The Geography of Food: Greece

Greece is located in the Mediterranean and is made up of a peninsula and lots of different smaller islands. Greece has been in the news recently because of its economic difficulties. It has a Mediterranean climate which means rainy winters and warm dry summer. This allows farmers to grow lots of fresh produce.

Greek salad

As the name would suggest this is a salad that is from Greece. It is typically made with tomatoes, cucumber, onion, feta cheese and olives. it is dressed with olive oil, salt and oregano. It can also contain

green peppers and capers. You could also use lettuce, although this isn't a traditional ingredient it is often added to give more texture and add more to the salad. Here is a recipe for a Greek salad: http://greek.food.com/recipe/the-ultimate-greek-salad-90975

Finikia/Melomakarona

Finikia are a traditional Greek biscuit that is usually flavoured with almonds, cinnamon and orange juice and/or zest. They are shaped like little eggs. If you roll the Finikia in syrup of sugar, honey, water, cloves and orange zest when you take them out of the oven they become Melomakarona. Both biscuits are topped with either ground or chopped walnuts but you can replace this with any other nuts you like. Melomakarona are traditionally baked and eaten at Christmas. They are easy to cook and taste delicious.