What “Not-Touristy” Souvenirs Should you Bring with you from Greece
What edible souvenirs should you buy and bring with you from Greece?
That was actually a question I received from you all a few days ago, when I had posted a photo of me traveling home from Greece with two big luggages. I had written that one of the luggages was filled with Greek food, and it was true. I brought home with me a whole big luggage only including Greek food! There were rather many of you who were interested and curious in what that luggage included and what “things”, foods, and ingredients I in general recommend taking with you from Greece when going to visit. So here’s the post y’all, the post on what “not touristy” souvenirs you should bring back home, after being in Greece!
Things I have brought with me from Greece this time:
Olives - simple but yet so accurate, Greek olives. The olives in Greece are just perfection and tastes incredible. Even though I buy for instance Greek Kalamon olives in Sweden too, they’re far from as delicious as the ones in Greece. Not speaking of how cheap it is buying olives compared to buying in Sweden. In Sweden, Greek olives costs about 10 euros per kg, but the Green ones I have in this photo costed 3 euro /kg and the black Kalamon olives costed only 5 euro/ kg. So much cheaper and like I said, so more delicious!
Dried legumes - they’re cheap, in a lot better quality than the ones we have here in Sweden at least and they’re just tastes a lot better. In the photo you see “fava beans” which also are rather difficult (or not possible to find at all) in Sweden. I’m having a package of that with me this time!
“Paximadi” - or “paximadia” (in plural) is a hard Greek bread that is compared to biscotti or rusk. This hard bread is usually served in a Greek Salad or as a “dako”. You soak down the bread with a little bit of water, olive oil and red wine vinegar, making the bread soft, and serving the salad on top. It’s delicious and I’ll give you a recipe of this anytime soon!
Greek Pita Bread - I don’t know why, but I can’t find Greek pita bread anywhere in Sweden to buy. It’s so strange so when coming home from Greece, I’m bringing a (or a few) package of that with me. Otherwise, don’t forget that you can make your own pita bread after my Greek pita bread recipe here.
Greek Salt - did you know that salt from different origins have different kinds of flavors? I get that you might think that “salt just tastes salty”, but it’s actually not true. The Greek salt from the sea is a lot more salty than the iodine salt we are buying and using in Sweden at least. So when being in Greece we always buy home Greek salt. It just tastes more and better, and it’s cheap too!
Greek Red Wine Vinegar - when making a Greek salad you need to use Greek red wine vinegar and the one from Greece is obviously the best one. It’s extremely cheap too compared to Sweden and the quality is different. The Greek vinegar is not thick a many vinegars in Sweden.
Figs - it was fig season before leaving Greece so I just couldn't miss out picking some fresh figs straight from our fig tree in Greece and take them with me to Sweden. I usually don’t bring so many fruits and veggies with me from Greece when traveling by flight (due of it weighing too much), but whenever we have traveled by car when I was younger, we used to take big boxes of fruits and veggies (like watermelon and tomatoes) with us to Sweden. The fruits and veggies taste so much better in Greece!
Hand sanitizer - Well, we have usually not bought this before but now during corona times we just checked the price when in Greece and hand sanitizer was actually so cheap! There are loads of different brands too and you can pick the one product you like the most. Definitely recommend to buy hand sanitizer when being in Greece since it’s so cheap and needed!
Other things we also usually bring with us:
Herbs and spices - You can find and pick out many herbs out in the wild by yourself, and they taste a lot more coming straight from Greece. Not speaking of the quality and of how cheap herbs and spices in general are in Greece.
Spanakopita and tirpota - this is something we always have with us while on the flight - pita of different kinds. They’re so delicious, it’s great traveling food since you can eat a pita both cold and warm, and there are both standard, vegetarian and vegan options for pita! Whatever is left (can’t say we usually leave so much…) we take with us to Sweden and store them in the freezer. Great to take out when wanting something quick to eat. Just to heat in the microwave oven and you done!
Sweets and cookies / “koulourakia” of different kinds - I actually brought this with my to hubby’s mom; a big box of different Greek “koulourakia”. If just going to a Greek bakery before leaving, you can pick various cookies of different kinds, place them all in a box and pay per kg. It’s great! I also bought some loukoumia in a gift box and brought them with me. It’s great and fun to give to someone as a gift.
Olive oil - and then olive oil. Let’s not forget one of the most typical gReek ingredients. Olive oil is fantastic from Greece but it can be a bit difficult bringing that with you. Be sure you pick an olive oil that is transported in an aluminium box, than one in a plastic bottle. The ones in a plastic bottle can broke and it won’t be fun having all of your clothes and stuff ruined in your luggage with a whole bottle of Greek olive oil.
Ouzo - if you drink alcohol, have you ever tried ouzo? This licorice-kinda-tasting alcohol is Greek and something very associated to Greece. It’s a very nice present to give away too.
Beauty and Skincare products from the Greek company Korres and Apivita - except for edible and drinkable things I also want to talk about Greek beauty products, because they have some really good stuff in this section. “Korres” and “Apivita” are two Greek beauty companies me, my mom and even my friends and their families use and have used for so many years. Both of these brands only use natural ingredients from the Greek nature and they are not tested on animals either. I love their skincare and beauty products and I really recommend trying out products from them. These products are obviously a lot cheaper to buy in Greece too than buying them in another country.