arní

Lamb. Greece is famous for its succulent lamb, raised on mountain herbs. Among the most popular lamb dishes you have kleftikó and giovetsi, but where it used to be the meat used it make gýros and souvláki, more affordable pork has taken its place for the most part.

Another speciality is Αρνάκι φρικασέ (arnáki fricasée), lamb fricasee in an egg lemon sauce.

Nearly every taverna offers paidákia—quite often spelled 'lamp chops', which makes everyone giggle, but on reflection it makes sense if you're Greek and used to writing μπ to make a B sound. Other cuts include:

αρνίσιο μπούτι (arnísio boúti): leg of lamb

αρνίσια παϊδάκια καρέ (arnísia paidákia karé): rack of lamb

σπάλα αρνιού (spála arnioú): lamb shoulder

λαιμός αρνιού (laimós arnioú): neck of lamb

Easter lamb, Πασχαλινό αρνί (paschalinó arní) is the traditional lunch on the biggest holiday in Greece. After the midnight mass and the long awaited announcement of 'Χριστός Ανέστη!' the holy flame is passed from the altar to candle to candle, as fireworks or even dynamite explode to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. Then everyone goes home to eat mageiritsa, and then up (often a bit hungover) to roast the lamb on the spit, usually after nibbling on some kokorétsi with the first ouzo of the day.

Everyone in the family gets a turn spinning the spit. It can be hot and tedious work, so one man a few years back decided to automate the process by attaching the spit to the drum of the family washing machine. And it worked fine, at least until it hit the spin cycle, and bits of lamb flew off into the trees...