Τhe last 7 years, on the 2nd weekend of June, the “Aegean Savor and Tradition Festival” is being held on the island of Patmos. Also, the festival hosts tasting competitions, where specialists award the best dishes.
At the festival, female cooks from Patmos and other islands, cook and are rewarded by renowned chefs such as Vega Alexiadou, Lefteris Lazarou, Iosif Zissiadis, Eleni Psychouli, Georgia Kofina, Vicky Smyrli, Sotiris Zacharias, Eftihis Bletsas and many chef from Patmos, such as Giorgos Gryllis, holder of the Gold Cap, Eleni Travlou, Benetos Mattheou and others.
Patmos is famous mainly for its honey, “myzithra” (a type of cheese) and “xinomyzithra” (another cheese type). During feasts, the saints are honoured with devotion and reverence and after Vespers (evening hymn service) traditional Greek coffee with cookies, pies, and pastries is offered to the people. These are the “kafedismata”, as they say on the island.
Xinomyzithra matches the Greek coffee and is offered during ”kafedismata” at the chapels of Patmos. Also renowned in Patmos’s kitchen is the cheese pie (Tiropita), with three different kinds of cheese sprinkled with cinnamon. But good cheese accompanies the good wine. The traditional grape variety of the island was the “Fokiano” that produced a red, slightly sweet wine. The “Fokiano” a Greek and forgotten variety that is developed and being planted again lately. With a rich history and references from antiquity, it has linked its existence to the Aegean islands. Nowadays, only a few inhabitants are producing it for private use.
The kitchen of Patmos has a wide variety. Most famous dishes are the fried pouch with walnut and honey, the “ahladakia” (= small sweet pears) a kind of marzipan, the “dasogalo” a type of drink made of almonds, flower-water and bread, which are consumed by Good Friday and not only, pumpkin flowers filled with feta cheese or rice casserole. At the tables, they usually offer goat with tomato (called kapama), thick fried potatoes and cinnamon sticks. At weddings and celebrations, stuffed goat and goat with tomatoes accompanied with thick pasta and abundantly grated local cheese.
At engagements, the groom goes “xerotigana” (= local fried sweet) to the bride’s house in a large platter adorned with flowers or ribbons. The traditional dish is also the “schinopsomo” a type of bread made with fruits from “schino” (Pistacia lentiscus) mixed with sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
*Photo by: “FESTIVAL GEFSIS KAI PARADOSIS AIGAIOU”
Posted by: “FESTIVAL GEFSIS KAI PARADOSIS AIGAIOU”, July 9, 2013
