Essay about The History and Culture behind Greek Cuisine

When visiting different countries, it is easy to see the differences between the cultures of each place. When visiting Greece, something that stood out to me was the food and the process that it took to get it. Greeks ate at different times than Americans and finding a place to eat was a completely different process than in America. The service, food, and payment at Greek restaurants also had contrasting styles than what I was used to in the United States. Greeks and Americans both contain people who share a love for food, but the process of getting food in each country is slightly different from each other depending on the time, place, and service.

The Greek Civilization began in a coastal, mountainous region. The regions soil is stony, so much of the land was only good for the pasturing of livestock; however, there were places that were suitable for planting crops, such as olives. The mountains and the sea were a great form of natural protection, creating a barrier between them and potential invaders. The sea gave the Greeks a fast

When people wonder about Ancient Greece the first thing that comes to their minds is Greek mythology; gods and goddesses that have helped shape many historical events. “In ancient Greece, stories about gods and goddesses and heroes and monsters were an important part of everyday life.” (“Greek Mythology.”) The civilization showed that numerous characters and stories helped shape Greeks. The beliefs the Greeks had with mythologies was they understood the meaning behind all the characters that are known today. However, to the Greeks, they were not just characters, these were their gods and goddesses who gave them meaning and understanding of the world around them. Worshiping the gods and goddesses helped them with their religious rituals and the temperament of the weather. A famous wine-jar that was made during this time period was “Achilles killing the Amazon Queen Penthesilea, 540-530 BCE, black-figured amphora”. (Khan Academy) The civilization that they lived in grew around their worship and achievements.

The Greek economy was based off of agriculture. They were also colonized to somewhat like the states we have in America. Their main crops and trade products were grapes, olives, and wine. The Greek commerce and trade by sea is what made all of the Greek city-states as wealthy and important as they were. The Greeks were often called “The Masters of the Mediterranean” because of their skillful seafaring.

Here in America you would sometimes eat big breakfasts in the morning but in Greece they don’t eat much breakfast as we would. They usually eat foods that their ancestors did which were foods such as yogurt, rice, sweets from nuts, honey, sesame seeds, and pasta. All of those types of foods were introduced to them by the Eastern and Western side of Greece, Persians, Romans during an

     Wealthy Romans ate several courses at dinner. Their first course might include eggs, vegetables, and shellfish. The

Roasted chicken or duck was used as an offering on the table. This was exclusive to the wealthy in Ancient

One positive effect that the geography has on Greece it that they can grow olives easily. The land conditions that are favorable for growing olives are hot and dry climates, which Greece has so it is a great spot to grow them in. In document 4 it says that, “the Greeks believed that the god Athena gave them the first olive tree as a gift and they thought it was so priceless they named their city after Athena.” Olives and olive oil became one of the most valuable items that Greece had and traded. Greeks

Archaic Greece is responsible for so many different ways like agriculture, philosophy, mathematics, engineering, politics, art and architecture, and the sciences like Astronomy, Physics, and Medicine. Politics were influenced by the Greeks, democracy and republics were all early forms of Greek city-state politics and in the end applied by Rome, Europe, America and all over the world. With agriculture, certain foods were first made and created in

Greece is one of the four multicultural empires that occurred around 600 BCE to 600 CE. Ancient Greece had so many different geographical features that helped brand the outcomes of the empire. One of the key features was Greece’s rugged mountains with deep valleys. With the mountains and valleys being rugged, it produced poor rocky soils (Acrobatiq, 2014). Also, there were narrow coastal areas as well. With this being a living environment for the Greeks, the production of food crops was unfortunate because of those factors. The Greeks had to find other ways to gather foods to their city-states because of the low production of food crops. With this being a bittersweet situation, Greeks recognized more about trades. They eventually became more knowledgeable and respectable at it. Greeks would find other places that would trade with them for food crops and other resources. Greeks built colonies that were decent areas for finding foods and resources. Through this time, Greeks expanded with trading and traveling to enhance their empire.

Moussaka is another dish with claims to both nations. In Turkey, it is sautéed and served in the style of a casserole, and consumed warm or at room temperature. In Arabic countries, a variant is eaten cold. In the Balkans, the dish is layered and typically served hot. Many versions have a top layer made of milk-based sauce thickened with egg. The modern Greek version was probably formulated in the 1920s in Athens. It has three layers that are separately cooked before being combined for the final baking: a bottom layer of sliced eggplant sautéed in olive oil; a middle layer of ground lamb lightly cooked with chopped or puréed tomatoes, onion, garlic, and spices (cinnamon,allspice and black pepper, undeniably an Ottoman influence); and a top layer of Béchamel sauce. Moussaka is usually served warm, not piping hot; in

“Greek civilization is alive; it moves in every breath of mind that we breathe; so much of it remains that none of us in one lifetime could absorb it all.” Ancient Greeks are known to be one of the greatest and most advanced people and have left behind a legacy that helped define the Western civilization. Cultural diffusion helped spread Greek culture all over the world, and its effects can still be felt today in almost every aspect. Greek culture has greatly affected different parts of my daily life including architecture, food, government, inventions, music, religion, and education.

What defines Greekness? What really is Greekness? These are important questions to ask because the answers to them will end up forming what we know today as the ancient Greeks. Professor Lynette Mitchell at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom partially examined these questions herself in her short paper Greekness (2012) which appears in The Encyclopedia of Ancient History (2012). Professor Mitchell cites Herodotus 8.144.2 which is an examination of the topic of “Greekness” from Herodotus. In 8.144.2 Herodotus talks about why the Greeks would not sell out themselves to the Persians in 492 BCE because of their “Greekness”. Perhaps most interestingly, Herodotus not only references shared blood as an important aspect of what it means to be Greek but also “speech”, and gods / religious practices that that they have in common. Ms. Mitchell then builds off Herodotus’ explanation by referencing the importance of the Homeric Epic Poems, and examining the history of “cultural community”. Emma Dench of Harvard University also wrote a paper on the topic of Greekness and it was also appropriately titled Greekness (2002). Dr. Dench’s paper was part of a larger work by Jonathan M. Hall of the University of Chicago titled Hellenicity: Between Ethnicity and Culture (Chicago, 2002). Professor Dench is able to determine, through the examination of Herodotus’ Histories, that blood is a far less important trait in respect to Greekness then language, gods, or customs is. Through the

In the Greek Polis, people only drank wine because most of the water was diseased/ standing and they didn’t want to risk getting sick. They also ate great amounts of oil, olives, figs, and fish because they are filled with fats that the Greeks thought were nutritious fats for the brain. Also, lots of the meat they had were also used as sacrifices to please the Gods. A food taboo for Islam in Indonesia is the consumption of pork and meats like beef and chicken. They can’t eat meats like these for they feel as though the animals aren’t slaughtered to Islamic standards. The image above shown above shows the fusion of the Greek and Islamic culture because it shows the wine that the Greeks drink and the lamb that the Islamic people would eat.

Ancient Greek agriculture was the very necessity of the empire. People needed food to work and soldiers needed food to fight, defend, and conquer neighboring empires. Nearly 80% of the Greek population was somehow involved in agricultural practices. In Greece, meat was expensive and available only to the elite.