Cycladia | Specialties

Local Specialties & Recipes | Local Products

Venetian Pastitsio

This is a variation of the traditional Greek dish “pastitsio” made with pasta, minced meat in red sauce and a kind of béchamel, all of them in layers and baked in the oven. The Venetian Pastitsio is pretty different than the traditional, popular delicacy as it also contains pasta but the red meat sauce on the upper layer consists of minced meat and small pieces of beef liver. Its main difference though is in the dough; at the bottom of the baking pan a thin layer of dough is added, on top of it the pasta with the grated cheese and then another layer of dough on top takes the place of the béchamel. A quite interesting taste, a dish really worth trying!

Stuffed steak with “leaves” of prickly cactus

The prickly cactus is a type of cactus, pretty popular in Greece, producing a kind of figs that have are completely in sight and in taste than normal figs, called prickly pears. This dish is made of a steak that is cut in the middle creating some kind of an envelope. In there the stuffing is added that composes of apple, raisins, celery, trimmed toast bread, parsley, onions, sage, some boiled chicken juice, milk and one egg. The stuffing is mashed altogether and added in the “enveloped” steak. The steak is baked or roasted and is accompanied by a sauce made with butter, flour, wine, rosemary and some boiled beef juice, all boiled together until the mixture becomes curdy. But the highlight of the dish is the fried prickly cactus leaves from which they rub off the tiny spines and they are added in a frying pan with onion, parsley, garlic and some lemon. This is what we call creative cuisine!

Xerotigana

A delicacy well known in various places of Greece made with homemade dough, here also including some sweet “ouzo” (a popular alcoholic drink in Greece) which is shaped and fried. When the Xerotigana are ready, they top them with honey, sesame and some cinnamon.

Fatourada

A special dish made with “tsipouro”, a typical Greek alcoholic drink, which is closed in a jar with the skin of 8 tangerines. The mixture stays there closed up for about one week, stirred at times. A syrup with sugar and water is then prepared and added in the jar with some cinnamon and cloves. Definitely worth trying!

Octopus beaked in the oven

The octopus is cut into small pieces and poured over with some wine. After some time, in a foil some olive oil, garlic, laurel leaves and pepper arte added together with the octopus. The mixture is baked in the oven, closed up in the foil and is served with lettuce leaves and oregano. A great “meze” for some tsipouro or wine!

Aubergines with sour frumenty

The aubergines are cut into small pieces and sautéed in a frying pan with onion and fresh tomato sauce. The frumenty, which has already been soaked up in water in order to soften and “inflate” is added in the aubergines and the sauce with some parsley and spearmint. The mixture is baked altogether for about 30’ until it thickens. A light and delicious dish with typical Greek products.

Stuffed sea urchins

This is a very distinctive dish made with sea urchins that are stuffed with rice, tomato, onion, herbs and some hard, salty Greek cheese “Kefalotiri”. The sea urchins are emptied by their juices but their eggs remain in them and their spines are removed. The stuffing is prepared separately in a frying pan and then each urchin is stuffed with the sauce made with onions and tomatoes. After they are stuffed, they are put into a casserole with the rice, more tomato and onion and a part of their juices. It is boiled till the rice is ready. The eggs of the sea urchin and its juices give a unique flavor to this, otherwise, simple risotto dish.

“Mill” pastry

The mill pastry has taken its name from the almonds that our ground in the mill. It is a very old, traditional recipe of Kythira that results in a tasty cake of almonds with a vanilla topping.

Rozedes

Another typical Kythirian product that is made with ground almonds, sugar, honey, cinnamon, some water and semolina. All ingredients are blended in a bowl and then the almond “dough” is shaped in thick sticks shapes. They are baked in the oven and they are a perfect, nutritious snack to accompany your coffee or tea.

Mpizedes

Mpizedes is anther simple yet favorite local sweet made with the egg white, sugar, lemon juice, almonds cut in thick pieces and flakes of the lemon’s skin. The eggs’ whites are boiled in a casserole while being whipped with sugar. When the mixture gets thicker, the lemon juice and the flakes of its skin are added. Then small cones are shaped with the mixture and are baked in the oven. Sweet and sour and, of course, delicious!

Sweet pumpkin pie

A variation of the popular pumpkin pie made with sweet pumpkin, currants, nuts, cones, rusks, cloves and cinnamon. After the pie is ready and baked in the oven it is poured with honey syrup and sesame.

Sweet or honey bread

This is a variation of the typical Greek bread that also contains cinnamon, sugar, cloves and honey. The production of this bread requires a little more attention when kneaded and baked due to all the extra ingredients. The result, though, is more that rewarding!

Melohontros

Melohontros is composed by the Greek words “meli”, meaning “honey”, and “xontros”, meaning “thick”. This is a sweet dessert made with honey and semolina, which, in older times, was prepared with ground wheat instead of semolina and honey from honeycombs.

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