To Micro

The food is always my favorite thing about Greece, after the people.  I've gone on and on about the taste of the fruit, and even the vegetables, and therefore most of the food.  I haven't talked much about portion control this year. Portion control starts with "family style" restaurant meals, where you order and eat communally.  That way you don't have a uniform plate size that all family members are tacitly expected to consume.  I can eat less than Phil and the boys and typically we don't order anything specifically for Ellie -- we just all share.  Incidentally, there is no such thing as a kid's meal in Greece, thank heavens, so no one grows up with processed chicken nuggets or hot dogs as main food items.  For all these reasons, I strongly prefer Greece's food culture to our own.

The communal ordering has many benefits.  We can also be very adventurous about what we order, because one poor person isn't going to be stuck with a large plate of liver and testicles with nothing else to eat (some students actually ordered this once, and split between 16 of us, it wasn't so daunting, though it did not get polished off like most of the rest of the dishes!).  We all share the good stuff and the less good stuff.  Everyone tries more and finds new things they like:  the boys have begun to ask for zucchini and tomato croquettes.  

And finally, Greeks get that snacks are snacks, not meals.  Because of the meal schedule (breakfast around 7, lunch at 3, dinner at 10pm) there is often a need for a small something to tide one over.  There are wonderful bakeries all over the place that sell pies (filled with various kinds of cheese, spinach, sausage, greens, or sweet fillings), small sandwiches, croissants, etc.  But these are actually snack-sized.  They are also very cheap, like $1.80-3.00 each, so keeps the wallet fat and the waistline slim.  I love love love the existence of these snacks, though the fruit is so tasty, I often opt for that instead.  Typical breakfast:  hard boiled egg and 2-3 pieces of fruit.  It is the functional equivalent of my daily smoothie at home, only it gets blended in my stomach!

A palm-sized ham and cheese sandwich on fresh bread and even includes lettuce.

Hard to see, but this is a tiny bottle of soda, something like 6 ounces.  Truly no Big Gulps here.  Soda is more expensive, too, more even than wine at restaurants.  Water is cheaper than either one.

This mini-chocolate croissant satisfied my desire for a sweet without busting my calorie budget. And it was 60 cents (US)!