Paros cuisine is based on local products from the sea and land. It is affluent in fish cooked in different ways, vegetables, horta (green leaved plants grown wild in the earth), beans, lentils and a few meat dishes, all cooked with olive oil and served along with local wine. Honey, scented herbs –oregano, sage, thyme- give unique aroma in each meal, while capers give that special touch to freshly cut salads.
Favorite Paros dishes are Kakavia (fish soup), Gouna (sun dried fish), Salatouri (ray fish salad), Kolokithokeftedes (zucchini balls), Tomato Balls, Pea Soup baked in a traditional ceramic pot, String Beans, Fava (split beans), Karavoli (escargot), Kalfa plants with garlic dip and many more. Excellent quality cheese adorns the Parian dinner table. The local sour cheese, ladotiri (cheese made from olive oil), touloumisio (cheese aged in goat skin), mizithra, all these in combination with bread or paksimadia (dried pieces of bread), give a special touch to our cuisine.
Thanks to their natural flair, local housewives experiment with various ingredients and make different kinds of sweets, sometimes using sugar out of fruits: Rafiolia, Mitzithropitakia (small pies with cheese), Labrokouloura and Lazarakia (Easter cookies), Petimezenious and Skaltsounia, while the men of the island do their part in making wine and suma (local tsipouro), a very strong drink. In the grape harvests of the island they produce the outstanding Paros wine which compliments our meals, but also gives the rhythm in our social celebrations.
The Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Paros along with the Moraitis Winery use selected varieties of grapes grown on the island, chosen with care to produce the well-known Paros wine. In the wineries, wine connoisseurs take part in tasting and in promoting the local wines.
Try our Recipes and surprise your Friends
Gouna (salted dried fish)
Ingredients: Fish, preferably Kolios (chub mackerel), salt, pepper, oil, lemon, oregano
Clean the fish and throw away the heads. Split open the fish in half, cutting each one from top to tail, without separating it completely. Wash well and put plenty of salt and pepper. Place the fish under the sun for one day. Then, grill them on charcoal and serve them with a dressing made out of oil and lemon.
Kolokithokeftedes(zucchini balls)
Ingredients: 500gr zucchini, salt, pepper, 200gr salted cheese, plenty of mint, 100gr flour, a little water
Grate the zucchini and mix it with the salted cheese in a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients. Pour the oil in a deep frying pan. When the oil is hot, spoon out small amounts of the zucchini mixture and fry them in low temperature so as not to burn quickly but to be cooked inside as well, until they are golden brown.
Mitzithropitakia (sweet cheese pies)
Ingredients: 500gr fresh ’mizithra’(sweet cheese), 2 eggs, ½ cup olive oil, ½ cup sugar, 3 spoons honey, 500gr flour, lemon grind, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp clove, a little salt, a little Chios mastic.
Filling: In a bowl, mix the sweet cheese, sugar, eggs, the honey and the spices.
Crust: Mix the flour, a little salt, the oil and water and blend them all together to make soft dough.
Separate the dough in small round pieces, place a small amount of filling in the centre and pinch it all around. Bake at 200°C for 1 hour.