Beyond Feta, a Food Tour of Athens

• PHOTOS

Food culture in Athens revolves around the central market, or Varvakios. Here nut vendors vie with butchers and fishmongers in a heady, excited atmosphere for the attention of passersby, while on the surrounding streets specialists in honey, cheese, and pastries offer a fantastic array of foodstuffs that demonstrate the intricacies and complexities of Greek cuisine. During this 3-hour tour of Athens’ central market and surrounding gastronomic quarter we’ll join a local chef and food journalist for an in-depth and immersive experience of Greek food and eating, tracing the development and character of Athenian cooking from farm to fork.

We begin on Athinas Street in central Athens, not far from the Monastiraki train station—a crowded, heady part of town, famous for its housewares stores. Here we’ll explore the basics of the Greek kitchen and look at some of the unique tools employed like the traditional mortar and pestle and dowel-like rolling pins. We’ll continue our stroll of around t

Food culture in Athens revolves around the central market, or Varvakios. Here nut vendors vie with butchers and fishmongers in a heady, excited atmosphere for the attention of passersby, while on the surrounding streets specialists in honey, cheese, and pastries offer a fantastic array of foodstuffs that demonstrate the intricacies and complexities of Greek cuisine. During this 3-hour tour of Athens’ central market and surrounding gastronomic quarter we’ll join a local chef and food journalist for an in-depth and immersive experience of Greek food and eating, tracing the development and character of Athenian cooking from farm to fork.

We begin on Athinas Street in central Athens, not far from the Monastiraki train station—a crowded, heady part of town, famous for its housewares stores. Here we’ll explore the basics of the Greek kitchen and look at some of the unique tools employed like the traditional mortar and pestle and dowel-like rolling pins. We’ll continue our stroll of around the market by visiting several bakeries where we’ll discuss the centrality of grains in the Greek diet, the vegetable market to explore seasonal offerings, and a street dedicated entirely to cheese and spices. Here we’ll take care to break down stereotypes that see Greek food as one-dimensional (through the lens of Feta) by tasting and learning about a variety of different cheeses.

Depending on the day, we’ll take time to visit a number of different merchants, many of whom specialize in one item or another: such as the garlic merchant who keeps an ad-hoc seed museum of local edible plants or the medicinal herb purveyor. There will be several opportunities for tasting along the way.

Eventually, our tour will turn into the Varvakios Central Market. Depending on the interests and stomachs of the group we’ll pass through the graphic meat and fish markets where we can discuss the various uses of animals in Greek food, from innards to local fish and seafood. We may also walk through one of the market restaurants to get a glimpse of local fare in its least “manicured” state.

We will emerge from the market and from our time together with a much better appreciation for the nuances, history, and depth of Greek culinary traditions.