What sesame-covered bread ring is a common Greek street snack?

The sesame-covered bread ring commonly eaten as a Greek street snack is koulouri.

Koulouri is the Greek name for the ring-shaped bread also widely known as simit. Its dough is typically coated with sesame seeds before baking, producing a crisp, nutty exterior and a chewy interior. In Greece, vendors commonly sell it as a quick breakfast or snack, often eaten plain or with cheese, fruit preserves, or coffee.

The bread belongs to a much wider culinary family shaped by Byzantine and Ottoman food traditions. Related ring breads appear across Turkey, the Balkans, the eastern Mediterranean, and the Middle East. In Turkey, the best-known name is simit; in Greece, koulouri is the standard term.

Koulouri is not the same as a bagel, even though both are ring-shaped. Bagels are characteristically boiled before baking, while simit-style breads are generally dipped in grape molasses or a similar syrup and coated with sesame. Tsoureki is a sweet braided Easter bread, and paximadi is a twice-baked rusk, so neither fits this description.