Souvlaki

A day of monumental significance, a day in which the future of our country takes a turn one or the other, it’s election day and most people will gather home and watch the election results.

And since there is no Greek gathering without food, see some ideas of what you can quickly and easily prepare for all of your family and friends.

Greek salad

Leave it to an expatriate Greek, especially a restaurateur, to come up with a unique way to trump up business. For Dimitris Kotsalas, 62, Monday’s crucial Euro summit was the inspiration for dishes named after some of the protagonists in the current “Greek issue” drama — Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, Dutch FinMin and Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem and even Greek FinMin Yanis Varoufakis.

The national food of Greece, souvlaki, is not as Greek as people believe. Greece’s daily To Vima noted that 190,000 tones of the 300,000 tons of meat used annually to create souvlaki is imported. The cost amounts to half a billion euros.

Souvlaki (meat on a stick), the hamburger of Greece has made a comeback since the recession began, however despite the resurrection there are some places that never went away.  And what better day than Wednesday, May 6, International No Diet day to try one!

A new way to eat gyros has been invented by a new Greek restaurant, SVL Bar, set to open soon on Astoria Boulevard, New York City. Specifically "gyro shots" have been invented. These mini-versions of the classic Greek pita-wrapped meat with various salads and sauces will come served in four inches of pita bread and be placed in a shot glass.