Naxos Cheese
Apr 25th, 2007 by Ian
Naxos is one of the most agriculturally productive of the Greek islands. As I was a little sick of driving around islands after my ATV experiences on Ios, I decided to make Naxos my culinary stop and only see walkable attractions. The local culinary specialties included:
- kitron – a liquor made from the rinds of Citrus Medica
- raki – Greek firewater
- ouzo – licorice-tasting liquor
- fine white wine – often said to ease a broken heart likely due to the story of Theseus and Dionysos
- kefalotiri – a hard local cheese
Naxos Cheese reminds me of a joke from childhood:
Q: What do you call cheese that isn’t yours?
A: Nacho Cheese
That isn’t the full actual childhood joke it reminded me of, but the longer joke relied on portrayals of minority groups so I decided against repeating / linking to it.
I had a few glasses of the Kitron but left most of the bottle at the hostel as it was too vile for me to bother dragging along. Retsina – basically white wine flavoured with pine sap, we had it on Corfu and on Crete – is another aquired taste. It actually wasn’t too terrible.
On Naxos and other islands, after catching the Octopus they hang it up to dry on lines. The drying makes it easier to remove the skin. Removing the skin before grilling the meat prevents it from curling up as the skin contracts, and so the octopus can be presented in a more flat steak-like form. Did you know that in the UK octopuses are regarded as honorary vertebrates under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 ?
Raki is the local firewater. Here is a local market dispenser. They often give out free samples. Mmm, looks good doesn’t it?
