Gastronomy has its very own special place in Greece

Delicious local specialities, famous spirits and a large selection of traditional produce.

You’ve come to a country blessed with a rare Mediterranean beauty, which unfolds in an extraordinary diversity of landscapes and seascapes, opening your horizons to every possible kind of experience, not least gastronomical. Forget that the Greek sun and sea usually refer to beaches. Think instead of the delicious things they produce, from the miraculous olive tree to the lowliest mollusc.
Greece promises to be a gastronomy experience that you’ll never forget. Here you’ll take part in a game of discovering new tastes and aromas, new combinations of foods, new fruits of the earth. The gastronomy here will excite you: traditional Greek breakfast, colourful authentic Mediterranean cuisine, Greek local products, fine wines, flavorful beers and local spirits.
Every corner of the country has its unique specialities, foods that have evolved over time from the interplay of necessity and invention, from raw materials that grew naturally in harsh or lush environments, from passersby – invaders or refugees – who introduced new ideas, and from the Orthodox Church, whose stringent regulations regarding fasting compelled countless generations of housewives to create an enormous repertoire of wonderful vegetarian and vegan dishes. Come and discover Greek cuisine in all its manifestations: regional or panhellenic, traditional or modern, sophisticated or simple, one thread connects all the food you will eat here.

Greek cuisine in the big cities
In the big cities, you’ll dine at innovative and star-spangled restaurants serving new Greek cuisine and you’ll visit traditional markets that have been open since the 19th century. Shop windows and open-air displays will entice you with their novelties and freshness, inviting you to sample and taste familiar or unfamiliar foods. Live like a local in a land that has been influenced by waves of conquerors and make your own habits to nourish body and soul. Every place is its own little gastronomic kingdom.

Gastronomic tradition in Greece
Seek out local products, bend to the ancient culinary tradition of a universal culture, exchange toasts with your neighbours as you drink wine made from exquisite indigenous grapes, have fun at lunch parties on Sundays and holidays that last till evening, enjoying traditional dishes that have been seasoned with love and special care.

Greek products
Think of the gastronomic wealth of Greece as a giant gift basket full of natural perfumes and tastes. Peel the juiciest peach of your life and let the juice dribble like a bracelet around your wrists and fingers. Take a mouthful of fruity Nemean red wine or flinty Santorini white and let the long aftertaste intoxicate you. Feel the strength and energy flow into you after a light but fortifying Greek breakfast.
Ask the vendors at the farmers’ markets to choose their best produce for you. Swim at dawn and watch the fishermen haul in their catch; then order it for lunch at the beach taverna. Watch your palate explore new tastes – a freshly picked, piquant wild green, the firm flesh of a real tomato in a courtyard ringed by strumming cicadas in the heat.

Wine and Greece’s local spirits
Discover award-winning Greek wine from historic vineyards. Share traditional local drinks – an aromatic tsipouro, ouzo or raki of a local producer – and enjoy the refreshing and flavourful Greek beers that have been gaining more and more fame in recent years. Finally be sure to try the one of a kind mastiha from Chios, as a liqueur as well as in a cocktail. The drinks and spirits that the Greek soil produces will contribute to your big and memorable moments.

Turn your exploration of the flavours of Greece into an exciting gastronomic odyssey.