Eating Beyond Local in Greece
Two traditional recipes and a way of living that can't be beat
Before heading off on a two-week vacation to Greece, I was finalizing the details of my trip. I was going to spend the first two days in Athens, three days in Naxos, five days in Santorini, and two days in Milos.
Being that Naxos is the gastronomy capital of Greece, I wanted to take a cooking class while I was there. While I was looking for a cooking class on this island, I came across a place called Elaiolithos. I was searching for farm-to-table dining, or maybe even looking for guided hikes, and came across the hotel. I liked everything they were sharing on their website, so I decided to check out their Instagram and contact their owner.
After messaging her back and forth, I booked a cooking class for my friend and I for our second day in Naxos. When we arrived at our Airbnb, the owner even called the hotel to ensure the cooking class was still on. They were looking forward to having us!
In my tiny little rental car, I drove through the mountains of Naxos to arrive at the hotel, just outside the village of Moni. We had driven past it during our adventures the previous day, seeing it sitting upon the hillside, overlooking a valley of olive trees.
When we arrived we were greeted by the lovely Pamela who made us some delicious coffee to enjoy with the view. While sipping on my freddo cappuccino and taking lots of pictures of the mountainside view, I read Elaiolithos’s menu.
I was excited to learn that the hotel received a 100% sustainability score. Not because they wanted to advertise this and use this fact to upcharge guests, but because that was truly the way the owner lived and how the nearby village operated. My favorite phrase on the menu reads:
“We know the hens that lay our eggs”.
I had a feeling I was going to like this place, and the owner, a lot.
About 15 minutes later, a lady arrives and hops off the back of someone’s moped, greeting us. I soon came to learn that her name was Helen, and she was the owner of the hotel. She is actually a New Yorker- she’s lived there for 25 years, but her family is from the nearby village.
In fact, her dad raised goats on the same mountainside that the hotel sits on. Her brother took over the goats and now makes his own cheeses with their milk, just a few kilometers away. His cheeses can be found in the nearby village and at the hotel.
Helen’s mom has been weaving tapestries since 1960, selling them in the village as well. She was kind enough to gift me a bracelet and bookmark. As someone who sews her own clothing, I know how much time, energy, and creativity goes into a craft like this. Her work is all one-of-a-kind and beautiful!
Helen’s sisters also run stores within Moni. One helps with her brother’s cheese shop and the other sells local products. I of course had to bring home lots of dried herbs, thyme honey, capers, propolis, and sour cherry jam.
Beyond local, beyond organic
All the food used as Elaiolithos comes from within 5km of the hotel. If it weren’t for the roaming goats, it would be 1km. This is a truly local way of eating. Many of us probably don’t even have fresh vegetables growing within 1km of us, let alone enough produce and animals to entirely sustain us.
When living like this, you know the name of the person who is growing and making each ingredient you consume. You are closer to the producer when staying at Elaiolithos than you probably are to your local Whole Foods.
Beyond local. Beyond organic. Just the way it should be.
Traditional Greek recipes
To start our cooking class, we were going to make tzatziki- a true staple of Grecian cuisine. I’ve made tzatziki at home before, but not like this. The ingredients are simple, but you need to pay attention to the technique.
Tzatziki
You will need:
dill
cucumber
garlic
yogurt
extra virgin olive oil (see Sebastian’s last post on finding the best EVOO)
salt
pepper
Start by chopping up all of your dill into small pieces. You want to remove all of the stems. This is a key part! Just the leaves, no stems.
Next, you want to peel your cucumbers. However, make sure you leave parts of the green skin on. After you’ve done this, you will want to grate it into small pieces.
After grating your cucumbers, you want to squeeze the juice out of the shreds. You can do this by putting a colander on top of a mixing bowl. My favorite part? After squeezing the cucumbers, you have a bunch of fresh cucumber juice! Nothing goes to waste at Elaiolithos.
Of course, we cheered “TO NATURAL LIFE” and drank our cucumber juice which is high in minerals and important vitamins.
If we did have scraps, like the stems from the herbs, they would go to feeding the pigs.
