Lambropitas owe their name to the fact that these particular pitas are made specifically for Easter, which in Greek is also called ‘Lambri’. It is the first dish that one enjoys after the Holy Week fast has ended.
On the island of Kos, lambropitas are made from dough prepared from yoghurt, butter, eggs and a salty filling, typically feta cheese or anthotiro. In older recipes, the dough was prepared with yeast and alisiva (lye).
It was very common in the old days and was used in washing clothes and hair, but also in cooking. The reason the old housewives used it in their recipe was because their pitas became crisper and fluffier!
The lambropita made in the village of Kefalos differ from those made on the rest of the island in being baked in a traditional woodburning oven on heated bricks.
