Local Cuisine

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.