LOCAL PRODUCTS.
EPIRUS SPECIALTIES.
BEVERAGES
Wines of Epirus. Greek Beer. Greek Spirits.
Did you know Epirus is a Foodie destination?
Does it have Michelin star restaurants and chefs are on every corner? No, but you can find signs of them.
Do the restaurants flare with emulsions, foams, and other hard to recognize presentations? Tomato sauce or skordalia is probably the closest to an emulsion you will find.
Then it sounds like just plain simple food. Bingo!
The region’s gastronomic secret is its traditional recipes with high-quality fresh local meat, dairy, fish, and produce. That means menus are seasonal.
Epirus is mountains, rivers, and gorges, most of them running north to south. On the west side is the Ionian Sea. In between are valleys, and where this is room, produce farms and livestock ranches. Epirus is seasonal with sunny warm summers and cold winters with snow.
The region is more rural than urban, with many people making a living from livestock or farming.
Ever since explorers to the New World began bringing corn back to the Mediterranian, Epirus has been raising cows, sheep, and goats. The area is well-known for its exceptional milk and quality dairy products, delicious meat, and goat and sheep’s milk cheese.
How do you describe Epirus cuisine in a few words? Grandma’s recipes, fresh ingredients, and blohero (or aplochero). The Greek translation is “a handful.” You will find this measurement in every traditional recipe.
That is not to say that modern chefs are not tweaking recipes, but they know Grandma is watching them over their shoulders.
What else?
Many Epirus recipes begin with milk as the basic ingredient. Milk, butter, buttermilk, yogurt, and the famous local cheeses all start with milk from the farm.
Butter is plentiful. Olive trees do not grow in a majority of Epirus’s terrain. So expect to find olive oil as a drizzle on a salad more often than in a frying pan.
So we have meat, dairy, fish from the freshwater lakes and streams, seafood from the Ionian Sea, and fresh produce.
What else could we want? Did I mention the award-winning local wines?
Come, it is time to taste Epirus.
Taste Epirus Through Local Products.
PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) products come from a specific area. They have characteristics due to that particular geoclimatic environment, and production takes place in that region.
PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) products also come from a specified area. Only one of its characteristic needs to be from this area. Also, only one part of the production must take place in the region.
Currently, Epirus has P.D.O. cheeses. However, most of their fresh food is in a class by itself.
P.G.I. Products include table olives. Once again, most are quality even without the status.
Taste Epirus Specialties.
You will find the standard Greek items that appear on just about any Greek menu.
So what is something you will find here that you will probably not find elsewhere in Greece?
This is somewhat of a trick question as their best-known dish is not exclusive to Epirus by a long shot. But they do take it to another level.
Food is scarce; you throw nothing away. This mantra is part of every cuisine in the world if you go far enough back. Early Epirus is no different.
One way is to toss everything into one pot, and they have those recipes.
But the second creative approach is to put leftovers into a pie.
Epirus Pie
Now before you start thinking ala-mode, merange, and crumb toppings, let’s clarify. We are talking about Greek pies. Let’s clarify. Not all Greek pies use phyllo or contain spinach.
In Greece, and especially Epirus, they have simple pies and those that take all day to make. Some are sweet, while others are savory or salty. I’m sure there are several that are all three.
You can find them at breakfast, lunch, or dinner on weekdays or weekends. Some are bite-size meze, while others are an entree.
Meze (appetizers)
They may include any (all?) of the following: meat, fish, seafood, dairy, greens, vegetables, cheese, macaroni, and on and on. It is a mixture of mamma’s cooking and haute cuisine.
And they all have different names from a flat feta pie, Alevropita to Zymaropita with yogurt and zucchini.
There are herb-pies and spinach pies, milk pies, and chicken. Pumpkin, and mushroom, and warm woolen mittens…
The only thing constant (usually) is that their name ends in “kopita.” Spana (spinach) kopita (pie).
Unless it has greens, then it may end in “opite.” But isn’t spinach a green? Opite, kopita, tomatoes, or feta, try them all.
Ask your server what ingredients are in the pie. In Epirus, if you do not speak fluent Greek, this may be an added adventure.
I recommend pies as an appetizer so you can sample several. Eating in Greece is about sharing plates.
Sausage
Metsovo is the king of sausage making in Epirus. They are known for the quality of pork meat they use, but they add something else.
In Metsovo, they may also include wine, cheese, or meat from sheep or cows.
Usually, the wine is the local Katogi (think cabernet sauvignon) and the cheese the local Metsovone cheese.
Taste Epirus Cheese
As we already said, this is a dairy country, and there is a lot of cheese coming from cows, sheep, and goat’s milk.
Epirus feta P.D.O. – is one of the most popular in Greece. With high-quality dairy from Epirus, it has to be a cheese experience.
Kefalograviera P.D.O. – is a hard cheese. Coming from sheep and goats milk, it has a full salty, intense flavor. They use it in Epirus cheesecake.
Metsovone P.D.O. – is a smoked cheese from a blend of sheep’s, goat’s, and cow’s milk. It comes from the town of the same name (see sausage) and is similar to an Italian Provolone.
Galotyri P.D.O. – is a soft, creamy ‘milk-cheese’ (think spread) from goat, sheep, or a mixture of their kinds of milk. It is a traditional shepherd’s cheese with a grainy texture and slightly sour taste.
Other Cheeses
- Anthotyros, Dry – is a mature yellowish sheep or goat cheese somewhat similar to ricotta. It becomes hard, dry, and salty. It goes well on pasta or a salad.
