Travel Musings - Greece

Food is an immediate and visceral way to connect with a new place – after all, we eat several times a day and every time offers a fresh opportunity to be fully present. 

And in a country like Greece with myriad food traditions and hyper-local local ingredients, one finds oneself arriving everyday, all senses ON and ready to take in the bounty.

 

Travel lets us open up to change - dust up some tired habits, try new things, and infuse the familiar with a thrill of discovering them again especially around our food..

Some standouts from my trip to try at home –

For Summer ~

• Tomato pesto – fresh, ripe tomatoes, minced really fine mixed with a generous glug of olive oil, crushed pine nuts, fresh garlic, basil, salt + pepper, and served over crusty bread;;

• White bean salad with tangy capers, lemon juice, garlic, salt+pepper, served on spicy arugula;

• Cold cucumber/avocado/yogurt soup with red peppercorns and basil-infused olive oil; rice with edamame and dill, topped with avocado/yogurt-cream.

For Fall ~ Tahini-honey (tahini blended with honey) to drizzle over yogurt, pancakes, porridge or what-have-you;

Trip journal ~ Besides the food, what stood out whether it was a restaurant in bustling and buzzing Athens or a quiet tavern on a small island, is the Greek custom of bringing a sweet treat to the table at the end of the meal, on the house.

The offering ranged from a platter of fresh cut watermelon to shot glasses of delicious house-made liqueurs. Even meals on the go came with maybe a couple of free doughnuts in the bag along with the coffee or a free pastry with the sandwich. I remember a unique sweet called Mastiha. It is sticky, white, fondant-like and served on a popsicle stick, immersed in a shot glass of cold water. It was unlike anything I had ever eaten before but instantly evocative of childhood treats like lollipops and sticky toffee.

This custom of serving a free, sweet end to the meal is infused with an invitation to linger at the table without worry of seating times and table turnovers.  It lets one skip dessert and yet have a delicious meal-ending nibble before hitting the road again. Until we meet again!

In these global times when a particular cuisine/dining experience is only a click and a short car-ride away, travel still has the potential to inform and awaken the senses in unexpected ways.  My idea of Greek food certainly blossomed into deep appreciation of a vast and rich cuisine that is at once a product of place, people, and nature interacting for centuries to satisfy a most primal need – Food!