Greek Groceries

I spent some time in Greece back in the mid-1990s when my mother was hospitalized. I remember being surprised at the great variety of fruit juices (including mixtures, like pineapple-mango) that were available in single-service rectangular packages. The packaging was Greek, but I don't know that all the fruits were grown in Greece. My breakfast was one of those juices along with a slab of savory spanakopita (spinach/cheese/phyllo pastry) or tiropita (cheese/phyllo pastry). Those are not packaged foods; you buy them in bakeries.

In addition to feta, I've enjoyed myzithra cheese in Greece.

As a disclaimer, it has been a while since I was in Greece, but my impression was that much of the commercial/packaged product was imported, and I am pretty sure that EU requirements include origin of the product. However, the best stuff I had was local, or at least bulk product from markets.

As for some of my recollections,

Cheese: Besides Feta, it seems like everyplace had a local soft cheese, similar to feta, but softer, like a ricotta or a farmers cheese. There are some firmer, more typical cheeses, I recall Kasseri, and I had to go back and look, the other was Graviera. Both are somewhat mild cheeses, good for snacks.

Yogurt? I do not think, other than packaged stuff in stores, that I ever saw a brand, most of it was made local and sold bulk. Greek Yogurt is huge now, and everywhere in the world, but it was a revelation when I had it there. It is best ordered at a restaurant for breakfast, or mid morning snack, with honey, or whatever fruit is fresh. Expect a serving to be at least a cup on up to what seems like a quart, or more.

For food, most vegetables will be local, or from Greece, Fruit could be from further afield, I recall that origin, even in markets is noted, but I could be wrong. Fish; if it is a larger fish, it came from someplace else, or traveled to get to your table. Local stuff will be Octopus, small fish similar to sardines or anchovies...either fried whole or in lemon and oil, maybe urchins, some shrimp, and Calamari.

For drink. we just drank the local wine, cheap. Beer is best only for something cold when it is hot, couple Greek big brewers, but much is German knock-off pilsners from Eastern Europe, or a couple big European brands. A very few Craft Brewers. Besides Ouzo, Metaxa is worth a try, it is more like a Brandy, then if you get towards Crete or on other islands, you can find Raki (variations on the name and spelling) it is essentially a Grappa, made from grape must, often made after wine production. It was often offered at the end of a meal, we also found it sold by locals, we bought it in unmarked, probably re-used, plastic water bottles.

For breakfast we ate yogurt (often Fage brand) with local thyme honey stirred in, rusks and coffee.
Lunch- memes of dips of eggplant, fish roe and tzaziki.
Dinner fabulous seafood and chicken, some lamb too.
The fresh food was delicious.
Dessert often was honey and nut cake.
I did buy cakes of lavender bath soap in Greek grocery stores, made in Greece. Highly recommend you buy some.

There are the ubiquitous Kit Kats and other brands that are available all over Europe, although the chocolate is different, as it’s designed not to melt so easily, so it tastes odd.

Much of the yoghurt is natural Greek yoghurt and each supermarket will have their own version. Again, well known pan European brands are available, at a higher price.

Most of the chips/crisps are natural or salted. They don’t seem to be big crisp eaters. Pringles in a variety of flavours are available, again the same as anywhere in Europe.

There is a wide selection of honey available compared with jams from what I can recall. I don’t recall any unusual flavours of jam, as I would have tried them if seen.

I usually drink the local wine, served loose in a carafe, rather than in a corked bottle. Ouzo is an acquired taste and is mixed with water. I don’t mind it but my husband can’t even stand the smell. Coffee often comes with a glass of water. Baileys frappe is a popular after dinner drink. Measures tend to be generous. The local fire water is often complementary after dinner in restaurants. Most could double up as paint stripper.

I can’t recall any labelling about the origin of any food I bought. Greek cheese tends to be on the bland side, other than pungent goats cheese. Haloumi is common and feta.

Local bakeries sell excellent spinach and ricotta pies (spanakopita) and courgette/cheese pies and deserts mostly comprising syrup soaked sponge with nuts in a variety of shapes. The bread doesn’t keep long and is bought fresh daily.

This goes back a couple of decades, but Greek cafes used to be known for offering fresh lemonade. It was served in the form of fresh-squeezed juice, cold water and separate sugar so you could mix it to your own taste.

