There are few things more comforting than a sweet treat to complete a meal, and Greek cuisine offers an array of delectable desserts designed to offer the perfect finale to any dining occasion.
Like most traditional Greek recipes, the finest desserts encapsulate and showcase the favoured ingredients of the Mediterranean including nuts, honey, yoghurt and pastry.
Here’s an insight into four famous Greek desserts…
Baklava
Since the 1950s when Greek milk bars first began popping up throughout Australia, the local love for baklava has steadily grown.
This traditional Greek recipe sees honey-drenched nuts sandwiched between layers of filo pastry. Arguably, baklava is considered the most famous sweet treat to spring forth from Greece, although its actual origin is a little more complex.
It is believed the Assyrians were the first people to combine layers of pastry with chopped nuts and honey, but the Greeks perfected this with their wafer-thin filo making technique, which was developed in around 4BC.
Bougatsa
Like baklava, bougatsa is one of the most readily recognised sweets heralding from Greece. In truth, bougatsa can actually be either sweet or savoury, but when served as a dessert it most often features a sweet, custard-like filling wrapped in filo pastry.
The filo is then baked, dusted with icing sugar and served hot or warm. It is believed that bougatsa originated in the north-eastern Greek region of Macedonia.
Luokoumades
Akin to a small sweet donut, which is drizzled with honey syrup, spiced with cinnamon and sometimes sweetened further with a dusting of icing sugar, luokoumades are a perennially popular sweet treat of Greece.
Luokoumades is likely to stem from Turkey, however as researchers note, “it is a traditional Greek dessert with roots in deep antiquity”.
Almond cake
Greece features a plentiful array of natural produce like nuts and seeds, which make their way into a variety of recipes. Although nuts were frequently used in chopped form in desserts like baklava, they were also often ground down into flour, due to a shortage of wheat and grain in the region.
When it comes to desserts, one of the most popular to feature ground nuts is almond cake. At George’s Mediterranean Bar and Grill we continue to serve this receipt today, combining it with candied orange and contrasting it by incorporating yoghurt.
George’s desserts
The George’s Mediterranean Bar and Grill menu features a section of traditional Greek desserts designed to perfectly complete any meal. We feature all the renowned favourites including bougatsa, baklava and almond cake, offering guests the ideal sweet finish to any dining occasion.
About George’s Mediterranean Bar and Grill
Located on the King Street Wharf amidst the beauty and excitement of Darling Harbour, George’s Mediterranean Bar and Grill is renowned as one of Sydney’s premier eateries. Come share the Greek hospitality for which we are renowned as we serve up harbourside dining in simply stunning surrounds.
You can learn more about our function facilities here, or contact us directly for further advice.