Greek cuisine - Traditional, but also vegan!

Although the term “vegan” is a relatively modern, trendy term, it does not contradict the traditional Mediterranean Greek diet.

In Ancient Greece, the so-called “Orphics” deliberately abstained from meat as early as 600 BC, and the reason lies in their religion; The Orphics believed in reincarnation, meaning that the soul of a human being migrates into another human or animal body after death and is thus reborn. Therefore, purification during one’s lifetime by not eating animal products was especially important. Even the famous mathematician Pythagoras was convinced: “Everything that man does to animals comes back to man.”

This tradition was carried on, even until recently. For example, earlier generations adhered to a strict vegetarian diet for practical and religious reasons. Animal and dairy products were rare and therefore rarely appeared on the table. If you look at a calendar with all the Orthodox holidays, you will see that there are about 180 days of fasting noted. In the past, all holidays were purely fasting days. Today, religious fasting days are no longer followed so strictly, but they have left us various dishes and recipes, as well as cooking techniques, which still prove very useful in our time.

These eating habits that play a big part in the Greek and Mediterranean diets can thus be considered the “ancestors” of today’s vegan lifestyle.

Greece and Cyprus are blessed with a natural wealth of local herbs, spices and products that make it easy to follow the vegan culinary approach. There is a vast selection of recipes that are vegan and completely avoid animal products, both in terms of ingredients but also in terms of preparation methods.

We at Saltonomy have spent much time researching, compiling and recreating these recipes. We believe that it is worth discovering the recipes in their origin. Therefore, we have always strived for vegan recipes that have grown out of the traditions of the different Greek regions.

From the list of our vegan recipes, we have chosen our three favorites that combine tradition with taste while they are also simple in their preparation.