Greece

Souvlaki

Skewered pork grilled over coals, wrapped in pita with tomato, onion and tzatziki.

Gyros

Meat shaved from a vertical spit into pita, with chips tucked in alongside.

Moussaka

Aubergine and spiced lamb under a thick béchamel, baked until the top browns.

Horiatiki

Tomato, cucumber, onion, olives and a slab of feta — no lettuce, plenty of oil.

Tzatziki

Strained yoghurt with grated cucumber, garlic and dill, eaten with everything.

Spanakopita

Filo pie of spinach and feta, sold by the slice from bakery windows.

Pastitsio

Tubular pasta, cinnamon-scented meat sauce and béchamel, baked and cut into squares.

Kleftiko

Lamb sealed with garlic and lemon in parchment and slow-baked, historically hidden underground.

Gemista

Tomatoes and peppers stuffed with herbed rice, baked over potatoes in olive oil.

Dolmadakia

Vine leaves rolled around rice, lemon and dill, served cool as a meze.

Saganaki

Hard cheese fried in a two-handled pan and doused with lemon at the table.

Fasolada

White bean soup with carrot, celery and tomato, once called the national dish.

Htapodi sti schara

Octopus sun-dried on the quay then grilled over coals with oregano and vinegar.

Feta

Brined sheep's-milk cheese, salty and crumbly, protected to Greece since 2002.

Bougatsa

Thessaloniki filo pastry filled with semolina custard, cut up with scissors.

Galaktoboureko

Semolina custard baked in filo and soaked in citrus syrup while still hot.

Loukoumades

Fried dough balls drenched in honey and cinnamon, eaten with fingers.

Baklava

Layers of crisp pastry, walnuts, and honeyed syrup in sweet harmony.

Ouzo

Anise spirit that clouds with water, drunk slowly alongside meze, never alone.

Frappé

Instant coffee shaken with ice into a foam, invented in Thessaloniki in 1957.