# What Is REAL Greek Cuisine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 21, 2007, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-real-greek-cuisine/388886 "2007-01-21T21:32:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-real-greek-cuisine/388886/1 "2007-01-21T21:32:29Z")
I am told (by my Greek-American friends) that the food at typical greek restaurants is not really greek. My friend says that shisk kebab and souvlaki and baklava are really of turkish origin. Moussaka is actually albanian. So, what are geniune greek dishes? And, are they easy to make? Does modern greek cuisine bear any resemblance to the foods served in classical times? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-real-greek-cuisine/388886/2 "2007-01-21T22:22:28Z")
I don’t think you can localize any cuisine of the region by country. They have so intermingled over the centuries that no-one knows who started what when. That goes for wars as well as food. It would be like trying to distinguish between Hunan and Szchuwan dishes. Now days, they have some distinct flavors. But as to who started what, and what is the original recipe? Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![parsnip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parsnip/32/4564_2.png) [@parsnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parsnip)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-real-greek-cuisine/388886/3 "2007-01-22T00:25:28Z")
All I can say is that the high-end Greek carry-out near my office in downtown DC puts garlic in **everything**. The food is good and fresh, and I can pick through the choices to get stuff without gluten (said with hope). The stuffed baked potato almost blew me out the the chair on 1st taste–who puts garlic in that? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-real-greek-cuisine/388886/4 "2007-01-22T01:11:18Z")
[QUOTE=parsnip] …who puts garlic in that? [/QUOTE] Ummm…everybody I know? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-real-greek-cuisine/388886/5 "2007-01-22T03:40:01Z")
When I visited inland Greece a few years ago, I found the food to be pretty close to what we see served in US restaurants. The only major difference was that they consider grape leaves to be a seasonal ingredient, and weren’t serving it in November. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-real-greek-cuisine/388886/6 "2007-01-22T03:40:59Z")
Wieners in buns? d&r ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-real-greek-cuisine/388886/7 "2007-01-22T04:50:58Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] It would be like trying to distinguish between Hunan and Szchuwan dishes. [/QUOTE] nitpick, sichuan cuisine uses sichuan peppercorn (and Hunan does not). taste difference is extremely noticeable ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-real-greek-cuisine/388886/8 "2007-01-22T05:17:43Z")
According to Jeff Smith (let’s go for his history with food for now) look for meat menus with lamb. The Greeks also seem to have invented the early baked pastas.