Greek Cooking Methods

Greek foods are fried, sautéed, simmered, boiled, braised, stewed, baked, roasted, grilled, poached, pickled, puréed, and preserved. Generally, they are not smoked in home cooking.

When foods are named after the way they are cooked, as in kalamarakia tiganita (fried squid) they are called:

Kapama (stovetop meat or poultry casserole in a sweet and spicy tomato sauce), in Greek καπαμά, pronounced kah-pah-MAH

Kokkinisto (stovetop meat or poultry casserole in a tomato sauce), in Greek κοκκινιστό, pronounced koh-kee-nee-STOH

Lather, ladera (stovetop vegetable, legume (pulses), and/or rice casseroles cooked with olive oil), in Greek λαδερά, pronounced lah-theh-RAH

Ogkraten (the Greek version of "au gratin" baked with a bechamel sauce and sprinkled cheese), in Greek ογκρατέν, pronounced oh-grah-TEN

Pane (fried after dipping in egg, flour, and crumbs), in Greek πανέ, pronounced pah-NAY

Plaki (oven casserole), in Greek πλακί, pronounced plah-KEE

Pose (poached), in Greek ποσέ, pronounced po-ZAY

Poure (purée), in Greek πουρέ, pronounced poor-RAY

Psito (roasted), in Greek ψητό, pronounced psee-TOH

Skharas (grilled), in Greek σχάρας, pronounced SKHAH-rahss
or sti skhara (on the grill), in Greek στη σχάρα, pronounced stee SKHAH-rah

Sote (sautéed), in Greek σοτέ, pronounced so-TAY

Stifatho (stewed with lots of pearl onions), in Greek στιφάδο, pronounced stee-FAH-thoh

Sto fourno (baked, literally means "in the oven"), in Greek στο φούρνο, pronounced stoh FOOR-no

Tiganita (fried in a skillet, from the Greek word for skillet, tigani), in Greek τηγανητά, pronounced tee-ghah-nee-TAH

Toursi (pickled), in Greek τουρσί, pronounced toor-SEE

Yahni (stewed, ragout style), in Greek γιαχνί, pronounced yah-HNEE

There are others, and there are many using regional dialects, but those are the basics.