We know that the Mediterranean diet is considered one of the healthiest, if not the healthiest diet in the world.

The culinary habits of Greece and southern Italy offer numerous health benefits from heart protection to mental health.

This diet is based on simple ingredients such as olive oil, vegetables, fruit, beans, yogurt, cheese, some fish, a bit of meat and plenty of herbs. And while these ingredients may sound simple, they are nutritionally complex, full of antioxidants, substances that protect the body from various chronic diseases.

Anyone can make their diet more Mediterranean by using mostly olive oil for their cooking needs, eating plenty of seasonal fruit and vegetables and eating less meat. Here are simple steps to get you started:

In Greece partucularly in Crete a popular dish is the Dakos, a whole grain barley rusk (paximadi) topped with soft white cheese, tomatoes, olives and drizzled with olive oil. You can make your own by substituting a thick piece of toasted whole wheat bread. Top first with tomatoes, than crumbled feta cheese, a few olives, add some olive oil and a sprinkle of dry oregano.

Greeks have the highest consumption vegetables in the world according to a latest study from the Tufts University. How do they do this? The answer is vegetable casseroles. Greeks consume so many vegetables because they serve them as a main course. Use fresh or frozen vegetables; almost anything will do, but the best are green beans, peas, okra and cauliflower. Sauté a chopped onion in 4 tablespoons of olive oil, add about 500 grams of vegetables and continue sautéing. Next, add about 250 grams of crushed tomatoes, a bit of parsley, salt and pepper, and some water, enough so that it halfway covers the vegetables. Let it simmer for about an hour. Serve with a slice of fresh bread and feta cheese.

Olive Magazine's round-up of the very best budget restaurants in the Greek capital, include Cookovaya, Kriti, Chryssa Chryssa, Stani and To Mavro Provato. These places offer traditional Greek dishes cooked in modern style, from feta pie with sesame and honey to fresh tzatziki with slow-cooked roast beef and octopus carpaccio.

The financial wrangling may be continuing in Greece but, for travellers, the situation is clear-cut: go now and you can enjoy both a cheap holiday, and the satisfaction of helping local businesses (and the people who rely on them). With that in mind, here are five great places to eat out fabulously on a budget in Athens.

Through an unassuming arcade in a slightly down-at-heel part of the city, Kriti is a family-run restaurant serving dishes from Crete. Cooked in a tiny kitchen by one Mrs Katchoulis, take your pick from fabulous ribs with red peppercorns and spicy sauce, smoked apaki sausage, feta pie topped with sesame and honey, Dakos salad (a crispy barley rusk base with fiery red tomatoes, galomyzithra cheese, and crettama, a Cretan sapphire), fried stuffed olives and plates of creamy, soft cheese from Sitia. A selection of plates to share costs around € 15 pp.

Address: 5 Veranzerou, Kanigos Square.
Tel: 210 382 6998

Well-known chef and owner Chryssa Protopapa lost her previous restaurant earlier in the crisis but after saving for several years she has now opened this simple, subtle treasure. Think refined traditional Greek cuisine – country-style knotosouvli (spit-roasted chicken) with roasted pies and fresh tzatziki, and slow-cooked roast beef with smoked eggplants. Nothing costs more than € 9. Pictured top is Chryssa Chryssa's Saganaki feta cheese pie.


Address: 4 Artemissiou.
Tel: 30 210 341 2515.

This stunning restaurant is the lovechild of five of the city’s best chefs who’ve joined forces in the kitchen to produce food they describe as ‘bright and clear without adornments’. The menu changes twice a day, the catch is from the Mediterranean only and everything is made in-house. Food is cooked in a wooden oven and on a charcoal grill and includes the likes of charred octopus or sea bass carpaccio and ergolavos dessert – almond biscuit, almond cream and strawberry compote. A three-course lunch costs around € 20 pp.

Address: 2A Chatzigianni Mexi st. 11528.
Tel: 210 723 5005.

To read this article in full, please visit: Olive Magazine
By: Audrey Gillan

Summer has come and Athens is brimming with bars ideal for night (and day) crawlers! There is an abundance of bars that have various cocktails to choose from, sophisticated spirits that offer breaths of coolness, and super views of the acropolis. 

If you feel a little spoiled for choice and don't know where to start from, here are 3 of our favorite summer bars!

 

The Zillers, a restaurant and bar, is located on the top level of a hotel and is a popular hotspot in the city. Visitors will enjoy an excellent view of the Acropolis and of Mitropoleos square. What else could you ask from an open-air space for your summer nights? Cocktails of course! You may try the Ipanem cocktail with cachaca, passion fruit, lime, honey, and candy. 

The first Greek Vermouteria borrows its name from the smells and aromatic herbs used in cooking. Inside the Odori, you can find a drinks list that is more than generous. Not limited to classic cocktails, but "playing" different vermouth and selected Greek spirits to enjoy your drink in your own measures. There are 8 signature options based on an equal number of herbs that flavor vermouth and they say it's exactly what you need. The interior is reminiscent of the botanical garden and the tables that lead to Skouleniou street are more than suitable for after-office drinks and an evening spirit. 

Where: Skouleniou 2, Athens
Telephone: 210 3314674

 

From the center, we move on to Hymettous where something exciting awaits. Is it the freshly roasted coffee? Is it the refreshing cocktails and the tables outside? It is and it's all together in this hip espresso & cocktail bar which promises 'peace of mind,' but also countless summer nights (and days) on the comfortable terrace and the accompaniment of fine foreign musicians. Visitors must try their fresh homemade Sangria and Spicy Mule, with homemade syrup chili, pineapple, slices of cucumber, and spicy cayenne pepper grains. 

