Discover the local recipes

The local cuisine has amazing flavors and varieties. The following recipes were prepared in the common days or for special occasions, like local feasts and religious festivities. We wish you a lot of success!

Zucchini balls
Ingredients (for 30 plates)

• 4 large zucchinis
• 1 dry onion chopped
• 3-4 spring onions, finely chopped
• ½ bunch fresh mint, finely chopped
• ½ bunch parsley, finely chopped
• ½ bunch chopped dill
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 200g. feta crumbs
• salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 4 soup spoons of self-rising flour
• olive oil for frying

Performance
After washing the zucchinis, rub on a coarse grater and place in a colander. Sprinkle with salt and let them sweat for 10min. Squeeze them well with both hands or putting them in a towel to remove the liquid. Put them in a bowl. Add the dry and fresh onion, dill, mint, parsley, beaten eggs and feta cheese, plenty of pepper and salt (to taste) as we have already put some salt at the start and we have added the feta cheese which is salted. Mix them well with a spoon and little by little add the flour until you have a thin porridge that falls from the spoon. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat, and when boiling, pour the mixture in, one spoon at a time. Fry for about 2sec on each side. Add the zucchini balls little by little in order not to drop the oil temperature and suck in oil instead of crusting. Leave them on absorbent paper to drain and then serve hot or cold with yogurt dip.

Blossoms stuffed
Only in the summer. The blossoms are from courgettes.

Materials
• 15-20 zucchini flowers
• 5 spring onions
• 1/4 bunch mint
• 1/4 bunch of dill
• 1/4 bunch of fennel
• 1 cup oil
• 1/2 cup rice
• salt- pepper

Performance
Sauté the onions in the oil and immediately add the rice with a little water and leave to soak. Sprinkle dill, fennel, mint, finely chopped salt and pepper. Remove the flowers from the stems (yellow sprig inside them) and carefully fill with a teaspoon of the filling and close with their petals. Place them in a pot close to each other in line, with petals downwards, cover with water, oil, salt and cover with a dish so they do not open during cooking. Boil for 20 minutes over medium heat.
 

Bulgur wheat with pork (The finest meal)
In order to preserve the pork meat for the winter the locals guarded it within it’s own glyna-lard (the pork’s fat). It is traditionally cooked for festivities such as the pig’s feast in October or for important family gatherings.

Recipe ingredients
• ½ pound bulgur, and a handful of chickpeas
• ½ pound of pork roasted in the glyna-lard
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 bunch parsley
• 1 tsp. tablespoons dried vegetable powder
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• salt
• oregano
• water
• olive oil

Preparation Instructions
In a deep skillet, sauté the onions in olive oil. Immediately following, add tomato sauce and water to taste (by eye). Once it starts boiling, add the bulgur and chickpeas which where soaked in water from the night before, along with the spices and parsley. Allow to heat for about 5 minutes and then add in the pork. Leave on the fire to allow the pork to absorb the juices, and then food is ready.

Katimeria (a kind of cheese pies)
Mostly made the week of Tyrinis (the 8th week before Easter) in April.

Materials
For the pastry:
• ½ soft flour
• 4-5 eggs
• 1/3 cup oil
• 2 tsp. butter
• pinch of salt

For the filling:
• 1 kg unsalted cheese or cream cheese unsalted
• 3-4 eggs (the mixture a little hard, as the cheese pie)

For the syrup
• ½ sugar
• 1 ½ cup water
• little honey
• some cinnamon
• lemon juice

Performance
Knead the flour with the eggs, add the oil, salt, butter to make a soft, elastic dough. Leave it a while and then roll out into a sheet. Cut julienne strips the width of a palm and also set aside a tablespoon of the filling mixture. Fold to close within the filling and turn like a bun. Fry in plenty of oil and then put them in the syrup and sprinkle with a little honey and cinnamon. The secret: As the strips are made, fry them, immediately. Otherwise they will moisten and stick.

Tomato Sweet
The Tomato spoon sweet is made traditionally only in Kos island. Kos used to have nine tomato factories which they also exported.

Materials
• 25 cherry tomatoes unripe
• 1 kg sugar
• 1 cup honey
• 1 lemon
• 2 vanilla pods
• 1 cup almonds tea Whitish
• 1 tablespoon cloves
• 1 ½ litre of lime (lime dissolved in water)
• 1 cup water

Performance
Clean and peel the tomatoes one by one and scratch a cross on the lower edge that almost reaches to the middle of the fruit. Using a thin knife remove as many seeds as you can. Pour the tomatoes into the lime water and leave for about 1 hour. You do this to shake their flesh and stay crisp. After 1- 1 ½ hour remove from the water and rinse thoroughly and leave them in a colander to dry. Place them in a medium saucepan in layers next to each other and on two levels. Pour 1 kg of sugar and 1 cup water. Allow to boil with the lid open. Boil for about 1 ½ hours on medium heat. Do not worry if there is a lot of liquid from the tomatoes. Towards the end of cooking add the vanilla Whitish almonds and honey. Remove the cake from the heat, add ½ lemon juice and shake the pan. Leave the tomatoes in the pan and soak in the syrup for about 6-12 hours before putting them in jars.

Maeria or Niseste
(An easily made sweet)

The starch from maize (corn), particularly the heart of the white seed corn is milled into a very fine silk powder. Each household had a bag hanging inside their house. During celebrations, fasts, Clean Monday, May Day they were brewed and served immediately.

Materials
• 100 gr corn flour
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups honey
• cinnamon
• coarsely chopped walnuts

Performance
Mix the corn flour, water and honey in a pot to form one mixture. Place in the fire on a low heat, stirring continuously. Simmer for 3-4mins to allow the mixture to thicken. Be careful it can stick to the pot very easily. After it has thickened, remove and place on 3-4 plates and sprinkle cinnamon and walnuts on top.

Enjoy them !!