Souvlaki, the best-known Greek food

The souvlaki is the best-known Greek food, a word that invokes Greece as much as the Acropolis, the Parthenon, retsina and ouzo. Anyone who’s visited Greece or who lives in a northern European or US city will have tasted the famous Greek souvlaki at least once. For those of you who haven’t been introduced to it yet, we’ll describe the souvlaki, present a few photos and give you an appetite for making your own at home.
What is souvlaki?
Souvlaki is a fast food served in “souvladzidika” (souvlaki shops), small eateries that also serve gyros and other grilled meat dishes. You can buy one to take away and eat on the street or sit in the shop and enjoy it at your leisure.
Souvlakia are small cubes of pork threaded on a small wooden skewer (the “souvla”), also known as a “kalamaki”. The word “kalamaki” applies equally to the souvlaki itself.
Ordering at the souvlaki shop

* If you ask for “ena kalamaki parakalo” (one kalamaki please), you’ll get a mouth-watering souvlaki and a slice of bread.
* If you ask for “ena kalamaki me patates”, your souvlaki will be accompanied by chips.
* If you ask for “ena souvlaki pita”, you’ll get souvlaki meat (without the wooden skewer, of course) in pita bread like gyros pita, with yoghourt, tomato, onion and chips. This only applies in Crete, as in Athens you don’t get the chips.
* Of course you can pick the ingredients of your pita souvlaki, leaving out the onion or yoghourt, using mustard or ketchup instead, or whatever.
* If you’re a vegetarian don’t worry, just ask for a “patatopita”, a pita without the meat but with the yoghourt, tomato, onion and chips.
The history of souvlaki
Although the origins of the gyros are lost in the mists of time, there is no doubt about the souvlaki. The souvlaki first appeared in ancient Greece, as proved by a recipe from that time. The dish was called “kandaulos” and combined grilled meat, pita, cheese and dill (Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists, 12, 516d).
Many centuries later we find references to street vendors selling souvlakia with pita in Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium.
The first souvlaki shops in Greece appeared in Livadia in 1951, selling souvlakia on a stick and gyros.
Today souvlaki is available in souvlaki shops and restaurants in every Greek town and city. You can order it as a takeaway and of course you’ll always find it sold at canteens at street markets, on the beach or by the side of the road. At every festival there’s at least one vendor filling the air with the delicious smell of char-grilled souvlaki.

Souvlaki types
Apart from the classic pork souvlaki, you can also try chicken or any other meat. One shop in Athens even serves ostrich souvlaki. All these variations were invented to provide a different taste, and also contain far less fat and cholesterol than pork.
In restaurants (but not souvlaki shops) the souvlaki is larger and threaded on a metal skewer. You can also order swordfish, prawn or vegetable souvlaki.
The traditional kebab is also cooked on a spit but it’s not called a souvlaki. It’s made of lamb or pork mince with spices and looks like a big elongated meat patty.

Swordfish souvlaki
* Buy swordfish steaks. Fresh is best, but frozen will do if you can’t get it.
* Marinate the swordfish in a little oil, lemon and rosemary for one to two hours. Chop into small cubes when ready.
* Slice some tomatoes and thread both tomatoes and swordfish cubes on souvlaki skewers.
* Add salt and pepper to taste.
* Grill the souvlakia.
* You can add a side salad or boiled rice.

Pork souvlaki
* Buy pork steak and chop it into small cubes. Marinate in olive oil, oregano, thyme and a little vinegar for 8-10 hours.
* Add salt and pepper to taste when ready and thread the pieces on souvlaki skewers. Be careful not to grill on too high a heat as the meat will dry out.
* You can also grill pita bread and add some tomato, onion and the cooked souvlaki meat, served with yoghourt, mustard or ketchup.
* Add you favourite salad for a full, healthy and easy meal.


Article by Yannis Samatas - All Rights Reserved.

The caves of Matala in southern Crete

Matala is a small village with many tourist facilities about 70 km south of Heraklion. The Minoan Palace of Festos is 7 km east of Matala and the harbour of Festos used to be at the nearby Komos in the Minoan period.
There is a nice sandy beach in Matala and it attracts a lot of visitors in the summer months.
Matala has become famous for the artificial caves, carved into the rocks, north of the coast. These caves were first inhabited during the prehistoric period. Tombs found in the caves date from Greek, Roman and Early Christian times.
During the 70's the caves were hosting an international hippie community. That was a cultural shock for the local community, which had met no tourists before the hippies arrived.
The caves of MatalaGreat musicians like Cat Stevens and Joni Mitchell have been here for some time composing beautiful songs about the beauty of the bay of Matala..
Today the entrance to the caves of Matala is free but overnight stay is not allowed. The terrain is rather rough, so avoid slippery shoes. Most of the caves are not deep, so a torchlight won't be necessary.

