Greece A to Z: B
8 entries from the Greece A to Z Travel Dictionary, starting with B. Search or filter them here, or open another letter.
Baklava
FoodLayers of filo, chopped nuts and syrup or honey, a sweet shared across the eastern Mediterranean.
#Balos Lagoon
BeachA turquoise lagoon on the Gramvoussa peninsula in western Crete, backed by pink tinged sand and reached by boat trip or a rough coastal track.
#Bifteki
FoodA flat grilled beef or pork patty, often stuffed with feta, from the grill house menu.
How to make Bifteki
- Serves
- 4
- Time
- Prep 20 min plus 30 min chilling, cook 15 min
Ingredients
- 600g minced beef, or half beef and half lamb
- 1 onion, grated and squeezed dry
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 thick slice of stale bread, soaked in water and wrung out
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 100g feta in one piece, for stuffing, optional
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Put everything except the feta and oil in a bowl and knead for 3 minutes, until the mixture tightens and starts to feel sticky.
- Cover and chill for 30 minutes. Cold mince holds its shape on the grill.
- Divide into four and flatten each piece to about 2cm thick and wider than you think, they shrink.
- For the stuffed version, break the feta into four, sit a piece in the centre of each patty and fold the meat over it, sealing the edges completely.
- Brush the oil on to the patties rather than the grill, so nothing sticks and nothing flares.
- Grill or griddle over a medium high heat for 6 to 7 minutes a side, turning once only.
- Rest for 5 minutes before serving, with lemon, chips and a village salad.
Blue Star Ferries
PracticalThe big conventional car ferry operator out of Piraeus, running large ships to the Cyclades, the Dodecanese and Crete with passengers, cars and freight aboard. Steadier in a swell than the fast boats, and slower.
#Bougatsa
FoodA Thessaloniki breakfast pastry of filo filled with semolina custard or cheese, cut and dusted with sugar and cinnamon.
#Bourdeto
FoodA fiery Corfiot fish stew, traditionally scorpionfish, simmered with onions, olive oil and a heavy hit of hot red pepper. Ionian menus carry dishes the Aegean islands do not, and this is the one that surprises people most. Heart Corfu carries the recipe.
#Bouzouki
MusicA long necked stringed instrument brought to Greece by Anatolian refugees in the early twentieth century, becoming the central instrument of rebetiko music and its later branches.
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