There is no disputing that eating Greek food is the gold star of all activities in Tarpon Springs!
A looping couple we met earlier on the river system stated that it was "their goal to eat in every Greek restaurant in Tarpon Springs." We thought that very intriguing, and after being here, we found ourselves agreeing with that objective.
Greek cooking offers an incredibly rich and diverse array of foods and beverages that are the culmination of centuries of evolution and cultural influences. What is Greek food and why is it so good? Yes, it is the Gyros, but a lot more. A little research, asking questions, and a lot of eating reveals the following.
The basics components of eating in ancient Greece were breads, olives, and wine. Added to that over time were cheeses, fruits, nuts and grains, and spices such as oregano, basil, mint and thyme, all grown locally. Then, of course, there were the ever present fish and seafood from the seas that surround Greece as well as lamb, poultry, beef and pork from the central region. Today, all of these are currently plentiful and freshly accessible. Put them together in new and creative ways, and voila, you have a fabulous Greek meal. Opa!
When we sat down to enjoy a meal, the unfamiliar names of foods on the menu demanded that we read all of the ingredients and have a certain degree of bravery in choosing a selection. It helped to ask the waiter plenty of questions, and they were very helpful. These are some of many, many examples: spanakopita (spinach pie), saganaki (flaming cheese), tzatziki (sour cream, cucumber, and garlic spread), t (fresh caviar spread), pastitso (Greek-style lasagna), moussaka (layers of eggplant, potatoes, and ground beef topped with cream and tomato sauce), dolmades (ground beef and rice wrapped in grape leaves stuffed and topped with egg-lemon sauce), keftedes (homemade Greek meatballs), makaronia (traditional Greek spaghetti topped with fried onions), bakaliaro (cod fish with horta and skordalia).
Here are some of the restaurants we have eaten in and examples of the unusual dishes. We discovered that the amounts of food were far too great to consume in one sitting, so we learned to split a dish and still were able to take some home. We would highly recommend any of these restaurants, and they are all within walking distance of the Tarpon Cove Marina.
Mama's Greek Cuisine - We liked the whole, fresh Grouper!
Hellas - The salmon with lobster sauce is just fabulous!
Dimitris - The Grouper sandwich is great!
Costas - Spanakopita is a treat!
Mr. Souvlaki - The Greek chow mein is so tasty we will go back!
Mykonos - To be determined
No comments:
Post a Comment