Friday, December 9, 2011

Zagori part 3 – The land of Tsipouro


As I wrote in the introduction post to Zagori, there are many different reasons to go there. One of them, very often the main and only one, is famous zagorian food. I would like to believe that in my case, it was not, but who knows… Anyway, during my first visit, I have decided to try all the famous flavors of Zagori. I had read some recipes in a guide and saw some photos of traditional cousin and fall in love immediately. Pitas with famous alevropita and “naked” chortopita on top of the list, wild boar from the oven, home made meatballs (gr. keftadakia), fried feta and of course the tsipouro! The best one You can get in Greece! You can imagine how happy and hungry I was the first evening, entering taverna after 9‑hour hike to the peak of Gkamila, having only some snacks during the day… I opened the menu, full of “specialties of the day” and wanted to order all of it. Just from the top of my head, as I recall, I have tried that evening: cooked rooster, cooked beef in tomato sauce with kritharaki, fresh and crispy alevropita, delicious home made meatballs and grilled local sausages (gr χωριατικο λουκανικο). All this with company of tsipouro of course! A loooot of tsipouro! And after all this, desert, nice and juicy piece of orange cake (portokalopita) :-D


But it's not only cooked and grilled stuff. There is also plenty of choice in food that You can buy and take home with You. Among them: traditional variety of sweets (different kinds of fruits in sugar syrop), home made marmeladas (with my favorite plum and forest fruits flavors), trachana and chilopites, herbs and tees... But You have to be very careful, none of it is cheap! One simple visit to a shop offering traditional products, can cost You 50E and more depending on Your appetite :-P
I don't have any food photo, I have never taken one in my life, as I prefer tasty than good looking kind of food :-P and, by far, I prefer photos of landscapes and food on my plate. Instead, I post a photo of one of many stores with traditional food and sweets. You can find at least 2 or 3 of them in every village. This one is from Kapesovo, located directly at the main square.

Photo: NIKON D70s, Aperture priority, f 1/7.1, 1/400s, -0.3EV, f=27 mm (for 35mm), GIMP software

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