Oh man, it was the best. I might even say it rivals Italian food (downright beats northern Italian food for sure). All the tastes of Greece really made the trip for me because I now have memories that I can bring home and recreate.
One thing you should pick up right away while visiting there is that lemon can be squeezed on just about everything and it is absolutely delightful. We had lemon on our greek salads, beans, stuffed grape leaves, lentils, steak and fried potatoes! Just can't go wrong! The lemons trees were bountiful on every island we visited. We even scored a few to bring back to the boat to use in our water. They smelled fantastic and were gigantic in size!
Notice the whitewashing in the picture. The Greeks white wash everything! Their homes, sidewalks, random rocks, tree trunks-- just about everything. Our boat captain said it is a form of limestone and it is believed to help keep away insects. They also paint most of their other woodwork blue- like doors, window panes, etc. It is also believed that flies do not like that color and will be kept to a minimum. Either way, it is gorgeous!
I was also lucky enough to eat fried zucchini flowers. I thought it was only a delicacy in Tuscany and searched them out hard last summer when we went there. Unfortunately their season in only like 5 minutes long. We all know that one day you have a flower and 10 minutes later there is a zucchini as big as your forearm.
We found a cute out of the way restaurant in Hydra that was family owned and ran. They cook all their salads and put them out for you to choose from when you arrive. They also took back to the kitchen to admire all their fresh seafood. Keith and I were brave and asked them to cook up one of their squid for us. We also got a great black-eyed pea salad, greek salad and pasta.
And of course- we ate as many of these as humanly possible (stuffed grape leaves) and only a squeeze of lemon with perhaps some tzikiki would do!
Hands down the best part of Greece was definitely the cuisine!
I'm so jealous... that looks GOOD! :)
Posted by: Holli | 05/01/2011 at 05:57 PM