The morning shows the good day; Eat breakfast like a Greek
Breakfast is an opportunity to start a day brimming with delicious flavors and ambrosial smells. After a good night’s sleep, a rejuvenating time travel from the day you lived to the one that awaits. Breakfast is the beginning of the new day that unfolds, each mouthful reminding the commitment to a fresh start, a continuing life.
The dawn has come in 400 B.C.E. You are waking up to the whistling sound of the water clock. As the sun rises, a busy day begins: shopping in agorà, voting in ekklesía, attending religious rituals, sporting events, or theater performances –but first, let us have breakfast!
The first meal of the day «akratismós» is lean and healthy, though it remains essential and flavorful. Akratismós consists of barley bread dipped in wine, sometimes complemented by figs or olives. The aroma of «teganítes» reaches your nose before the taste reaches your mouth, as the poet Cratinus describes them as «hot and shredding morning dew». Teganítes are made with wheat flour, olive oil, honey, and curdled milk (surprisingly similar to pancakes!) and are usually topped with honey, nuts, fruits, or cheese. Complete your meal with «kykeón», a middle ground between a cocktail and a smoothie, containing cereals, sweet wine, honey, and sweet, fresh cheese. Breakfast has a beautiful simplicity as you pause and eat, hearing the first sounds of the day, a stoic reflection on what the day will bring.
You time travel back to the present, and the golden rays of the sun gently caress your face. Warming your skin and soul, they wake you up tenderly. The path to the kitchen brings you closer to familiar and awakening scents: roasting coffee, aromas of tobacco, and delicacies you can taste with all your senses. Your loved one prepares breakfast while stealing coffee sips. It is a beautiful, warm morning.
You set the table with dishes filled one by one with vibrant colors and creamy and crunchy textures. A smiling glance turns to the chair and beckons you to take a seat. A Greek coffee comes first on the table. A plate of hot spinach pie follows, and you do not waste a moment; you take a generous bite of a corner piece, hot but so crispy and tasty that you do not get discouraged. You cool your tongue with a spoonful of yogurt drizzled with honey, fresh fruit, and walnuts –you take one more bite and then another! Some Cretan delicious «stàka» is melting in the pan, and two eggs are frying in the resulting butter –you cannot wait to dip some bread into the yolk and buttery cheese. Your idyllic breakfast closes with a plate full of sweet treats: two slices of bread with homemade strawberry jam, crispy «bougàtsa» with velvety cream, and some fluffy «loukoumàdes» sprinkled with sugar. If love goes through the stomach, Romeo and Juliet are jealous of you today!
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There are days that the most productive thing you can do is relax, relish life and find joy in stillness. Greeks are known for enjoying life –and for their undeniably delicious cuisine! They never underestimate the power of good food and always seek a small paradise to offer them a little peace of mind and a lot of deliciousness. At Hotel Ganimede, they know by heart how to provide us with both. Housed in a 19th-century captain’s house with an idyllic courtyard, just a breath away from the picturesque port of Galaxidi tranquility awaits you.
The award-winning and internationally recognized breakfast at Ganimede’s is made with love, care, and imagination, by the talented hands of the excellent chef Chrysoula. The treasured recipes are a legacy of the previous owner, Bruno Perrocco, and Chrysoula keeps the tradition alive, although new tastes and smells always emerge in the creative process. Authentic homemade jams, made with fresh-picked fruit from the orchard and herbaceous locally produced cheese melt in your mouth and flood your palate with flavors.
Trusted and sustainably sourced ingredients, rich in nutrients and taste, fill your plate and your stomach. Greeks believe that eating tasteful and healthy food is one of the greatest joys in life. Fresh eggs from local hens, olives, and olive oil from one of the oldest olive groves in the world will convince you that Greeks are wise –at least when it comes to food! The velvety texture of the lemon cream opens new realms of pleasure for your taste buds, while the thyme honey sweetens not only your mouth but your soul. Savor and sweet aromas of freshly baked pies overflow from Chrysoula’s kitchen and captivate passers-by. Every morning dough is rolled out, a process you are invited to participate in, as the secret of success is meant to be shared in Ganimede. This breakfast is not only a meal; it is a unique sensory experience that smells like love, indelibly etched in your mind and heart.
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Breakfast is mind fuel, good for your soul, and always tastes better when made with love. Bathed in the Greek sun, one drop of coffee in your cup, and a few bread crumbs left on your plate –tomorrow morning you may relish it all over again!
