Enhancing Your Yogurt Experience, The Greek Way

If you’ve tried Greek yogurt then you know it’s superior to regular yogurt for many reasons. It’s made using a time-honored practice of straining that ensures a rich and creamy texture packed with probiotics.

You may use Greek yogurt as alternative for ice cream, sweet or sour cream, and in smoothies.

But if you eat Greek yogurt I urge you to eat it like a Greek! I learned how through one of the best yogurt experiences I’ve ever had, while vacationing in Greece as a 12-year-old with my dad. I was served Greek yogurt with local Greek honey in a small open air cafe next to the beach in Paros, an island near Mykonos.

The desert was just so decadent and pure. The flavors where unlike anything I’d ever had before. I just knew there was something very special about both the Greek yogurt and the Greek honey. From the tastes I could tell the yogurt was very well crafted and the honey was from the unique flora of the grecian land. It’s something one could only find there.

For years I went without an experience anywhere near this, until recently when I took it upon myself to try different Greek yogurts and different honey. Having Wallaby Greek Yogurt (from Whole Foods Market) and Orange Blossom Honey (available at Vons Supermarkets) brought me right back to that authentic Greek yogurt experience in Greece.

I learned yet another way to have Greek yogurt while dining out at Krystallis Taverna (Εστιατόριο Κρυστάλλης) in the Penteli neighborhood of Athens. My family ordered this Greek yogurt dessert with ingredients I’d never seen before. The yogurt was paired with moist cake and quince preserves.

Therefore, I recommend pairing your Greek yogurt with cake or a muffin. Perhaps top your yogurt with fruit preserves. In the photo you’ll see quince preserves, an ingredient popular in Greece. In fact, my grandmother would bring us quince preserves direct from Athens every time she would come back to see us.

Grandma Sophia would use leftover chopped nuts from melomakarona to top Greek yogurt along with honey. She even suggested I eat Greek yogurt with rice, as many Greeks do it, she claimed. I listened to her and tried Greek yogurt with turmeric rice and these foods do pair well.

Now how do you choose a favorite Greek yogurt? Choosing a Greek yogurt brand is really a personal taste, but I can offer you some of my favorites. Wallaby, fage, and the sprouts store brand have stood out to me because their flavor is superior to other brands. I’ve also come to prefer Greek yogurt that has some fat because I find that it has more flavor. Therefore, I prefer 2% rather than 0% fat.

What do you pair your Greek yogurt with? I’d love to hear from you.

#Dessert