This thread is bringing back fond memories of Greek food. I never bought yogurt at the grocery stores. It was plentiful at the hotels and restaurants. I enjoyed it topped with fruit, honey and walnuts. As far as Cheeses we enjoyed Graviera (similar to swiss or Gruyere, a little sweet and made in Crete.) Kasseri is a well known cheese with a unique, buttery texture. Great served with bread and Olives. Another favorite cheese is Haloumi. We especially like this cheese grilled that was served at the Veranda Restaurant in Hydra. Olives: Our favorite are Kalamata. We tasted olives and olive oil in Kardamyli. I recall eating Greek Salads almost everyday. The tomatoes were delicious with olive oil. Of course it is topped with a "slab" of Feta. I do enjoy feta, but I think a little goes a long way! The vegetables are plentiful. Great Eggplant. A favorite appetizer was Kolokithokeftedes, aka Zucchini Courgette or Fritters at Aktaion Taverna on Santorini. These morsels were served with Tzatziki. I always ordered extra for dipping Pita, meat, fish etc. Fresh fruit like sweet cherries, apricots can be found at small markets. Many meals are served with either french fries, or roasted potatoes. Naxos is known for it's Potatoes. Just about anything made with Phyllo- either savory or sweet is heavenly! We enjoyed the house red wines, or a nice Agiorgitiko from Nemea. Similar in style to Merlot, but with a bit more spice. We also did a wine tasting at Karonis Wine Shop in Nafplio. I think Greece is calling us back!

What? Nobody mentioned okra? Bamies in Greek. Coming from Texas, I was thrilled the first time I saw it on Crete. The okra, onions and tomatoes combo (bamies laderes) was delicious.

Bourekia is a little pillow from food heaven. It can be sweet or savory and both are delicious.

Athens is where I learned about octopus and fell in love with it as a cold salad, htapodi salata.

Pastitsio is another favorite of mine. A pasta dish, it's often called Greek lasagna.

And gigantes, no matter how they are prepared, are some of the best beans I've ever eaten.

You can Google any of these dishes for an idea of what they are like. Depending on where you grocery shop, you might find fresh prepared take-away versions to heat and eat home.

While walking down this Greek food memory lane, I discovered the Tasteatlas website. It can help answer some of your questions. This is the link to Greece: https://www.tasteatlas.com/greece

I stumbled on this website when I Googled Greek bread and saw this list of the most popular ones: https://www.tasteatlas.com/most-popular-breads-in-greece

Be sure to take a look at the Lists section for more and different kinds of foods. Then move on to the Regions and Cities sections for their specialties.

Tomatoes are grown on Crete and are delicious. I am super fond of Gemiste cookies, the vanilla ones, which for some reason is harder for me to find than other flavors. Honestly...they probably are really just like any vanilla flavored cookie in the US but I am weirdly obsessed with them.

Also when I go to Greece I always stock up on basic spices (oregano, etc) from the grocery store as my mother swears they are better.

Also fun juices—fresh squeezed is the best (stores often have machines to squeeze your own) but the boxed juices have fun flavors.

You might look for spoon sweets--bergamot is one unusual flavor you'll come across. It's very distinctive, and even as a bergamot fan I did not enjoy the one I bought. Look for small specialty food stores, and be sure to go to markets for produce. The one in Nafplio is exceptional--the freshest fish I have ever seen (it did not even smell fishy).
Check out Diane Kochilas's cookbooks or her PBS show for more on Greek cuisine.

Various fruits are grown in Greece. I remember buying figs, fresh cherries and kiwi; I forgot whether i bought fresh figs or only dried ones. Fresh figs are sometimes available but they grow mold easily. Dried figs last a long time. I remember buying more than one fresh pomegranat. I bought raisins, which could have been made in Greece- Greece grows grapes. I don't remember what else I bought that might have been grown in Greece. They are supposed to grow good nectarines, peaches and cherries, mandarin oranges, strawberries, and melons. Kiwis are grown in Greece. I was in Greece in October 2018. Maybe next time I will see if there are any packaged breads or crackers that i am not afraid to try. I do remember buying and eating at least one package of rice cakes but who knows if they were made in Greece. I remember buying dates too but they were probably not grown in Greece; few or no dates are grown in Greece.

Edit: if you are not afraid of eating too much sodium, you could look for Greek olives.