There are even smoked or blue cheeses in some regions, however, they rarely make their way to the next village, let alone across the seven seas. Mizithra is a fresh cottage cheese used in many signature dishes. If you’re around while the cheese maker is preparing it, you’ll enjoy a sample of the warm curds straight from the pot. The curds are pressed into a basket to drain and the results form a light, airy mold. Mizithra is similar in texture to cheesecake and can be sweet or sour. It makes an excellent side simple side dish when it is sliced and sprinkled with salt. It does not resemble tasteless, chalky, mass-produced cottage cheese or ricotta. Mizithra can be aged, but it is usually preferred fresh, especially for fabulous pies.

Depending on the dough used, small pitas can be quickly fried in olive oil or baked. Savory stars are stuffed with Mizithra, horta and herbs. One excellent pita hails from Sfakia, Crete. It’s a disk of dough like a dense pancake filled with Mizithra and topped with a generous drizzle of thick, amber Cretan
wildflower honey. Another heavenly combination is Mizithra and fresh spearmint. The sizzling pie might be topped with cinnamon and sugar or just devoured unadulterated.

Olive Oil
Regional olive oil production is similar to wine production. The type of olive cultivation and production all play a part in the end result. Olive oil flavors range from robust Kalamata to fresh,
nutty Koroneki (now the popular cabernet of olives), to the mild, old reliable Hondrolia. Producers know that to develop the most flavorful olive oil,
a combination of ancient and modern techniques create the best results.
There are some very innovative organic producers in Greece today, such as Biolea in Western Crete.

Spice Country
Long before famous European chefs existed, people were fascinated by spices from exotic lands, including Alexander the Great, who introduced culinary and therapeutic delicacies from the Middle East and Asia. For the average citizen, spices like peppercorns or cinnamon would have been financially out of reach for several thousand years to come. Greece was in the center of strategic trade routes and suffered a long succession of occupations fueled in part by powerful spice merchants from every direction, including Roman, Arabian, Byzantine, Venetian, Genoese and Ottoman.

This melting pot of influences shaped modern regional cuisine. For instance, the Venetians left a long-lasting mark on cuisine of the Ionian Islands,
while Byzantine and Ottoman influences are stronger on the east and in regions where Greeks migrated back to new borders after the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the devastating population exchange of the 1920’s.

Winning Wine
Just as a crisp Chardonnay from Burgundy is the perfect accompaniment to foods from that region, so too are regional Greek wines. Indigenous varieties can be enjoyed with local flavors of summer. Selections include dry or fruity white and rose wines. It’s rare to see bottled wines in rural tavernas.
Wines are typically made family-stylewith whatever decent local grapes can
be harvested. Many family wines are delightful and sometimes higher in alcohol content, so just be prepared before you stand up! Quality levels always depend on the dedication of the winemaker. There are an increasing number of excellent boutique wineries in Macedonia, Santorini, Kefalonia and Crete, to name a few. Organic production is on the rise by superb vintners like Dourakis and Boutaris.