PRODUCTS OF LESVOS
Lesvos has some specialties to offer you. Besides the tasteful fruits like oranges, citron, figs, grapes and many many more.
Lesvos is famous for Sardeles Pastes. You can find Ouzo, Kefi and a lot more. Take a closer look to the following pages.
CHEESE
"Ladotyri" cheese, made of fresh sheep and goat milk, matured and then cut on big slices and stored in abundant olive-oil inside earthenware jars, hidden …at the cellar, has the first word at the mealtime, and …"Feta" cheese soaks inside pieces of cloth and …"myzithra" cheese in tiny baskets, fresh or even dried and salted …
HONEY
Honey ! Amber and wheat-colored, rosy with the sweet smell of thyme, myrtle, oleander, all the earthly colors and smells compose this juice of the bees, accompanying the freshly-roasted slices of bread during the workers' break, the traditional sweets and the …baklava at the marriage's ceremony….
Its value has been recognized since ancient times. The Greek mythology transfers us to Mt Olympus where nectar was the food of the immortal gods. Hippocrates recommended it for the therapy of many diseases and Aristotle believed that it prolonged life.
Honey is divided into two categories : flower-honey deriving its name from the plant producing it and honey "melitoma" being produced by the juice of pine or firtrees or other forests' plants. In that way we have honey of thyme, or orange tree or pine tree etc.
OLIVES
Green, crushed, half-ripened, half-bitter and carved, stored in salt-water. Black, wrinkled and salted from the basket or the jug and pickled, accompanied by slices of freshly cut lemon, necessary with ouzo drink at the fish-taverns !
At Lesvos island three species of olive trees mainly thrive : Adrammytian, Kolovi and Roupada. Eleven millions olive trees offer their valuable fruit which is famous all over the world.
It's very important also the Museum of Industrial Olive-Oil Production in Lesvos (MBEL) in Agia Paraskevi, that has been founded and designed by the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation (PIOP), which is also responsible for its operation. It is housed in the premises of the old communal oil-mill — the Municipality of Agia Paraskevi having ceded their right of use to the Foundation. The project has been included in the 2000-2006 North Aegean Regional Operational Program and has been financed by the Third EU Structural and Cohesion Fund. This Museum is part of a network of thematic museums of technology created by the Foundation and is a natural extension of the Museum of the Olive and Greek Olive Oil in Sparta.
The Agia Paraskevi complex has been developed as “an oil-mill turned into a museum of an oil-mill”, restoring both its architectural and mechanical features to their original condition.
The old machinery and equipment that have been preserved, and fully restored, are being exhibited in a unique way by being put into use for demonstration’s sake, which is supported by digital shows.
One can witness the development of the various machines, while special emphasis is given to the changes the introduction of mechanical power brought into the process of oil-production. In the main building the three basic steps of the oil-production process (crushing the olives, pressing the olive-pulp, separating oil from water) are shown, while reference is made to the auxiliary operation of the flour-mill.
The former storage areas of the olive crop are used as auxiliary exhibition halls, in which exhibits present the human element involved in oil production. The larger storage areas hold detailed exhibits of: a) the history of the communal oil-mill of Agia Paraskevi, noting especially the communal ownership of the mill — a quite novel development for the time, and its effects on the social and economic structure of the area; b) the mechanization of oil production in Lesvos; and c) the wider socio-economic background. In the smaller storage areas the full cycle of trades involved in oil production is presented.
The Museum has also a hall for hosting various types of events, a cafe, and a small open-air theatre.
The Museum of Industrial Olive-Oil Production in Lesvos aims at presenting the industrial heritage of the island, not only in the oil-production section but also in the wider field of technological development, as well as projecting it against its architectural, social and cultural background
OUZO
Stin Agiassou y Plomari
Oute yeneka
Oute mulari
Translation:From Agiassou or Plomari neither woman nor mule
Ouzo is a kefi-catalyst, and Lesvos produces some of the finest
Ouzo drinking is an art. Or maybe it's a way of life. Whatever it is, Lesvos is known for it's ouzo. Most cafe owners in Greece will admit that the best ouzo comes from here and they probably carry one of the more popular Mytilini brands. But it's not the ouzo but who you drink it with.
The key to drinking ouzo is to eat snacks known as mezedes. These keep the effects of the alcohol from overwhelming you and enable you to sit and drink slowly for hours in a profoundly calm state of mind where all is beautiful and life is fine. In the villages where life is slow ouzo is partaken day or night. On Sundays after church the cafeneons are full of lively voices and singing, including sometimes the village priest. In many cafeneons the cooking is done by men, but in some it is a woman who does the cooking and serving and acts as den mother to the old men who come around each day. She knows their likes and dislikes, favorite seats and personal history.
In the cafeneons ouzo is served with a meze included for about a dollar a glass. The mezedes can be anything from a salad, stewed meat and vegetables, sardeles pastes, koukia (beans), sweetbreads, meatballs, cheese, sausage, fried fish or whatever the specialty of that cafeneon is that day. Eat and drink slowly and enjoy the journey. The cafe owners are always good cooks and in many places it is almost like a competition who has the best mezedes.
If you should be lucky enough to meet someone who makes his own ouzo watch out. Though they call it ouzo it is really raki or tsipuro and does not have that licorice flavor one associates with ouzo. It is made in homemade stills and goes down smooth but it's effects are rapid and powerful. But one glass won't hurt and two is even better.
SARDELES PASTES
Sardine Fleet at Skala Kaloni The snack of choice with ouzo is Sardeles Pastes. These are the sardines that have been caught that morning, salted on the boat and served that night. To eat them the skin is removed and they are seasoned with oil, lemon or whatever your host prefers to season them with (though some eat them totally unseasoned). The best sardines come from the large bay of Kaloni where the main sardine fleet is based in Skala. But some argue that the sardines from the gulf of Yera are smaller and better. It just depends upon who you ask, like most things in Greece.
Write by Lesvos.net
