Greek salad

Greek salad or horiatiki salad (Greek: χωριάτικη σαλάτα choriatiki salata [xorˈjatici saˈlata] "village salad" or "rustic salad" or θερινή σαλάτα therini salata [θeriˈni saˈlata] "summer salad") is a salad in Greek cuisine.

Greek salad
Horiatiki salad with Feta cheese as served on Hydra Island, where cucumber is peeled. In other regions, cucumbers are left unpeeled.
Place of originGreece
Main ingredientsTomatoes, cucumbers, onions, feta cheese, olives (usually Kalamata olives), salt, oregano, olive oil

Greek salad is made with pieces of tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, onion, feta cheese (usually served as a slice on top of the other ingredients), and olives (usually Kalamata olives), typically seasoned with salt and Greek mountain oregano, and dressed with olive oil. Common additions include green bell pepper slices or caper berries (especially in the Dodecanese). Greek salad is often imagined as a farmer's breakfast or lunch, as its ingredients resemble those that a Greek farmer might have on hand.[1]

Outside Greece
An American-style "Greek" salad, served with lettuce

Outside Greece, "Greek salad" may be a lettuce salad with Greek-inspired ingredients, even though the original dish is distinguished by the absence of lettuce. Meanwhile, the variant without lettuce may be called horiatiki, "country salad", "peasant salad", or "village salad". Lettuce, tomatoes, feta (often served in multiple cube-shaped cuttings mixed with the vegetables), and olives are the most standard elements in an American-style Greek salad, but cucumbers, peperoncini (pickled hot peppers), bell peppers, onions, radishes, dolmades, and anchovies/sardines are common. In Detroit, for example, Greek salad includes beets, and in the Tampa Bay Area, it often includes potato salad. Dressings containing various herbs and seasonings are frequently used in the U.S. This style of Greek salad is rarely encountered in Greece.

Various other salads have also been called "Greek" in the English language in the last century, including some with no apparent connection to Greek cuisine. A 1925 Australian newspaper described a Greek salad of boiled squash dressed with sour milk;[2] a 1934 American newspaper described a mayonnaise-dressed lettuce salad with shredded cabbage and carrots.[3]

Other salads in Greece and Cyprus
Cretan salad

There are many other salads in Greek cuisine. These include: marouli (a salad with lettuce, onion and dill), lahanosalata (a shredded fresh cabbage salad dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic), pantzarosalata (boiled and sliced beetroots, sometimes with beet greens as well, dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar), roka salad (arugula dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar or lemon juice, possibly including anchovies), patatosalata (potato salad with olive oil, finely sliced onions, lemon juice or vinegar), revithosalata (chickpea salad), and maintanouri (parsley salad, usually used as a condiment).

Cypriot salad;[4], native to the island of Cyprus, consists of finely chopped tomatoes, capers, cucumbers, onions, flat-leaf parsley, feta cheese, dressed with olive oil and lemon or red wine vinegar, and closely resembles the "Greek salad" of Greece.

Some spreads and dips found in the meze of Greek cuisine are also called "salads" in Greek, such as melitzanosalata, taramasalata and tzatziki.

  • Horiatiki salad as served in the Dodecanese islands
  • Greek salad in Thessaloniki
  • Horiatiki salad served with moussaka in Laconia, Peloponnesus
  • Greek salad as served in other countries. The main differences are the serving of the feta cheese in multiple cube-shaped cuttings instead of a single rectangular-piece and the more liberal supply of onion.
  • Greek-inspired salad as served in Copenhagen, Denmark

See also
  • Shopska salad, a similar salad from Bulgaria
  • Çoban salatası, a similar salad from Turkey
  • Serbian salad, a similar salad from Serbia

References
  1. Zhang, Jenny. "A Modern Tradition: Greek Salad". Organically Blissful. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  2. "The Age – Google News Archive Search". google.com. January 13, 1925. p. 7.
  3. The Daily Times (Rochester and Beaver, Pennsylvania), March 13, 1934
  4. "Cypriot Salad".
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