I’ve been on an ethnic food kick the spicier the better. I’ve delved into real Mexican food and Indian food. Now I’d like to try Greek food.
My two rules are I don’t eat lamb and I don’t eat organ meat.
There’s an allegedly good Greek restaurant not too far from here so it shouldn’t be hard to get. At this point my only exposure has been feta cheese 
You want to try Greek food but you don’t eat lamb? That’s a trick. You might want to try spanakopita…that’s a pastry filled with spinach and cheese, or dolmades…grape leaves stuffed with rice and sometimes meat, or moussaka, which is a casserole that’s sometimes made with lamb, but is also made with beef a lot.
Pastitsio is really good too – easiest description would be the Greek equivalent of lasagna, but with ziti noodles and a bechamel-sort of sauce.
Where’s Seeker74? I know she is a Greek food expert!
Greek food isn’t terribly spicy, as a rule. It’s also fairly simple and straightforward in terms of preparation. What I lke to do is sample all the little dishes called meze. You might get spanakopita or some other stuff wrapped in filo, stuffed grape leaves, tzatziki (cucumber and yogurt), olives and so forth. A lot of people like the chicken soup with lemon, too, although it’s not a favorite of mine. Chicken and fish preparations are often just straight grilling, maybe with oregano and lemon.
If you have the urge to give lamb another shot, a Greek restaurant would be the place to do it.
Nope, no baaa-by sheep for me. My apologies to Hal Briston.
I just don’t like the taste. I supposed that might be a problem.
Not necessarily. There’s a lot of Greek seafood dishes too, including wonderful calamari, and I’ve had gyros with marinated grilled chicken substituted for the lamb meat.
Saganaki!
Battered cheese en flambe’.
When they light it on fire, everyone yells Opah!
It’s delicious. I could eat just Saganaki for a meal and be content.
I second the saganakisuggestion. Another favorite appetizer of mine is also taramasalata. It’s a cod roe dip. In addition to saganaki, I could eat this stuff as meal as well.
The OP doesn’t like the taste of lamb, but you think they might like fish eggs? I could be wrong, but I’ll bet that is non-starter as well.
I’ve been wanting to try taramasalata, but I don’t like all fishy-type things. For example, I do like caviar, but I don’t care for anchovies, unless they are just used as a minor flavoring.
Would I like it?
Well, the main ingredient in taramasalata is fish eggs (not caviar, but similar eggs), so you should like it. I love it myself.
I think I’d be game for trying it. I’m not overly fond of fishy fishy stuff but I eat sea urchin roe so I’d try it. Lamb just tastes funky to me I have no idea why although I enjoy [sub]veal[/sub] so it’s probably not a psychological thing.
And, flaming battered cheese on a stick? I am so in. Baconnate it and I’d be in heaven.
I was all prepared to call you a “freak” for this. But you redeemed yourself with
No it’s just onna plate. But there’s the performance aspect as well. Plus, everyone has usually had plenty of retsina, which is a dry red wine that tastes like it’s made out of grapes and pinecones. I rather liked it.
A tear has rolled down my cheek at the thought of the Baconator.
I’m the same way. In fact, I was very reluctant to try it the 1st time. But there really isn’t a fishy taste, although you can detect the taste of the fish eggs. The first couple of bites for me were a little iffy. But after a couple more bites, I was addicted. I’ve only had it at one place (Mr. Greek’s near the Toronto airport) so I can’t say that the taste is consistent everywhere. All I know is that when we’re visiting my wife’s family in Toronto, Mr. Greek’s is always the place I insist that we go eat.
I can’t seem to find reasonably priced Greek restaurants like that in Manhattan or in New Jersey. Does anyone have any suggestions?
I want to try everything in this thread so far, but so far I can only pronounce “feta cheese” and “grape leaf.” Le sigh.
Ahem… I’m no expert. I just have a Greek family. I’ve only been to one Greek restaurant (they’re rare in these parts) and our family makes only a few traditional dishes for the holidays. I’ll impart what little knowlege I have.
Smarty (you don’t mind if I call you that, do you?)-- I think you should start out with Spanikopita or Tiropita. Previously mentioned in this thread, Spanikopita is phyllo dough lovingly buttered between each paper-thin sheet of pastry. The dough is then filled with a feta and spinach mixture. Dill is frequently used in the filling as well. Tiropita is the same pastry, without the spinach and herbs. Just feta, baby.
For gawd’s sake, get some Dolmades! They’re soooo addictive. Some come with just rice, others with rice and ground beef. Dill is often used here, too. If they’re not served with traditional lemon sauce, squirt some lemon juice on them. Yum!
Definitely have some Souvlaki. Chicken or beef kebobs with onions and peppers. Oregano is usually the featured herb in this dish.
Pastitsio: Yes, the Greek version of lasagne. Bottom layer is usually long ziti mixed with a bit of meat sauce to make it dense. Next layer is meat sauce alone. Now, this sauce is great stuff- it’s seasoned with cinnamon. If you didn’t know it, you’d wonder what the fabulous flavor is. The top layer is a very thick bechamel sauce. And I mean thick. My brother (the dumbass) thought it was MASHED POTATOES. [Napoleon Dynamite] Idiot! [/NP] Anyway, the whole shabang is about 2-3 inches tall. That should tell you how thick the layers are. This dish is a bitch to make. I attempted it exactly ONE time. Never again. I’ll leave it up to the old ladies.
Moussaka is much like Pastitsio, with sliced eggplant between the meat and bechemel. I detest eggplant, so I never have that.
Cher is spot-on. Most Greek food is very simple and not spicy. Recurring flavors you’ll find: Cinnamon (possibly cloves, depending on which Greek grandma is cooking), a little garlic, oregano and LOTS of lemon. Start out simple, or dive in head first. You can’t go wrong here. If you don’t know what something is, ask your friendly belly-dancing waitress. (Please ignore her moustache)
I’ve got my Grandma’s recipe for Kota Kapama somewhere here… I’ll dig it up and post if you’d like. It’s very easy to make and f-ing heavenly! And I must say, mine is JUST like Grandma’s. She’d be so proud.
Cher- The only Retsina I’ve had was white. Weird.
Please, please, please-- don’t say “Oprah” instead of “Opa.” It’s just tacky.
Enjoy!
I can’t be the only one who looked at the thread title quickly and saw “Help Me Enjoy Geek Food” and wondered “Who on earth needs help appreciating Mountain Dew and Cheetoes?!?”
Don’t like lamb??? 
Was it prepared badly? How many times have you tried it?
I love Greek food, but my exposure is very limited, so I can’t offer any better suggestions thab what’s been said. But you probably can’t lose just going into the restaurant and pointing to random non-lamby looking items on the menu until you’re full or out of money. (The former will happen first–one nice thing about Greek food is that it’s usually cheap. And filling. The two nice things about Greek food are that it is cheap and filling. And tasty. Among the many nice things about Greek food–maybe I should just go out and come in again…)
The Delphi is a pretty sit down and takeout place in downtown Manhattan at West Broadway and Reed. You can get a fabulous souvlaki sandwich for about $6. Other great menu items are the chicken, egg and lemon soup, the tzatziki, the moussaka and the fabulous baklava.
YUM!