In the past, Greeks used to eat breakfast by having all the family seated together at the table and usually that was toasted bread, olives, honey, homemade marmalade, eggs, yogurt, nuts, tea, mint, chamomile, linden etc.
One of the traditional dishes for breakfast was Varvara – Santa Barbara’s porridge. The roots of this dish are lost in the past. In northern Greece, especially in Thrace, people prepare it the day before Santa Barbara’s day (December 4th) and serve it to their neighbors, especially to children, wishing them good health. It is something between porridge and cream made of wheat, sugar, dried figs, raisins, walnuts cinnamon and tahini. The dish is very tasty and extremely nutritious. It is especially recommended for the cold winter days, served with cinnamon.
Below I will give you some ideas for healthy and quick traditional Greek breakfasts you can prepare yourself.
Bread with tahini and honey
Ingredients
– bread;
– tahini (sesame paste);
– honey.
Preparation
Cut as many slices of bread as you need and smear thin layer of tahini. On top of it, spread honey. It’s a super fast, super nutritious and super delicious breakfast.
Donuts
Ingredients
– 240 ml lukewarm water
– 120 ml milk
– 200 g flour
– 2 tbsp sugar
– 1 pinch of salt
– 8 g dry yeast
– vegetable oil for frying
– honey and cinnamon powder to serve.
Preparation
Mix all the ingredients in a big bowl and whisk until you get a thick porridge. Let it rest for 60 minutes. Place a deep pan on the stove with plenty of oil (up to the middle of the pan), wait until the oil gets really hot and then with a spoon dipped in water, so that the porridge won’t stick on it, throw quite a few tablespoons in the hot oil. Deep-fry until they are golden, remove with a skimmer and place on paper towels. Serve while they are still hot with honey and ground cinnamon.
The most characteristic thing about Greek cuisine is that everyone uses fresh seasonal ingredients for their meals. Besides, Greek cuisine is a typical Mediterranean cuisine with lots of vegetables, herbs, pulses, olive oil, dairy, fish, cereal and a little bit of meat.
What you need to have, if you like to cook as a Greek, is olive oil (it’s the king of the cuisine), tomato paste or tomato sauce or fresh tomatoes, garlic, onion, fresh or dried herbs and spices, feta cheese, tahini and pulses.