, which is perhaps the most multifaceted grape in the whole of Greece. Agiorgitiko takes its name from an old village right in the heart of the region. The Agiorgitiko grape produces wines with a deep, but never opaque, red-cherry color. The nose is usually intense but never too obvious, full with the aromas of red fruit, sweet, noble spices, and the odd hint of Mediterranean mountain herbs. It also possesses an unquestionable aromatic affinity to high-quality oak, making oak aging an important stylistic element for Nemea wines. On the mouth, Agiorgitiko is medium to full bodied, broad in the middle palate, while tannins, even when extracted to a high degree, always taste ripe and allurRosé Agiorgitiko is the perfect party wine and the perfect summer drink, but it’s also a great partner to the oil-rich vegetable dishes of the Peloponnese (and to those of other parts of the Mediterranean), leafy green salads or cooked wild greens. The Agiorgitiko reds go well with meat. Young, fresh Agiorgitiko that has not been aged in oak matches well with a large variety of dishes, like meat balls in tomato sauce, pork, even moussaka. Braised meats and stews, such as rabbit—in Greece sweet with the addition of onions—are a perfect counter for the more tannic, oak-aged Nemeas. More flamboyant Nemeas, with more tannins, more alcohol, and more evident oak, call for intense aromas, like lamb chops, especially charcoal grilled, or game. A good Agiorgitiko can easily age for four years and keep for another four. These older wines possess a grace of flavors but also a good base structure of tannins. These pair well with simple grilled meats, like beef fillet, and go nicely with a whole array of yellow cheeses.
O		Okra =   Okra is known as bamia or bamya.  Greek cuisine usually uses young okra pods, either alone with olive oil and tomato sauce or baked with chicken.
		Orzo = kritharaki, a form of pasta, literally meaning small barley. It is mainly cooked along with some type of sauce so as to absorb it. Lamb and orzo are the main ingredients of yiouvetsi, a baked dish, traditional on Sunday meals. Modern cooks also experiment with various combinations of kritharoto, as an alternative to risotto.
		Ospria = pulses. Pulses and especially beans and legumes have always been essential to the Greek table. While there are regions of Greece renowned for the cultivation of specific legumes, other parts of the country are known for specific bean recipes. Santorini is known for its many recipes for the humble yellow split pea and Rhodes and Sifnos are renowned for their chick pea dishes. In Sifnos, the local specialty is a slow-cooked, clay-baked chick pea soup that simmers all night in wood-burning ovens; in Rhodes chick-pea fritters spiced with cumin are a local treat. In Crete, an island with countless bean dishes, chick peas are crushed and fermented and used as starter in one of Greece's most unusual breads. But by far, no legume captures the local imagination among Cretan cooks as much as the ancient broad bean, which islanders savor both fresh and dried. A rarer and much less commercial regional legume is the tiny, delicate, pale brown lentil cultivated in the high altitude village of Englovis on the Ionian island of Lefkada, where the mild temperatures allow for its early harvest. A very popular Old World bean is the kouki, or large, green broad bean, which Americans typically call fava beans. Crete, especially the island's moderately wet Lasithi plateau, is known for its broad beans, but so are Alexandroupoli and Halkidiki in northeastern Greece, Ioannina in the northwest, and Corfu. One of the oldest legumes are black eyed peas, and in the Peloponnese cooks have a special affinity for them. Simply boiled, they make an appetizing summer salad combined with chopped fresh onions, parsley or dill, and capers. But by far, the one Greek legume that stands above all others, as an ambassador of the elegant simplicity of the best Greek cooking, and as fodder for modern chefs, is the Greek giant bean, gigantes. Boiled then baked in a rich tomato sauce until the skin becomes crispy while the bean retains its buttery softness, gigantes are one of the all-time favorite Greek dishes.
