Olive oil plays a unique role in Greek dietary habits , being the basis

of all recipes of traditional cuisine . Greek olive oil enjoys worldwide

distinction for its purity and exceptional taste . You will find it

everywhere in glass bottles and cans under the destinations virgin and

extra virgin olive oil.

Greek honey is famous over the world for its good quality , aroma

and outstanding taste . It owes its wide diversity in taste and aroma to

the rich Greek flora which comprises a large number of wild flowers .

Honey in Greece is mainly flower-honey from the nectar of fruit and

Citrus trees ( lemon , orange , bigarade trees ) , thyme honey , with

Incomparable aroma , and pine honey from conifer trees .

A product unique in the world , as it is grown exclusively on the

Aegean island of Chios . It is produced from the resin of mastic trees

( Pistacia lentiscus ) and can be consumed untreated without having

undergone any chemical or industrial processing . The father of

medicine , Hippocrates , underlined the multiple therapeutic

properties of mastic , especially for stomach complaints ; properties

which are accepted and proven by modern medicine .

The world famous Greek aperitif . It is produced from distilled

alcohol , water and aromatic ingredients ( the prevailing one being

aniseed ) . It is drunk straight or with the addition of water or ice and

is the perfect accompaniment for appetizers ( mezedes ) .

Creamy in colour , with a mild flavour similar to Cheddar .

Usually served on its own or with bred .

A hard and very salty cheese similar to Parmesan , used mainly

for grating and serving with pasta .

Like Gruyere , it is served with meals or used for grating and

serving with pasta .

An unsalted soft white cheese served on its own or used in

savoury or sweet pies , just like mizithra .

An unsalted soft cheese made from ewes' milk . Served on its

own or used in sweet or savoury pies ( a substitute for this is fresh

cottage cheese ) .

Apart from giving to birth to Dionysus , patron god of wine, Greece is the birthplace of the first VQPRD wines

in history. They were the wines of the islands of Chios and Thassos, renowned in the entire ancient world. Due to

various historic and social reasons, as well as natural disasters, the art of wine-makingwas neglected from the

middle of the nineteenth century until the early sixties. It was then that the ancient traditions of wine-making started

being rediscovered and today one can find many excellent Greek wines produced all over the country. When

tasting Greek wine, bear in mind that it is a product of a distinctive environment and of grape varieties unknown to

western wine lovers. The wines of Greece are divided into 4 distinct categories :

1) the Controlled Appellations of Origin

2) the Appellations of Origin of Superior Quality

3) local wines and

4) table wines .

The Controlled Appellations of Origin is a category that contains

Only liqueur wines , such as the Mavrodaphne of Kefalonia and Patras, the Muscat wines of Patras, Limnos,

Kefalonia, Rhodes and the Doux of Samos .

The Appellations of Origin of Superior Quality category contains many of the best wines of Greece. There are 20

areas so far that have the right to Appellations of Origin. In northern Greece, there are the Appellations of Zitsa,

Amynteo, Goumenissa and Naousa, in Chalkidiki the Appellations of Playies Melitona, in Thessaly Anchialos and

Rapsani, near Athens Kantza in the Peloponnese the appellations of Patras, Mantinia and Nemea, of the Ionian

islands the Robola of Kefalonia, on the islands of Paros, Limnos, Rhodes and Santorini and finally on Crete there

are the appellations of Acharnes, Peza, Sitia and Daphnes. The above categories of appellations have a blue and a

red banderole respectively, affixed over the mouth of each bottle.

Finally , the other two categories of local and table wines hide many pleasant and intoxicating surprises for the wine

lover .