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ATHENS… city with the past!

Athens has been inhabited continually for almost 7000 years! It's the cradle of European civilization, and its symbols are the ancient structures dating from the 5th century BC - Acropolis of Athens and the Agora, as well as the Olympic Stadium, where first Olympic Games were hosted in 1896 and then again in 2004. Today about 5 million people live in Athens, but only half of them are Greek. Relatively quite recently, in 1834, the year that it gained independence from Turkish rule, Athens was only a village with the population of 4000 people, who lived among the Acropolis ruins or in small houses attached to the northern slope of the hill, today city's oldest district.

The Temple of Olympian Zeus, which is now located in the busiest part of the city, stood in the middle of fields in those days. Athens owes its rapid development and its current look primarily to the first king of the modern Greece, i.e. Otto, the Prince of Bavaria.

Greek menu is influenced by the country's location - 80% of its territory is mountainous, rocky and dry areas.  Therefore the menu includes mainly: bread, vegetables, fruits, fish, olive oil, cheeses, lamb, pasta and wine. Fresh herbs, such as oregano, bay leaf and rosemary, are very popular too. The foundation of all Greek dishes is olive oil, which is used for frying, added to salads (quite abundantly), and it is also an ingredient of many sauces and dishes. Cheese also holds an important place in the Greek culinary tradition, with feta cheese being the most common. Greeks practically eat no breakfast - strong coffee and a small biscuit usually suffices. In the evening, however, when it cools down, they love getting together in restaurants where they feast for hours, with the necessary glass of anisette Ouzo with a splash of cold water or, alternatively, drinking dry Retsina wine.

Dolmades - stuffed grape leaves

Ingredients:

  • 50 fresh grape leaves
  • 400 g rice
  • 100 ml olive oil
  • 2 onions
  • 1 bunch green onion
  • 1 tablespoon mint leaves
  • 2 tablespoons dill
  • 2 tablespoons parsley leaves
  • 1 freshly-squeezed lemon
  • salt, pepper

Preparation:

Carefully wash and dry grape leaves. Chop green onions and fry them in hot olive oil. Add rice herbs and spices. Add water, boil for about 10 minutes and let it cool. Place the stuffing on a leaf and form small rolls. Line the bottom of a dish with the remaining leaves, arrange stuffed grape rolls on top of the leaves and add water mixed with lemon juice. Cover the dish and simmer for 90 minutes.

 
Tzatziki

Ingredients:

  • 200 ml greek yogurt
  • 1 cucumber
  • 1 clove garlic
  • drop of olive oil
  • pepper, salt, vinegar

Preparation:

Finely dice a peeled cucumber and strain it on a sieve. Mix the minced garlic, spices and the cucumber with yogurt. Enjoy!