Local recipies of Ithaca

Ithaca is an island where the producers of agricultural product remain loyal to cultivation without fertilizers and pesticides and follow biological cultivation methods.

Important local products

Olives and olive oil

Virgin olive oil cultivated biologically from the local variety of Thiako olive trees.

Wine

High quality products are the varieties of Mavrodafni and white wine, which are certified biological products.

Traditional sweets

There is an important production of traditional sweet, mostly preserves. The most famous are quince, arbutus berry and pear preserves as well as jams and ravani.

Other important local products are beverages like chamomile, tea, mint and especially Aesopos which is good for the blood because of its high levels of iron.

Recipes from Ithaca :

Ithaca fig-pie

Priest P. Theodosios J. Dendrinos: “This recipe is very old. We have clues that date it 120 years ago. It is an easy, tasteful sweet for the Lent. It doesn’t contain eggs, butter, not even oil, so it’s health and you may eat it during a lent when you cannot consume oil. It doesn’t have cholesterol and is beneficiary for those with constipation problems”.

Ingredients:

• 3 strings of dried figs from Kalamata. You may also use figs from Kimi.
• ½ cup grated walnuts.
• ½ teacup almonds, with their skin, slightly browned, chopped in big pieces.
• ½ teacup sesame slightly browned.
• 1 coffecup sugar brown or white.
• 1 big tablespoon honey.
• 2-3 tablespoons cognac.
• Ground cinnamon, at will
• Ground clove, at will.
• Caster sugar for the wrapping.
• Few drops of seed oil for the shaping.

Execution:

Cut the fig stem and mince them. If you have and want, pass them through the mince machine. Put them in a bowl with all the other ingredients apart from the caster sugar and the seed oil. Work them well so that they are mixed and they become a lump. On the counter or on marble, drop some drops of seed oil, put there the lump and give it a cylinder shape. Sprinkle a lot of caster sugar and cut into grummets. It is preserved out of the fridge. If you want wrap the grummets in cellophane and serve anytime.

“Tserepa” chicken

“Tserepa” is a cooking method. Literally tserepa is a traditional vessel. It is a cover of clay with which we cover a metal baking pan in which we prepare the meal.

Ingredients:

• 1 or 2 chickens, depends to the size of the baking pan
• Potatoes to fill the empty space in the baking pan
• 2-3 fresh tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 green peppers
• Salt, pepper, garlic, oregano
• Olive oil
• White wine
• Lemon

Execution:

Cut the chicken into portions. Make a mix of salt, pepper, crushed garlic and chicken seasoning. Put the mix in a bowl and add oil to make it relative tight. Then fill with the mixture the chicken loins and breast by making small holes in its skin and meat. Leave the chicken all night to marinade. Put in a baking pan the fresh tomatoes some cut in big pieces and some in rings with the tomato paste dissolved in 1 glass of white wine. Pour over them lemon juice and add in the chicken. Fill the baking pan with the cut potatoes making sure they are well dried from the washing water. Sprinkle the potatoes with salt and pepper and cut the 2 peppers in rings.

Cover the baking pan and put it in the oven at 150-160ο C for 1.5-2 hours, meanwhile checking if it is ready. Add the oregano when it is almost ready.

For those who don’t have a tserepa you may try to imitate it if you have a baking pan with a same sized cover of clay or a vessel made of clay.

The process of traditional baking that makes a difference is the below mentioned:

Meanwhile where I will put the tserepa I put on a good fire with wood and charcoal, that is in a big fireplace or in the kitchen brazier which is covered with firebricks or clay. I put the tserepa over the fire with its supports so that it’s heated well at the inside. Meanwhile the charcoal is heated well and there is a lot of ash. I clean the area under the tserepa, I put in the baking pan and I cover it carefully. It requires caution because tserepa breaks easily.

Then I cover the tserepa ends with ash and charcoal to block out the air and in the vapour and smell of the food. I leave the tserepa covered for 1-2 hours. When uncovered the meal should be ready.

Shrimp pie

Ingredients:

For the phyllo dough:

• 2 teacups wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh leaven
• Some salt

For the filling:

• 1 kg small shrimps or anchovy
• ¾ teacup olive oil
• 1 big onion cut in rings
• 2 ripe tomatoes without skin and seeds
• 200 gr. hard cheese or hard feta
• 3 tablespoons parsley
• Some salt
• Pepper

Execution:

Mix all the ingredients for the phyllo dough, add some water and work it until the dough is tight and homogenous. Split in two and open with a rolling pin 2 thick phyllo. Cut the fish heads, wash them well and salt them in the strainer. Oil a baking pan and put the 2 pieces of phyllo dough to stick out of the baking pan ends and oil them. Put the fish radially in the baking pan, sprinkle them with pepper and put on top the onion rings. Grate the skinned tomatoes, chop the parsley and lay them over the onions. Cover them with cheese and pour in the rest of the oil. Turn in the phyllo wrapping it at the end of the baking pan and bake at 170ο C for about 1 hour.