Greek cuisine gyro, moussaka, dolmades, yuvarlakia and keftethes with the neighboring countries. To an even greater extent it is influenced by Italian cuisine and cuisines from other neighboring south European countries, and thus, especially in southern regions and the islands it includes several kinds of pasta, like hyllopites, gogkes and tziolia. Greek cuisine has a culinary tradition of some 4,000 years and is a part of the history and the culture of Greece. Its flavors change with the season and its geography. Greek cookery, historically a forerunner of Western cuisine, spread its culinary influence, via ancient Rome, throughout Europe and beyond. It
Ancient Greek cuisine Ancient Greek cuisine Ancient Greek cuisine was characterized by its frugality, reflecting agricultural hardship. It was founded on the "Mediterranean triad": wheat, olive oil, and wine. Modern knowledge of ancient Greek cuisine and eating habits is derived from literary and artistic evidence. The literary evidence comes mostly from Aristophanes' comedies and quotes preserved by 2nd–3rd century AD grammarian Athenaeus, while artistic information is provided by black- and red-figure vase-painting and terracotta figurines. The Greeks had three to four meals a day. Breakfast ( "akratismós") consisted of barley bread dipped in wine ( "ákratos"), sometimes complemented by figs or olives. They