While enjoying our juice, we chopped small pieces of garlic.
Then, we slowly mixed the cucumber, dill, and garlic into the yogurt. We also poured generous amounts of extra virgin olive oil! Helen taught me that you are only supposed to mix in one direction. Don’t go back and forth between clockwise and counterclockwise! I chose to stir clockwise.
While you can’t beat the fresh goat’s yogurt of Helen’s brother, I’d recommend trying to find yogurt at your local farmer’s market. Make sure it doesn’t have any added sugar or other weird ingredients.
Add salt and pepper to your liking. Stir!
When you make it this way, tzatziki actually tastes better the next day. In the past, mine would get watery and separate after only a few days. But, this was because I never grated and juiced my cucumbers!
Serve with some sourdough bread and cherry tomatoes and enjoy!
Helen’s tzatziki tips:
Remove stems from herbs
Squeeze your cucumbers
Stir in one direction only
Stuffed vegetables
After making tzatziki, we started on stuffed vegetables. We used what was currently in season- zucchini, eggplant, tomato, and pepper.
For this you will need:
assorted vegetables like pepper, eggplant, tomato, and zucchini
extra virgin olive oil
mint
parsley
garlic
tomato sauce
parmesan
dried oregano
cayenne
salt
pepper
Start by slicing the top off of each vegetable. The eggplants and zucchini should be horizontally cut so that they can be stuffed and laid flat in the pan.
Now, you want to carve the edges and scoop the inside out. Make sure you are really scooping all of the flesh of the vegetable! This will be blended and used to stuff them.
After scooping everything out, place it all in one bowl. Add your mint and parsley and blend. Feel free to add some tomato sauce if the mixture is too thick.
You also want to add in extra virgin olive oil, parmesan, dried oregano, salt, and pepper. Helen also likes to add some cayenne pepper to hers, but this is optional if you don’t like spice. Be sure to taste before you start stuffing the veggies!
Next lie them all down in a pan and fill the veggies with the blended mixture. Make sure you put the tops of them back on and top them with more parmesan.
Add any extra mixture to the pan along with some more tomato sauce. Cook at 325 degrees for 1.5-2 hours.
Remember, cooking isn’t about following a strict recipe. It’s not like baking where everything needs to be meticulously measured. Have fun with it, do what makes sense to you, and always taste your food! In most cases, you just need to add more salt to have things taste good.
Food and Community
After we finished cooking our meals and Helen brought us to the nearby town to meet her family, we enjoyed a beautiful dinner on the terrace of Elaiolithos. We feasted on tzatziki, fresh salad, stuffed vegetables, and crepes. My friend had a glass of local wine made by the village’s winemaker, which also happened to be another brother of Helen’s.
While we had our dinner, Helen’s brother and friend came over to also enjoy a meal with her. They were eating the vegetables we had just made! Nothing goes to waste. When you feed a few people, you feed a village. It’s not uncommon in Greece to have everyone gather for a homecooked meal, beautiful sunset, and one another’s company. Community is highly valued. Everyone knows one another and looks out for each other. They support each other’s businesses and help one another succeed.
I, unfortunately, wasn’t there for Saturday night’s festivities, but my friend was. Everyone in the village comes to Elaiolithos to dance, sing, and enjoy one another’s company. It’s a community event that everyone looks forward to! It’s an event that all of the guests seem to talk about after staying there.
I look forward to the day I can return to Elaiolithos with Sebastian and show him everything I was able to experience on my trip. It was truly an unforgettable experience to spend time at Elaiolithos, meet Helen, cook with her, and have her walk me around her home village.
If you’re ever in Greece, head to Naxos and stay at Elaiolithos. Helen will give you an experience you won’t forget! The rooms are beautiful. The views are unbeatable. The hospitality is exceptional. The food is delicious. And, most importantly, the people are unforgettable.
I’m looking forward to sharing more about what I learned on my trip to Greece in the next few newsletters.
Have a great week!
Madison
PS: If you want to see more videos from my experience in Naxos and at Elaiolithos, check out my Instagram (the very first post on my page).