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Athens
Guided tour · 3 hours
Athens: Street Food Tasting Tour
Immerse yourself in Athenian cuisine, sample the best street food with beer or wine, explore Athens, and hang out where the locals do on this guided...
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History
Kolokithokeftedes are the Greek mezze fritter that channels summer-season courgettes through grated cheese and fresh herbs. The dish appears in Greek home-cooking from at least the 19th century, with strong roots in the Cyclades (especially Santorini) where courgettes were grown for the summer market. Athens tavernas like Tzitzikas kai Mermigas and Manimani plate them as the canonical opening mezze, served hot with a bowl of tzatziki and lemon wedges.
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Thessaloniki
Guided tour · 4 hours
Thessaloniki: Food Tastings and Drinks Tour with a Chef
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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Egg
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 800g courgettes, grated on the coarse holes of a box grater
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 100g feta cheese, crumbled
- 80g kefalotyri or pecorino, grated
- 3 spring onions, very finely sliced
- 1 small bunch fresh mint, finely chopped
- 1 small bunch fresh dill, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 egg
- 100g plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Freshly ground black pepper, pinch of grated nutmeg
- Sunflower oil for shallow frying
- Tzatziki and lemon wedges to serve
Method
- Place the grated courgette in a colander, toss with the salt, and leave to drain over a bowl for 30 minutes.
- Squeeze the courgette firmly in handfuls to extract as much liquid as possible (this is the crucial step; too much liquid means soggy fritters).
- Tip the squeezed courgette into a dry bowl. Add the crumbled feta, grated kefalotyri, spring onions, mint, dill, parsley, egg, flour, baking powder, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.
- Mix gently with a fork until just combined; do not overmix.
- Heat 1cm of sunflower oil in a heavy frying pan over medium heat to 180C.
- Drop heaped tablespoons of mixture into the oil, flattening lightly with the back of the spoon to 1cm thick discs.
- Fry 2 to 3 minutes per side until deep golden. Lift onto paper towels.
- Plate hot with a bowl of cold tzatziki and lemon wedges for squeezing over.
Tip from the editors. The squeezing is everything. Half the volume of the grated courgette should come out as liquid. Skip this step and the fritters collapse.
Where to eat kolokithokeftedes
Kolokithokeftedes in Athens
Tzitzikas kai Mermigas ★ 4.1
Tzitzikas kai Mermigas on Mitropoleos in Athens has cooked Greek small plates with seasonal ingredients off Syntagma Square for three decades.
OrderThe keftedakia and the kayianas allios with a glass of the house assyrtiko.
TipLunch from 13:00 is the easier seating; book three days ahead for Friday and Saturday dinner.
Manimani ★ 4.4
Manimani in Koukaki cooks the food of the Mani peninsula in a neoclassical building near the Acropolis Museum in Athens: cured pork siglino and handmade.
OrderThe siglino with handmade pasta and a half-litre of the rosé from the Peloponnese.
TipClosed Mondays. Sunday lunch from 14:00 is the easiest service to find a window seat.
Karavitis Tavern ★ 4.5
Karavitis Tavern on Pausaniou in Pangrati is the 1926 neighbourhood taverna with a rustic courtyard, barrels of house wine and a point-at-trays system.
Why locals goPangrati neighbourhood taverna since 1926 with a rustic courtyard, barrels of house wine, and an order-by-pointing system that keeps the tourist trade away.
TipNo reservations are taken; arrive before 21:00 on weeknights and before 20:30 on Saturdays.
Mavro Provato ★ 4.7
Mavro Provato in Pangrati Athens is the daily mezedopoleio favourite for small-plate Greek cooking, Greek wine by the glass and a sidewalk of regulars.
OrderThe smoked aubergine, the saganaki and a half-litre carafe of house white.
TipBook three days ahead for dinner; lunch tables on the pavement are walk-up after 14:00.
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