		Ouzo. Ouzo is a globally famous Greek drink-aperitif. It is an anise-flavored liqueur that is widely consumed throughout the country. Ouzo is exported throughout the world and Ouzo is one of Greece's most sought after products. When water or ice is added to ouzo, which is clear in color, it turns milky white; this is because the etheric oils are soluble in alcohol but not water. It is traditionally slowly sipped (usually mixed with water or ice) together with mezedes shared with others. These keep the effects of the alcohol from overwhelming the person who can sit and drink slowly for hours in a profoundly calm state of mind.
P		Pasta (cake) = A rectangular piece of cake, mostly sold in pastry shops and bakeries.
		Pasta flora = A sweet tart usually filled with apricot jam.
		Pastelli = small candy bars made of various nuts or sesame and honey.
		Pastitsada = A favorite in the Ionian is pastitsada, a delicious concoction of long, tubular pasta cooked with aromatic braised veal or rooster. There are variations of this dish in several places around Greece.
		Pastitsio = Famous baked pasta dish with four layers. Macaroni on the bottom, minced meat, macaroni and finally béchamel sauce.
		Pastourmas = Pastourmas   is is a highly seasoned, air-dried cured beef. It is prepared by salting the meat, then washing it with water and letting it dry for 10–15 days. The blood and salt is then squeezed out of the meat which is then covered with a cumin paste called çemen (lit., 'fenugreek') prepared with crushed cumin, fenugreek, garlic, and hot paprika, followed by thorough air-drying.
		Patsas = a tripe soup served warm with lots of garlic and wine vinegar. After a night out, it is considered the best method to prevent hangover.
		Pecorino Amfilochias = Local Cheese of Amfilochia, W. Greece. Excellent with pasta or fried.
		pe-i-nirli = A type of pizza bread in the shape of a boat, filled with cheese or meat.
		Pichtogalo Chanion is a soft, smooth, white, slightly tart and lightly salted spreadable cheese that comes from Chania in western Crete. It is made with a blend sheep's and goat milk coagulated at low temperature with natural animal rennet. Pychtogalo means “thick- ened milk” and people in the region use it just that way. They spread it on country bread adding herbs and spices for a snack and include it in meat casseroles and sauces.
		Pikilia = an assortment of various appetizers or meats, usually accompany wine or ouzo.
		Pitta = Pie. You could say that Epirote women put the 'p' in pita. Although savory pies exist throughout Greece and especially in the north, in Epirus, they are synonymous with food. Find my yammy spinach-pie recipe here. Their filling, usually a combination of cheeses and/or greens, is referred to locally as trofi, which means exactly that. With few ingredients to play around with, housewives at home or on the move invented dozens of variations- using hand-rolled phyllo pastry in layers of up to 20 sheets, cornmeal, or milk and egg batter, with no crust at all. The simplest contain only feta and butter or cheese and yogurt, while the more complex include a vegetable like cabbage, zucchini, spinach, or even lentils, besides the ubiquitous wild greens, freshly foraged or dried. These pies for every day came to be a staple equivalent to the working man's sandwich in the West - economical and easy to slip into a traveler's knapsack. But the pita is so well loved that they are even served on festive occasions, too. Much more elaborate and too juicy to be transportable, these pies conceal succulent combinations of shredded chicken, chopped lamb or game, eggs, herbs and piquant cheese to make a wickedly rich dish.
		Pitta bread = Pita is a slightly leavened wheat bread, flat, either round or oval, and variable in size. Its history extends far into antiquity, since flatbreads in general, whether leavened or not, are among the most ancient breads, requiring no oven or utensils to make. The term used for the bread in English is a loanword from Greek, pita (πίτα), probably derived from the Ancient Greek pēktos (πηκτός), meaning "solid" or "clotted". In Greece, pita is a major component of pita-souvlaki. These types of sandwiches involve the wrapping ofsouvlaki or gyros with tzatziki, tomatoes, onions, sometimes french fries, and condiments into a pita bread. Pita has a soft, chewy texture and is pocketless.
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