- Anthotyros, Fresh – is more white, soft, or medium hardness, with a sweet, no salt, creamy taste. Some eat it in place of yogurt with fruit or honey. It also compliments tomato with a splash of olive oil.
- Kashkaval Vitosha – is a semi-hard cheese from cow’s milk. It develops a spicy, piquant taste with a slight hint of salt and olive oil after aging six months. The cheese is similar to a cheddar. It is hard enough to grate, or you can eat it plain.
- Kashkaval Balkan – is the same cheese but with sheep’s milk making it a little creamier. If it appears as Kashkaval Preslav, it has both cow’s and sheep’s milk.
- Kefalotyri – is a salty cheese with an intense flavor. It is popular for grating over food. Kefalograviera P.D.O is a blending of this cheese and the mellow Graviera cheese.
- Manouri – is a salt-free byproduct of feta. Using the sheep or goat whey from the feta, they add cream to make a semi-soft, fresh cheese for spreading or grilling.
Pasta
Pasta in Europe began in Greece, before moving west with explorers. Although the Italians went crazy with pasta, Greece still makes it as well. Popular on the Greek mainland is Trachanas handmade pasta.
It can be sour or sweet, thin, or thick, as well as long or short. They may use semolina, cracked wheat, or flour and mix it with butter, milk, and sometimes tomato. In Epirote trachanas, they add mushrooms to the dough.
This is not a product of belching factories. Cooks make it in their kitchens or buy them from a local cottage industry or group.
Taste Epirus at the Market
Meat
Although there is an abundance of beef, goat, lamb, and sheep in Epirus, The local Epirotes favor game.
As the game often does not provide large amounts of meat, they blend it into pie fillings and serve entree size portions. Often a pie will last a few meals.
- Kontosouvli – is a slow-roasted piglet. There is no one recipe as to what they may cook or serve it with. Usually, that depends on what is in the pantry or local market.
- Loukaniko- is a Greek pork or lamb sausage, usually with orange peel, fennel, or other dried herbs for flavor. It can be plain or smoked. It may be an entree or a meze.
Chicken
Like the goats and sheep, many chickens are free-range. Many families keep a few chickens for fresh eggs. I do not find chicken on many menus, and I cannot find any “only in Epirus” chicken dishes.
Fish
Fish from the lakes and rivers is a specialty. Trout is prevalent along the Acheron and Louros rivers. The preparation is usually simple: on the grill, roasted, or in a pan with local butter.
Other water creatures from the nearby wetlands, such as frog legs, are part of the traditional local menu.
Fresh water eels from Arta are a delicacy they often serve grilled.
Taste Epirus Vegetables
Vegetarians love the local cuisine, which offers a variety of organic vegetables from the region.
The nearby mountains are full of wild greens, chestnuts, over 30 varieties of mushrooms, and other edibles.
Wild mushrooms from Zagori or the Pindus National Park are worth looking for.
Today, you can find fresh tomatoes, but it was not always like that. If you come across a local recipe with sweet paprika, it is possibly an old recipe. Before the availability of tomatoes, paprika was a color substitute for tomato.
Fruits of the area include figs, raspberries, and sweet plums.
Taste Epirus Desserts and Sweets
Kasopita (bread pudding) – which is well-known throughout Greece. It is, in fact, made differently in every household. The Epirus recipe often includes yogurt and local feta cheese.
Baklava is a creation of the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean, Balkans, Turks, Arabs, Jews, Greeks, Romans, Armenians, Bulgarians, or others. Somebody began making it sometime between the 6th century B.C. and sometime last Friday. Get the idea? In general, it is layers of phyllo or other dough. They layer it with nuts. Let’s leave it there, or people go nuts. And honey holding it all together.
Ioannina claims to be the originator of Baklava, and maybe they were, in Epirus.
Try the Ioannina baklava. It is good.
Klostari – is the Konitsa (northern Epirus) take on Baklava. It is in a log-shape and, if possible, has even more walnuts than normal baklava.
Flogera – are the eastern Epirus dessert popular in the town of Metsovo. They are similar to a klostari. They are a mini-version of the phyllo log, but the nuts are usually a mixture of local varieties.
Try them all and compare but do not mention the Romans were making it before anyone set foot in Epirus.
And there are pies—sweet pies for breakfast, lunch, or after dinner.
Click the orange link to read more about Greek Cuisine,
Taste Epirus Beverages
Spirits
Tsipouro is an un-aged brandy from wine or its pomace (remains after pressing.) It is popular in Epirus, Thessaly, Macedonia, and on Crete (tsikoudia). The finished product has an alcohol by volume of 40-45%, giving it quite a kick. It comes as a pure flavor, or with anise for flavoring. You may find some aged in barrels, but that is not common.
Beer
A little behind other countries, Greece began micro-brewing in the late 1990s. Epirus has its first microbrewery by 2014. (You can still get the stuff from northern Europe, but you’re not in Amsterdam.)
Epirus Brewery – Ioannina. They brew five different beers, including a red and a pale ale. As of 2020, the brewery did not have a tasting room, so look for their beers in Epirus tavernas and bars.
Wine
Epirus has a broad wine region around Ioannina and a wine region with P.D.O. status near Zitsa.
Local food tastes better with local beverages. This is the true immersion.
Taste Epirus Summary.
Are these all the traditional foods and beverages of Epirus? Hardly!
But these will keep you busy for a few days and give you an insight into the local cuisine.
If you have the opportunity to travel from north to south, notice the difference in recipes.
So many people try to visit Epirus for a day and leave with the wrong impression.
Why not plan to spend 3-4 days and see, experience, and taste Epirus.