{"id":2079,"date":"2014-12-04T19:53:48","date_gmt":"2014-12-04T19:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelcake.site\/?p=2079"},"modified":"2025-04-24T19:19:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T19:19:08","slug":"cooking-lesson-athens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/cooking-lesson-athens\/","title":{"rendered":"A Greek Sunday Dinner: Cooking Lessons in Athens"},"content":{"rendered":"

The very first thought that sprang to mind when I decided to go to Greece was:
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153YES! Greek food!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always been a fan of Greek cuisine. Feta is one of my go-to cheeses, and moussaka happens to be my signature dish. When my friends and I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t decide what or where to eat, a Greek restaurant always seems to be the magic answer that gets everyone nodding happily.<\/p>\n

Whenever I travel to a new country, I try to learn how to cook a few local dishes\u00e2\u20ac\u201dor at the very least, understand the basics of the cuisine. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll sneak into the kitchen of a small restaurant or watch a local mom prepare the family meal. But until this trip, I had never actually taken a proper cooking class.<\/p>\n

So when the opportunity came up to join a Greek Sunday Dinner<\/em> cooking lesson, organised by Athens Walking tours<\/a> for TBEX<\/a> travel bloggers, I was psyched.<\/p>\n

The class took place in Klimataria<\/strong>, a charming tavern that’s been serving traditional homemade meals since 1927. What an honour to learn new skills in one of the oldest taverns in central Athens!<\/p>\n

Our host and chef for the evening, the lovely Maria Sotou<\/strong>, welcomed us with a warm smile and a shot of raki. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when you know you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in good hands.<\/p>\n

\"cooking<\/a>
Maria helping us start the lesson the right way<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We threw on our aprons and gathered around a table full of fresh, colourful ingredients. I could already tell this was going to be a great experience\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI could smell it.
After the mandatory handwashing, it was time to get them dirty again. Our mission: prepare six starters and one main dish<\/strong> in just a few hours. Then, of course, eat it all.<\/p>\n

\"bloggers<\/a>
bloggers at work<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Maria guided us through every step, teaching us about the magic of fresh produce, Greek culinary traditions, herbs, spices\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand even a few of her personal kitchen secrets.
We tasted regional specialties, sampled cheeses, nibbled on savoury pastries, and were introduced to herbs I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never even heard of.<\/p>\n

\"Klimataria\"<\/a>
mixing of herbs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In what felt like no time at all, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d whipped up mini eggplant pies<\/strong>, mastered a few fabulous dips, and learned how to make dolmadakia<\/strong> from scratch. The class was buzzing with excitement and curiosity\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s be honest, our fair share of off-topic questions, jokes, and (classic blogger behaviour) excessive photo-taking.<\/p>\n

Because of that, we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t manage to cook every dish ourselves, but luckily\u00e2\u20ac\u201dMaria\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s amazing team had prepared the rest for us in the background. We still got to taste everything and<\/em> take the recipes home<\/p>\n

\"mini<\/a>
mini eggplant pies and laughter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"bloggers\"<\/a>
this is what happens when you gather bloggers around food<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As our stomachs began to growl, we were invited to sit down at a large communal table. The moment had come\u00e2\u20ac\u201dtime to reap the rewards of our (and mostly the staff\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s) hard work.<\/p>\n

We started with some homemade wine, and then the dishes started rolling in. One after the other, followed by a chorus of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ooohs\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153aaahs.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d There was so much food<\/em>!
Apparently, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Greek way: you stay at the table for a long time, talking, laughing, sipping wine, and indulging in copious amounts of deliciousness.<\/p>\n

I thought I knew Greek food. But this\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 this was something else. What I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d had before suddenly seemed like cheap imitations. This meal was, hands down, one of the best I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever had.
Exactly the kind of food I love: simple, comforting, and bursting with clean, honest flavours.<\/p>\n

As Maria tought us:
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The main ingredient for cooking is love.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Klimataria\"<\/a>
Maria bringing out our freshly baked eggplant pies<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Klimataria\"<\/a>
dolmadakia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Klimataria\"<\/a>
escargots<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Klimataria\"<\/a>
slow cooked lamb in hull<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re ever in Athens and want to dig a little deeper into Greek culture, I can only recommend this class. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the cheapest activity at \u00e2\u201a\u00ac68 per person, but it includes wine and a meal you won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t soon forget.<\/p>\n

\"Klimataria\"<\/a>
“cooking creates a bond” Maria tells us.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a tighter budget or short on time? No worries\u00e2\u20ac\u201djust go eat at Klimataria tavern <\/strong>. A meal for two (including salad, appetizers, two mains, and wine) will cost you around \u00e2\u201a\u00ac25\u00e2\u20ac\u201c30 (at the time of writing). That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a steal, if you ask me. They also host live music a few nights a week, so check out their website<\/a> for the schedule.<\/p>\n

Have you ever taken a cooking class abroad? Which cuisine(s) did you learn?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The post “A Greek Sunday Dinner: Cooking Lessons in Athens<\/a>” first appeared on Travel Cake<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The very first thought that sprang to mind when I decided to go to Greece was:\u00e2\u20ac\u0153YES! Greek food!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always been a fan of Greek cuisine. Feta is one of my go-to cheeses, and moussaka happens to be my signature dish. When my friends and I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t decide what or where to eat, a Greek […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,92],"tags":[11,12,4],"country":[224],"class_list":["post-2079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-category","category-greece","tag-europe","tag-experiences","tag-food","post_format-post-format-image","country-greece"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2079"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4591,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2079\/revisions\/4591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2079"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=2079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}