Street Cart · Sesame Bread Ring

Koulouri (Κουλούρι)

📷 Closely related photo — Photo: Yasin Onus / Unsplash · Unsplash License

Thessaloniki's crunchier version, koulouri Thessalonikis, is famous enough to be sold under that name in bakeries across Greece.

Koulouri is a ring of bread coated in sesame seeds, sold from street carts and bakery windows from early morning — a grab-and-go breakfast eaten plain on the walk to work or school.

Why it's made this way: The sesame ring belongs to a family of breads shared with Turkey's simit and the wider Balkans, usually traced to the Byzantine and Ottoman eras, and it has been sold on Greek streets for generations.