Greek Culture

Greece is a country that has a very large mixture of different beliefs. Even so, there are many customs that they all share. Many Greeks are very superstitious. One strongly held belief is the evil eye. If you get the evil eye from someone, you will feel sick, both physically and psychologically. When asked for a knife, a Greek will not hand it to the person, they will set it on the table for the person to pick up. In Greece, if you see a black cat on the same day you see a priest, it is considered to be bad luck. They spit to chase the devil and bad luck away.

There are also many special days that are celebrated in Greece that are not celebrated anywhere else. Name day celebrations are a good example of this. Traditionally, a baby is named after a Saint, and celebrates his name on that Saint’s day. Baptism is one of the most important days and it usually occurs when the baby is one year old. It is followed by a grand celebration at a restaurant or the family home.

In Greece, Easter is considered one of the most important holidays. Children receive eggs and new clothes. The Greek celebration called Carnival is two weeks of eating, drinking, dancing in the streets in costume, and throwing confetti everywhere. On Clean Monkey Day, which is the beginning of Lent, it is traditional for the family to go out for a picnic.

Modern Greek cooking is very typical of Mediterranean cuisine and features ingredients such as lamb, pork, olives, feta cheese, and yogurt. Most deserts are a combination of nuts and honey. The Greeks use more olive oil and spices than other Mediterranean cooking. Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and mint are used to season meats. The honey they use is generally from the nectar of fruit trees usually citrus, or pine honey from conifer trees. Despite all the cooking they do, eating out is very popular among the Greeks.