Greece A to Z: F
14 entries from the Greece A to Z Travel Dictionary, starting with F. Search or filter them here, or open another letter.
Farmakeio
PracticalPharmacy, marked by a green cross. A published rota keeps one open overnight in each area; the list is posted in the window.
#Fasolada
FoodA hearty bean soup made with white beans, tomatoes, carrots and olive oil, widely regarded as Greece's national dish and a staple of everyday home cooking.
#Fasolakia
FoodGreen beans stewed in tomato and olive oil, one of the ladera dishes eaten warm or at room temperature.
How to make Fasolakia
- Serves
- 4
- Time
- Prep 15 min, cook 45 min
Ingredients
- 800g flat green beans, topped, tailed and halved
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 potatoes, quartered
- 3 tomatoes, coarsely grated, or 400g tinned
- 120ml olive oil
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- A handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Soften the onion in the olive oil over a medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Add the beans and stir them through the oil for 3 minutes so they take on the flavour.
- Add the tomato, tomato puree, potatoes and 200ml of water, and season.
- Cover and simmer on a low heat for 40 minutes.
- The beans must go completely soft. Squeaky beans mean it is not finished. The oil should separate and float clear on top.
- Stir in the parsley and take it off the heat.
- Serve warm or at room temperature, never hot from the pan, with feta and bread.
Fava
FoodSantorini's yellow split peas cooked down to a puree and topped with raw onion and olive oil.
#Ferries
PracticalThe backbone of island travel, regular services connect Piraeus and other mainland ports to the islands. Book ahead in July and August, and compare routes and operators on a site like Ferryhopper.
#Ferry seat classes
PracticalGreek ferry tickets come in several classes, economy or deck, "airplane seat" (aircraft style reclining seats), and cabins, with prices and comfort levels varying between conventional ferries and high speed catamarans.
#Feta
FoodGreece's protected brined sheep's and goat's milk cheese, crumbled over salads and baked in filo.
Personal pick: Deniz's pick: Dodoni, an Epirus (Ioannina) dairy brand, for tinned/barrel aged feta.
How to make Feta psiti, baked feta
- Serves
- 4 as meze
- Time
- Prep 10 min, cook 25 min
Ingredients
- 400g block of PDO feta, in one piece
- 1 tomato, sliced
- Half a red pepper, sliced
- 1 red chilli, sliced
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp honey, optional
- Black pepper
Method
- Heat the oven to 200C, 400F.
- Sit the whole block of feta on a large sheet of baking paper in a roasting tin.
- Lay the tomato, pepper and chilli over the top.
- Add the oregano and a grind of pepper. Add no salt at all, the cheese carries plenty.
- Drizzle the olive oil over and fold the paper up into a loose parcel, sealed at the top.
- Bake for 25 minutes, until the feta is soft through and beginning to colour at the edges.
- Open the parcel, trickle over the honey if using, and serve straight from the paper with bread.
Filoxenia
PracticalThe deep rooted Greek ideal of hospitality to strangers, literally 'friend to the foreigner'.
#Flying dolphin
PracticalThe hydrofoil, the older sort of fast boat on the Saronic Gulf routes from Piraeus, now running alongside modern catamarans rather than instead of them. Aegean Flying Dolphins still sells from the Saronic gate at the port.
#Folegandros
RegionA small, dramatic Cycladic island with a clifftop old town, wild landscapes and a peaceful atmosphere, popular with travellers seeking a quieter alternative to its busier neighbours.
#Fourni
RegionA small fishing archipelago between Ikaria and Samos, historically a corsair hideout and still very low key.
#Frappe
DrinkThe frothy iced instant coffee invented in Thessaloniki in 1957, a Greek summer institution.
#Freddo cappuccino
DrinkShaken iced espresso finished with a thick cap of cold whipped milk foam, the drink most of Greece now orders through the summer.
How to make Freddo cappuccino
- Serves
- 1
- Time
- Prep 5 min, no cooking
Ingredients
- 1 double shot of espresso, about 60ml, freshly brewed
- 1 to 2 tsp sugar, optional, added while the coffee is still hot
- 250g ice cubes, roughly, plus more for the serving glass
- 60ml very cold full fat milk
- 30ml cold whipping cream
- Ground cinnamon or cocoa to finish, optional
Method
- Put the milk and cream in the freezer for 10 minutes before you start. Cold is what makes the foam hold.
- Brew the espresso and stir in the sugar now if you want it sweet, while the coffee is hot enough to dissolve it.
- Pour the hot espresso over a large handful of ice in a cocktail shaker or a lidded jar.
- Shake hard for 20 to 30 seconds. The coffee should come out chilled, several shades paler and carrying a fine crema.
- Fill a tall glass with fresh ice and strain the shaken espresso over it.
- Froth the chilled milk and cream together with a handheld frother until it thickens to the texture of loose whipped cream, about 30 seconds.
- Spoon the cold foam over the coffee so it sits as a distinct layer rather than mixing in.
- Dust with cinnamon or cocoa if you like and drink it straight away, before the foam softens.
Freddo espresso
DrinkA double shot of espresso shaken hard over ice until it turns cold and builds a thick crema, then strained over fresh ice. Order it sketos, metrios or glykos. Now the everyday cold coffee order across Greece.
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