An important part of the tradition of Messinia is the diet of humans and the way, they consume what the fertile land has to offer. What do the Messinian eat though? The answer is simple but it may surprise you!!! Some of the divine tastes of the Messinian kitchen …
NUTS FROM ‘MANI’ OR ”Papara”
Eaten lightly moistened with water, olive oil and sprinkled with chopped tomato and crushed sfela cheese.
SFELA
From the finest cheeses produced in Messinia is the sfela, delicious white cheese with a brackish taste, traditional Messinian, produced from sheep milk
LALANGIA
Messinian Traditional product, whose fame has gone beyond his homeland, Mani, and has become known throughout Greece. Made with natural ingredients like flour, oil and water and fried in fresh olive oil. It is a delicious dietary supplement that you over immediately with the simplicity and tastiness.
MIXED OLIVE VARIETY
cracked green olives with lemon and oregano , black Kalamata olives , engraved vinegar olives , ‘Throumpes Kalamatas’ olives
PETOULA OR PLAKOTIGANITA (REGION PYLIAS)
Freshly baked pancakes sprinkled with grated cheese and hot extra virgin olive oil
MAVROMATIKA BEANS WITH SPINACH
Black-eyed beans, spinach or wild greens, onions and spices (fennel, sfelitsi, dill) cooked with tomatoes and olive oil
ORANGES WITH OLIVES AND OIL
Salad from Mani region with orange flesh sliced rustic, black Kalamata olives and olive oil.
SAUSAGES WITH ORANGE
Sausages with distinctive flavor and aroma of orange. Favorite dish of the local people since ancient times still made exactly the same way and consumed by modern Messenians with the same pleasure
PORK PRESERVED IN SALT WITH ORANGE
Corned pork stew and keep the fat within a hermetically sealed ceramic ware. Known since antiquity, referred to in popular texts of the Middle Ages as “kouroupiasto”,meaning that is preserved in clay pots or “Kouroupia”. Particularly popular delicacy of Messinia, consumed as a main dish, preferably accompanied by local wine.
SYGKLINO
Small pieces of smoked pork flavored with spices kept in pots with their fat,were known already from the Byzantine period and the Ottoman Empire. It is a traditional homemade product, Messinians prefer to enjoy with ouzo.
GOUROUNOPOULA
You will…. meet it many times in your way, well done, delicious and traditional gourounopoula (pork)! The custom is very old and pork was consumed by the locals during the Turkish occupation with the same zeal as today, but playing it safe since the Turkish conquerors did not even approach because their religion forbade pork.
KALAMATIANOS KAPAMAS
Braised meat with potatoes, boiled and sliced rustic inside the sauce of the meat.
FIGS PELTE0S
The fig cactus, the characteristic ornament of the Messinian beautiful landscape, gives each August nutritious and tasty fruit. Messinians are able to enjoy it all year long by preparing jam, which they use as a garnish to various pastries.