Top 10 Strange Greek Foods You May Like (or Not)

Taste is as subjective as beauty and this is why some foods are very common in a culture while outsiders think of them as strange or even weird. Greece does have some of these dishes. We compiled a list with the ones we think are the strangest. Some of these foods are eaten only during special occasions and holidays while others might be local to a specific area.
Meat Dishes

Snails: Kohli “Bourbouristi” is the popping sound snails make when frying. Snails fried in the shell on a bed of salt may sound strange, but they are delicious and are considered a great delicacy in Greece.  See Recipe


Patsas: This soup is a tradition in Greece and is very much loved by a lot of people. The tripe soup (that sometimes also includes the feet of the animal) came to Greece from Turkey in the 1920s, and is considered to be a classic winter hangover cure. See Recipe

Lamb’s head: This is a dish that you have more chanced tasting if you visit Greece for Easter. The lamb’s brain is considered the best part of the head. Another part that is considered a delicacy is the tongue. See Recipe


Kokoretsi:It’s a rotisserie dish made up of the organ meat from the lamb and bound by the intestines of the animal. It includes hearts, liver, spleens and it is usually served on Easter Sunday See Recipe


Splinantero: Spleen sausage made from mutton in the region of Thessaly, Greece, broiled on charcoal fire.



Seafood
Sea urchin Salad: ‘Ahinosalata’ is consisted of the inside part of the sea urchins. It is considered a summer delicacy and it is usually found inseafood tavernas. See Recipe


Fried octopus Ink sack: This is a rare dish served primarily on the island of Kalymnos. The ink sacks are carefully removed from the octopus then boiled and then deep fried.


Gavros Marinatos: Raw Small fish marinated in salt and special spices. This is a dish that usually is accompanied with ouzo. Sometimes instead of ‘gavros fish’ you can find this dish with sardines.


Desserts:
Karidaki: In Greek it means walnut and as it is implied it is made with whole walnuts. The strange thing is that it is cooked and consumed unpeeled. It requires to be dipped in asbestos paint two times and it’s preparation can take up to fifteen days.  See Recipe

Kaltsounia:  These sweet cheese pastries are consisted of a rolled dough, cheese (myzithra), honey and cinnamon. Depending on how they are folded, they can be baked or fried. Kaltsounia can be found on the Greek island of Crete See Recipe

Andrew Zimmern visited Greece a few months ago and presented an episode of “Bizarre Foods” from the Mediterranean country. Watch the video to see what Greek dishes he thought are bizarre.  He tried tripe soup, cow-lung soup, sea squirt and goat.