Byzantine cuisine basically evolved from the ancient Greek gastronomic tradition. The type of ingredients, preparation methods and quite often the names of foods employed in both periods are testimony to this fact. Byzantine cuisine had already developed at a time when the European diet was still frugal and unrefined. As in ancient times, formal Byzantine dinners were […]

Palamida psiti me agouro stafili and sinapi Ingredients: 1 1/2 kg bonito, gutted (or tunny or swordfish steaks) 1 kg unripe green grapes 1 tsp mustard seed 1 tsp powdered mustard 1/2 cup olive oil 4 tbsp finely chopped parsley salt and pepper 12 whole grapes for garnish Method: Broil the bonito over charcoal and […]

Ingredients: 2-3 kg assorted wild greens: hartwort, amaranth, radicchio, sowthistle, nettle, endive, mustard 250 g dry onions, finely chopped 300 g green onions, finely chopped 1/2 cup olive oil 1 bunch fresh dilllweed, chopped 1 bunch fresh fennelweed, chopped salt and pepper Method: Trim, chop and rinse greens. Steam them in a large pot and […]

Ingredients: 1 lt good quality white wine 100 g honey orange flower water or rose water Method: Mix all the ingredients together and serve chilled. (serves 6)

Ingredients: 1/2 kg pumpkin or orange “Winter” squash 1/2 cup all purpose flour 1 tbsp ground coriander 1 tsp salt olive oil for frying Method: Remove seeds and “stringly” part from the center of the squash. Cut the flesh into small pieces 3×4 cm. Mix the flour with the salt and coriander and dredge the […]

Ingredients: 300g onions, thinly sliced 1/3 cup red wine 1 cup olive oil 150 g dry myzithra or goat cheese or haloumi, cut into 12 triangles 6 slices of sandwich bread, cut diagonally (12 triangles) flour for dusting 1 tbsp wine vinegar a pinch of dried thyme salt and pepper Method: Fry the bread in […]

Due to fasting, the Byzantines incorporated fresh vegetables and wild greens in their meals much more often than the ancient Greeks, although the varieties consumed in both historic periods did not vary considerably. Compared with the modern age, fresh vegetables and wild greens were given different names and varied in their cooking method; for these […]

Egypt had always been the chief grain supplier to the great empires of thr Eastern Mediterranean, both the Byzantine and Roman. When Egypt fell into the hands of the Arabs at the turn of the 7th century BC, the plains of Thrace took its place as the chief source of grain for the region. In […]

Byzantine food refers to the food of Byzantine, a part of Roman Empire. The food is the result of the fusion of Roman and Greek cooking styles. With the development of Byzantine trade and empire, various kinds of new vegetables and spices, along with sugar, were brought in the region, which eventually led to the […]

As was the case with earlier historical periods, the Byzantine era also yielded abundant and often vivid information on nutritional habits and patterns. Our knowledge, however, of general culinary practice and especially of specific recipes and quantities of ingredients is disappointingly meager. An exception to this general dearth, albeit a minor one, is information traced […]