Saliaria of Kozani

Saliaria is a traditional sweet from the town of Kozani served mainly at engagement parties, weddings and other celebrations. It gets its name from its shape, which resembles a snail. Remarkably fluffy, it is stuffed with walnuts and cinnamon, coated in syrup and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Some recipes for making saliaria use flour while others use semolina, but all versions use lye, made by boiling water with clean wood ash.
Before kneading the dough, the oil is heated up. If lye is not available, orange juice is used instead.

Kozani-style saliaria are doused with syrup, while those of the towns of Siatista and Kastoria are made with lye and dusted with powdered sugar, like kourabie, without syrup.