Tag: mediterranean

Greek octopus salad from Santorini.
While I was in Santorini, Greece, I found myself looking at a simple but very appealing dish in which octopus was clearly the main ingredient. This Greek octopus salad, made with fresh vegetables, olive oil, vinegar and oregano, is the kind of food that can say quite a lot about local cooking without needing a long list of ingredients.
Many of my recent food photographs have focused on seafood, and octopus in particular has appeared several times. Whenever I come across a dish that catches my attention, I like to photograph it before eating, trying to preserve something of the moment rather than creating an image that feels too carefully arranged.
Here the ingredients were straightforward: lettuce, onion, tomatoes and stewed octopus, dressed with a little olive oil and a few drops of vinegar. A light sprinkling of oregano finished the dish and immediately gave it a flavour that, at least to me, feels closely connected with Greek cooking.
I took this photograph myself in Santorini during my trip to Greece. I did not want to turn the plate into an overly staged food photograph. I simply wanted to show what was actually in front of me. I enjoy food images more when they retain something of the real situation in which they were taken, because they become part of the memory of the journey rather than looking like catalogue photographs.
If you are wondering what to eat in Santorini, octopus is one of the ingredients you can easily encounter in the island’s local cuisine. Being surrounded by the Aegean Sea, it is natural for seafood to have an important place on local tables, and octopus can be prepared in several different ways, from grilled dishes to slower cooking methods and cold preparations such as the salad I photographed.
What I liked about this particular salad was the balance between the ingredients. The octopus brings its distinctive texture, while lettuce and tomatoes add freshness. Onion, vinegar and oregano give the dish more character, while olive oil brings everything together without making the preparation feel complicated.
It is not the kind of dish that needs a complicated explanation. The photograph immediately reveals most of the main ingredients and gives an idea of what the combination might taste like. This is one of the things I appreciate about Mediterranean cooking: a relatively small number of ingredients can be enough when they work well together.
Octopus has also long been an important ingredient in the cooking of Greek islands and coastal communities. One small culinary curiosity is that Greek tavernas commonly serve octopus grilled or cooked after being allowed to dry, a traditional practice connected with preparing and preserving the catch. It is a simple detail, but it reflects the long relationship between island communities and the sea.
In Santorini, food and landscape often seem to belong to the same Mediterranean setting. Even when sitting at a table with a relatively uncomplicated dish, the ingredients can evoke the island around you. Tomatoes, olive oil, oregano, vegetables and seafood all belong to a very recognisable culinary landscape.
That is why the simplicity of this photograph appealed to me. There was no need to add many elements or create an elaborate composition. The colours of the vegetables, the pieces of octopus and the dressing were enough to tell the story.
After photographing so many places, monuments and city details during my travels, I enjoy occasionally switching to something much more ordinary: a dish that has just been served. Food photographs preserve another part of a journey, the pauses at a table and the meals that can become just as memorable as a beautiful view.
This Greek octopus salad belongs exactly to that kind of memory. It may not be the most elaborate dish I encountered in Santorini, but it caught my attention and, naturally, it also caught the attention of my camera.
I also like the fact that the photograph does not really tell only the story of the food. It brings back the journey in which I discovered it. Santorini remains part of the memory behind the image, while the plate becomes a small reminder of time spent in Greece.
In other food stories on my photo blog, I have also written about dishes I encountered while travelling, always trying to keep the personal experience and the photograph at the centre. Here, I am returning to Greek flavours through a preparation that is simple and immediately recognisable.
Sometimes these uncomplicated dishes are the ones that stay with us. A portion of octopus, a few vegetables, olive oil, vinegar and oregano: ordinary ingredients that together bring back some of the Mediterranean atmosphere I experienced in Santorini.

Have you ever tried octopus salad while travelling in Greece? Add a comment or go to the bottom of the site to read what other visitors have written.

Photos taken with Canon 600D and Tamron 16-300.