Naxos Gastronomy: local and traditional cuisines every tourist must try out!

Naxos Gastronomy is a collection of centuries-old recipes for cuisines and dishes which displays the Island’s natural expertise to create an exotic and mouthwatering collection of dishes. A walk through the streets will fill your nostrils with aromas of various Greek cuisines emanating from bakeries, taverns, cafes, restaurants, and hotels.

Naxos Greece fertility is evidenced by the citrus and olive groves, farmlands, pastures, vegetable farms and vineyards bountiful yields. These crop yields are accompanied by products from animal farms spread across Filoti and Apeiranthos villages. All of these are combined to form what is widely accepted as Naxos Gastronomy cuisines.

Through the years, Naxos Gastronomy can mainly be divided into three categories. These are: the coastal Naxos cuisine made up of majorly seafood and fish dishes; the cuisines of the plain lands made up solely of cattle meat, butter and vegetable dishes and the Naxos cuisine peculiar to the semi-mountainous and mountainous areas which are mainly dishes of goat and sheep meats cooked in olive oil.

Among products and dishes included in Naxos Gastronomy, the dairy products; potatoes and kitron (citrus) liqueur are the most popular and are enjoyed throughout Greece.

Let's take a look at the example of foods of Naxos Greece origin:

Meat-based dishes are a collection of Naxos cuisine in which the main food component is meat, and some examples are pig rosto (pork leg stuffed with garlic and braised in wine), wine braised rooster, lemon braised rabbit, goat, and potato or pasta, macaroni and braised goat among others.

Seafood and fish based dishes include marinated chub mackerel, salachtouri, marinated anchovies, char-grilled octopus and lobster pasta.

Among Naxos gastronomy cuisines, there are also traditional meals which are reserved for very special occasions such as religious celebrations. Examples of these include:

• Pataudi which is a meal reserved for breakfast on Easter Sundays. It is composed of chard stuffed lamb, aromatic herbs and garlic of Cycladic origin, all cooked in Naxian Olive oil and served with Naxian potatoes.
• Koukoulomaeria which is a New Year day’s meal and is made up of soup with white beans, corn, wheat and a massive supply of olive oil
• Sefoukloti is a meal reserved for the 40-day Greek Orthodox Lenten fast. It is a sweet pie with the fillings made up of chards, wild greens, parsley, fennels, mint, onion, and rice.
• Another class of Naxos Greece gastronomy includes a variety of side dishes made of local products. Some of these are salads with a great serving of Naxian sweet tomato, local cheeses such as arseniko, graviera, and xynotyro.

• Examples of sweets and deserts include Melachrino (a type of karyodopta which is greek walnut cake dipped in syrup) and are usually served with ice cream made from sheep’s milk and mastic resin. This ice cream is popularly called Kaimaki
• Drinks and Wines: Naxos Greece gastronomy is incomplete without paying attention to the locals’ skills in producing refreshing and tasteful drinks from local products some of which are rumored to have medicinal attributes. Common examples of these traditional drinks are Raki, Kitro and local wines with varying levels of alcohol.

To enjoy these Naxos Greece cuisine, it is best to let the locals at the taverns, cafes, restaurants and Naxos hotels on the beach make recommendations for you. This way, you will be served the Naxos meal which they are individual experts in. There are also several hotels in Naxos who have some of these Naxos Greece cuisines as exclusives on their menu list.

You, however, do not have to go through any stress before you can enjoy Naxos Greece meals as most of the best hotels in Naxos serve homemade meals composed of lots of local products.

An example is the Iria Beach Art Hotel where and homemade buffet breakfast is served often. The buffet breakfast is composed of Homemade jams, fresh seasonal fruits, freshly squeezed orange juice, fried eggs, boiled or scrambled eggs, local Greek yogurt, cereals and milk, a variety of local sausages & cheeses, croissants and freshly baked bread. There are also homemade apple pies, orange sauce, cakes, chocolate pie, sweet hazelnut, fruit salad, Pasta Flora (Quince Tart) and many more to choose from.

One peculiar Naxos Greece holiday highlight which everyone deserves and will enjoy is sampling traditional and modern-day Naxos dishes; you are assured of a delightful holiday with them!