Greek cooking relies on wild oregano, dill, mint, parsley and bay, lemon and olive oil, with cinnamon, allspice and cloves warming meat stews and mahleb and mastic in breads and sweets.
Overview¶
Greek cooking is often filed under "Mediterranean diet", which captures the olive oil, vegetables and pulses but misses the spicing. Alongside the obvious herbs — dried wild oregano, dill, mint, parsley — Greek cooks use cinnamon, allspice, cloves and nutmeg in meat dishes to a degree that surprises many western Europeans. Stifado, moussaka and pastitsio all carry a warm, sweet-spice note, a legacy shared with Turkish and Levantine cooking from centuries of Byzantine and Ottoman rule.
Wild plants matter too. Horta, boiled wild greens with oil and lemon, and hillside herbs gathered or bought dried on the branch are part of daily life in the countryside.
The core palette¶
- Rigani: dried Greek oregano (often Origanum vulgare subsp. hirtum), sold on the stem, more pungent than most. It goes on grilled meat, feta, tomatoes and potatoes. See oregano.
- dill: with spinach pies (spanakopita), dolmades, broad beans, fish and courgette fritters.
- mint: fresh and dried, in keftedes, courgette dishes and tzatziki in some regions.
- parsley, bay, thyme (Cretan thyme honey is famous), rosemary and wild fennel.
- Warm spices: cinnamon, allspice, cloves and nutmeg in ragù-like sauces, stifado and béchamel; cumin in soutzoukakia (meatballs from Smyrna).
- For bread and sweets: mahleb and mastic in tsoureki (Easter bread), sesame on koulouri, aniseed in ouzo and some biscuits.
- Saffron: krokos Kozanis from Kozani in Macedonia, a protected-designation saffron, and a few Cretan and island dishes.
- Lemon and garlic: not spices, but the other half of Greek seasoning.
Regional differences¶
- Crete: wild greens, snails, sheep's and goat's cheeses, rusks (dakos), and a strong herb culture — thyme, dittany and oregano, sage and wild fennel.
- The Ionian islands (Corfu): Venetian rather than Ottoman influence; sofrito (veal in garlic, parsley and vinegar) and pastitsada spiced with cinnamon, cloves and paprika or chilli.
- Northern Greece and Macedonia: more chilli (Florina peppers, boukovo flakes), more paprika, and influences from Anatolian Greek refugees after 1922, including cumin and richer spicing.
- The Aegean islands: seafood, capers and wild herbs; Chios produces the world's mastic.
- Epirus and the mountains: pies (pites) of every kind, lamb, and wild herbs.
Key techniques¶
- Latholemono: olive oil whisked with lemon juice and oregano, brushed over grilled fish and meat.
- Avgolemono: egg and lemon whisked into hot broth to thicken soups and sauces without cream.
- Spiced braises: onions, tomato, wine and a cinnamon stick with a few cloves or allspice berries — as in stifado or kokkinisto.
- Oven-roasting in the fournos: lamb with garlic, lemon and oregano; gemista (stuffed vegetables with rice, mint and parsley).
💡 Rub the oregano
Greek cooks rub dried oregano between their palms over the dish. It crushes the leaves just before they hit the food, releasing more aroma than shaking it from a jar.
Common mistakes¶
- Leaving out the cinnamon. A stifado or moussaka sauce without a little cinnamon and allspice tastes Italian rather than Greek. Half a stick, or 1/4 tsp ground, is typical for a family-sized pot.
- Using too much. Equally, the warm spices should be a background note. If you can identify cloves from across the room, there are too many.
- Cooking the dill to death. dill loses its fresh flavour quickly; add most of it towards the end of cooking, keeping some back to scatter over.
- Swapping in Italian or Mexican oregano. Greek rigani is sharper and more pungent than most Italian-grown oregano, and Mexican oregano is a different plant altogether. Buy it on the branch from a Greek or Cypriot shop, and store it away from light (see storing-spices).
Landmark dishes¶
Moussaka, pastitsio, stifado, kleftiko, souvlaki and gyros, keftedes, soutzoukakia, spanakopita and tiropita, dolmades, fasolada (bean soup), gemista, horiatiki salad with rigani, tzatziki, taramasalata, skordalia, avgolemono soup, horta, and tsoureki.