A Taste of Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki is celebrated for its mezedes, and every ouzeri boasts at least one special dish, specialties like squid stuffed with feta, smoked eggplant and walnut tapenade, grilled sardines with slivers of raw onion and parsley and hot peppers, a delicacy among daredevils. Open late into the night, these mezedopolia provided a cozy backdrop for endless cinematic debates, fuelled by carafes of ouzo or too many bottles of rich red xinomavro wine, cultivated in Macedonia.