Laiki, the street market in Greece

The “Laiki” (“popular market”) is a large Greek street market. When the traditional weekly village market came to town it became a street market. Today no village, town or city in Greece is without its street market, held at least once a week. In the larger towns the market is set up in a different neighbourhood every day, to cater to the inhabitants without them having to travel far.
Market traders include both middlemen who sell products bought from farmers, and the farmers themselves, who sell their goods direct to increase their profits.
Behind the pretty picture of rows of stalls with goods neatly set out lie many hours of effort, starting long before the first customers reach the market. Traders and farmers set out in the early hours of the morning in order to reach the market area before sunrise and find a good spot for their stalls. They also need time to set out their wares in an attractive way.
The municipal cleaners have the hard task of cleaning up after the last customers have left and the stalls have been removed.

Every street market in Greece is a feast for the senses:
1. Sight. Your gaze will wander from stall to stall, enjoying the rainbow of colours from fresh fruit and veg to multicoloured cloth and carpets.
2. Hearing. Deep, melodious voices with village or Gypsy accents, joking and teasing, are raised in a huge hubbub as traders cry their wares and proclaim their final offers.
3. Taste. You can try before you buy. The traders themselves encourage you to try their fruit, to prove it’s the best in the market.
4. Smell. The mouth-watering smell of souvlakia grilling in the catering vans mingles with the fake Yves Saint Laurent and Dolce & Gabanna perfumes.
5. Touch. Your hands will stroke soft textiles, embroidered tablecloths and runners of the kind you’ll see in every Greek house decorating the kitchen table, the television, the DVD and even the washing machine.

Street market quality
Food. Many Greeks prefer to buy their fruit and vegetables from the street market because there’s more choice than at a neighbourhood grocer’s or a supermarket, and the goods are usually fresher and cheaper. Of course there’s no actual rule; sometimes the opposite may be true. But there’s certainly greater variety and lots of people enjoy a bit of bargaining, as they feel they’ve gained a few euros from the weekly shop.
If you’re not sure of the flavour of the fruit you want to buy, ask the trader for a bit to try if he hasn’t already suggested it himself. He’ll gladly offer you a tangerine or a slice of melon or watermelon, in an attempt to prove his fruit is better than that of the stall next door, even if it’s run by his best friend or a relative. At that moment both are traders and the sale is all.
Herbs. In the street market you’ll find the famous Cretan dittany, chamomile, spearmint, sage, oregano and every other kind of herb packaged in clear plastic bags. Usually the sellers have gathered the herbs in the mountains and packaged them themselves. They can tell you how to use each one. Be aware, however, that some herbs such as dittany are cultivated, so what you’re getting isn’t the wild mountain type that’s very hard to gather.
Clothing. The street market is also full of clothes for sale. Theseare usually cheap and cheerful tracksuits, tops and pyjamas, and more rarely suits and better-quality dresses. They’re cheaper than in the shops shoes in laiki greek street marketbecause the traders don’t have high rents and staff costs to cover. So you can find great clothes in the market if you’re prepared to fight your way to the stalls and sort through the assortment on offer along with everyone else.
Remember that if you want to try something on, you can usually ask the trader to let you use the van parked behind the stall.
Shoes. You can also find shoes and slippers here, often identical to those sold in the shops. Look carefully and if you can’t find your size now, better luck next time.
Textiles and embroidery. If you find the perfect curtain material, be careful. In some cases unscrupulous traders have been known to use their own shorter wooden tape measures, stealing a few inches in order to pocket a few extra euros. The solution is simple: bring your own tape measure and insist on measuring the cloth yourself.
As for embroidered goods, today China makes whatever the market demands, so why not Greek-style traditional embroidered tablecloths? Of course one shouldn’t generalise, and I wouldn’t want to wrong any honest tradesmen who may truly have bought them from village gypsies selling carpets in laiki street market in greecewomen wanting to supplement their family income with their needlework. Just be wary about anything that looks like the bargain of the century.
Perfumes. Don’t get too excited at the Christian Dior, Armani or Dolce Vita labels. They’re just cheap fakes which you can buy as a present for your wonderful girlfriend, whom you missed so much on your dull and boring holiday in the sun.
Carpets. Many people are dubious about the quality of the carpets sold in the street market. It’s hard to be definite on the subject. The truth is that they generally look just like the ones in the shops, at a temptingly cheaper price which can be driven even lower by a bit of hard bargaining.
Pedlars. In a street market, outside a supermarket or even in the town centre, you may be approached by a street pedlar who sidles up to offer you watches, leather goods, video cameras or other expensive items at rock-bottom prices. It’s usually a real steal, so be very careful if you don’t want to regret it later.


Source: explorecrete.com