Avoid This Ordering Mistake When Dining At A Greek Restaurant - Tasting Table

"Greeks are not a big sauce people."

"It's typically a mistake to cover Greek dishes with extra sauce because it's culturally looked down upon," Constantellis told us."

"I was raised Greek-American, which means I like a little ketchup with my keftedakia (meatballs) every once in a while," he admitted."

"While sauces/dips are very popular in Greek cuisine, they should never overpower a dish."

Greek cuisine generally prefers minimal use of sauces; covering dishes with extra sauce is culturally frowned upon. Sauces and dips such as tzatziki, tyrokafteri, skordalia, and melitzanosalata are common but intended to complement rather than dominate primary ingredients. Typical Greek pita sandwiches include a modest amount of tzatziki instead of abundant sauce. Excessive condiment use, including ketchup on traditional items like keftedakia, is often viewed as excessive in Greek settings. American tendencies to pour sauce over many foods contrast with the Greek 'less is more' approach to seasoning and presentation.

Read at Tasting Table