http://greece.greekreporter.com/2012/03/05/top-10-strange-greek-foods-you-may-like-or-not/
Snails
I have eaten snails in France, and seen them being collected in Turkey, but I've never eaten them in Greece. Most Greek menus include an English translation. If they don't, I tend to stick to foods that I know the greek word for. Which is why I may not have tried some of the more "unusual" foods.
Patsas - Tripe soup
I have seen patsas on menus. At first I thought that "patsas" was a mis-spelling of "pasta"!
Lamb’s head
At a small village on the south coast of Crete I remember seeing what I took to be chickens roasting on a spit - not the open air type of spit that you see lamb being roast on at Easter, but a chrome coloured spit with about half a dozen spits. I wonderd if you had to order a whole chicken, or whether I could just order a portion of chicken. All of the chickens were intact, no portions had been torn away. Looking more closely, I saw that these were not chickens - they were lamb's heads. Needless to say, I did not order a lamb's head either. I'm sure I ate elswhere, as I would not have wanted to see someone at the next table tucking into a lamb's head!
A meal in an Albanian hotel also comes to mind. The English group I was with was ushered past a group of Albanians to an area of the restaurant behind a screen. Our Albanian fellow-diners were eating lamb's heads!
Kokoretsi - roast offal wrapped in intestines ..................
Kokorestsi looks like a long meaty plait. I have seen kokoresti being roast on a spit at Easter - I have never eaten kokoresti, but when roast looks quite appetising, like roast liver but with other "bits" included. Stewed kokoretsi looks less appetising. I remember looking at trays of cooked food in a Greek taverna, and the waiter was explaining what each was. When he came to the kokoretsi stew, he could think of no English word and saod "that - thatbis not vegetarian!"
Splinantero - spleen sausage
Not something that I have knowingly tried. I say "knowingly", as I have eaten Greek sausage, and do not know the contents! The sausage I buy in Greece is
loukanika horiatika (country sausage). I have been looking at the small print on the pack through a magnifying glass - not sure if that was a good idea! 90%
χοιρινό (pork)
βοδινό (beef]0 - oddly, the percentage of each ingredient is not mentioned. neither is the part of the animal used. The Greek for "spleen" is
σπλήνα, which is not mentioned on the label, but as the parts of the animal used are not mentioned ........................ I am thinking of Charkles Dickens' referenceto the parts of the pig of which the pig was least proud. And I'm also thinking of the meatballs I ate the other evening, and what meat they contained ..............
Sea urchin salad
I saw sea urchin salad on a menu on Amorgos last summer, but was not tempted to try it. this may sound daft, but I imagined the salad as full of prickles!
Fried octopus ink sack
Not something I have (knowingly) eaten.
Gavros Marinatos - spiced marinated small fish
I have eaten small fish of various sorts as one of the "nibbles" or meze served with a drink. I have seen tubs of marinated, or salted, fish in groceries, and seen locals eating them, seemingly with relish. I have also seen fish hanging on hooks around a tub on a fishing boat - I'll add the photo when I find it.
Karidaki - cooked whole walnut. Is it really dipped in
asbestos paint??
I have seen jars of pickled walnut, but I think in England, not Greece.
Kaltsounia - pastry stuffed with Mizithra cheese, honey and cinnamon. I don't recall seeing this, but it doesn't sound that unusual to me! Mizithra cheese is very pleasant, like a thicker and drier version of strained Greek yogurt.
Cow-lung soup
I haven't seen cow-lung soup, but have eaten magiritsa, Greek Easter soup, which is not mentioned in the article. Magiritsa is made of lamb offal, and is traditionally served after the midnight church service on Easter Saturday. If you are in Greece at Easter (the Orthodox Easter) check if any tavernas are open after the service to serve this soup. The soup tastes pleasant enough, I just prefer not to think of what it contains - not just lungs, but heart and all sorts of "tubes". The soup looks better if the meat is chopped up very finely, and therefore less distinguishable as of recognisably animal origin. The soup is a lemonish colour, and contains herbs and some rice.
The main parts of the lamb will be roast for lunch on Easter Sunday. I have eaten Easter lamb served with a rice stuffing - and the rice may be mixed with parts of the solids from the magiritsa soup.
Sea squirt
Not something that I have seen or eaten.
Goat
I would rather not eat goat - but I am sure I have. I suspect that goat tastes a little like lamb, and goast may sometimes be referred to on Greek menus as goat. I have seen "domestic meat" on a Greek menu, and "elderly lamb"!
Kalo orexi!