Where: Plateia Ymittou 3, Hymmetus
Telephone: 210 762 1880

Blogger Elena Sergeeva from Passion For Greece feels that once in a while we should become tourists in our own city and spend a day exploring the hidden gems, interacting with others who definitely know something that you don’t and opening your eyes to new surroundings and learn. Elena recently spent the day in Athens with Discover Greek Culture learning all about Athens’ Art and Culture. Here, she describes her experience!

Our meeting point was the Syntagma Square which is the main square of Athens and the one that received its name from the Constitution that the first King of Greece Otto was obliged to grant. Here you will find the Greek Parliament building which initially served as a palace of Kings Otto and George I. From here we headed down to the Ermou street which is the central shopping street of Athens and is one of the first three streets that were designed in modern Athens.

The name Ermou or otherwise known as Hermes in English was named after the ancient Greek God Hermes who was the God of trade; therefore it is quite common that many of the commercial streets in Greece carry the name of Ermou. The street was very busy as all the Athenians were rushing to buy Christmas presents just before the holidays.

Our next stop was at the Church of Panaghia Kapnikarea which is found right in the heart of the Ermou Street, and impressive monument dated to the Middle-Byzantine period. In 1834, the building was in danger of being demolished as the newly-established Modern Greek State decided on the new layout for the Greek capital with the plans of having the Ermou Street extend straight forward and exactly aligned with the Palace’s central entrance, thankfully the destruction was avoided thanks to the father of King Otto. What is unique about this church is that it stands one level below the main street of Ermou and the dome is held by four uniquely decorated columns.

To read this article in full, please visit: Passion For Greece

Operating under a new ecological program titled 'Sea Change,' the Municipality of Sikinos, along with the Sea Change ecology organization and the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, will be the first in the Greek islands to ban the use of plastic straws, replacing them with biodegradable ones. These will be donated by the foundation.

The Municipality of Sikinos is the first to invite all businesses and residents of the island to commit to changing their habits and helping reduce global pollution. The goal of the Sea Change program is to ultimately protect the marine environment.

 

Over the next couple of months, the Sea Change program will begin on other islands in the Cyclades.

Source: Greek Reporter

Photo courtesy of TripAdvisor

Greece has taken another necessary step to limit the spread of Covid-19, as part of the ongoing lockdown measures. One of the newest changes currently in effect is the 'Click in Shop' method of shopping at all retail stores across the country.

More specifically, all retail stores that sell clothes, shoes, and books - including the ones located in large shopping malls -  will now operate with the Click in Shop process as part of the government's effort to curb overcrowding in public spaces.

Click in Shop means that consumers make appointments in advance to shop in person inside retail stores thus allowing only a limited number of consumers in a store at the same time. All other stores will continue to operate by the 'Click-Away' method which means consumers place their orders from home and then collect their items from outside the store and by appointment only.

Click in Shop requires the customer to select and book the product they wish to buy, either online or via phone. Then, they will make an appointment in order to visit the store, try on the preselected items and make their purchase. They can also browse the store and try on other products as well, as long as they don't exceed the specified time limit for each customer. Appointments are scheduled based on the size of a store and the number of employees working at the time of the appointment, in order to avoid overcrowding. Remember that sending an SMS is still mandatory for leaving your home!

The main advantage of the Click in Shop method is that it actually offers consumers the opportunity to try on products, an option that the Click-Away system does not offer. Although the aim of the try-on option is to minimize the chances of returning products, customers will still be able to do so - strictly by appointment - and all return and warranty rights will still be valid. With regard to payment methods, consumers will be able to pay in cash is they like, with the cash limit set at €500. This is an additional advantage of the Click in Shop method, as the previous system in the majority of cases worked only with credit and debit cards. 

The duration of this new method of shopping will be determined based on the epidemiological data gathered daily by authorities. Retail businesses will work to ensure that all the necessary protection measures and operation regulations of the Click in Shop model are maintained.

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This content has been sourced and translated by Codico Lab.

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) is one of the world’s leading private, international philanthropic organizations, making grants to nonprofit organizations in the areas of arts and culture, education, health and sports, and social welfare.

SNF funds organizations and projects worldwide that aim to achieve a broad, lasting, and positive impact for society at large, and exhibit strong leadership and sound management. The Foundation also supports projects that facilitate the formation of public-private partnerships as an effective means for serving public welfare.

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Greece has seen a record production of electricity from renewable energy sources exceeding the corresponding output from natural gas this year, without considering the contribution of large hydroelectric plants with exports expected to reach 3 billion cubic meters this year.

The structural upheavals in the energy market brought about by the international crisis also include the fact that Greece became an energy exporter and an energy channel for the Balkan countries, supporting their energy supply with Liquefied Natural Gas infrastructure.

Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas pointed out that with the increase in RES, Greece has a comparative advantage in electricity production for the first time because it has twice as much solar radiation compared to Northern Europe. He estimated that the production of "green" energy will translate into savings of more than 2 billion euros in 2023 from the substitution of natural gas imports.

The developments in natural gas exports are also impressive with the Liquefied Natural Gas storage and gasification infrastructure in Revythoussa playing a leading role. Skrekas has recently stated at the Ministerial Council of the International Natural Gas Conference in Bucharest, that the country exported 0.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas last year, while this year it is already approaching 2 billion.

Moreover, the country's export potential will be strengthened with the commercial operation of the Greek-Bulgarian natural gas pipeline that began on October 1 and the start of operation, in 2023, of the new floating Liquefied Natural Gas station in Alexandroupolis.

Originally published on: greekcitytimes.com