Local produce and traditional recipes
On Karpathos, the local cuisine is inextricably linked to tradition and the daily lives of its people. Begin with the famed makarounes, the island’s traditional hand-shaped pasta, served "burnt" with fresh butter, caramelised onions, and sitaka, a creamy, slightly tangy cheese made from goat’s and sheep’s milk. Sample other characteristic cheeses of the island, such as the soft manouli, the salty armyrotyri, and the spicy meriari, all made from locally produced milk.
If you find yourself on the island during the Christmas season, you will taste anterizia, tripe stuffed with rice, spices, and pieces of meat, which are pan-fried beforehand.
At Easter, you will be treated to a portion of vyzanti, lamb or goat stuffed with rice and herbs.
In everyday cooking, traditional pies hold a special place, such as kremmydopita (onion pie), gra (wild greens pie), the small “tourtes” (myzithra cheese and sesame pies), and “kopeles”, which are vegetable pies where the filling depends on the season: spinach and leek in winter, and purple amaranth and courgettes in summer. Do not miss the chance to try alochorta, small wild greens that grow on rocky slopes and are usually served as a salad.
Among the sweets, the honey-drenched xerotigana (fried pastry spirals), loukoumades (honey puffs), and zimbilia (small pastries filled with ground raisins, cinnamon, and cloves) stand out, alongside sisamomeli, a traditional honey and sesame sweet offered to the bridegroom for strength, and Karpathian baklava, which resembles Cretan diples (fried dough strips) and is sprinkled with crushed walnuts.
Exquisite thyme honey, local olive oil, kousoumas (barley rusks), and sourdough bread baked in a wood-fired oven complete the Karpathian table. In the mountainous interior, around the villages of Othos and Volada, vineyards thrive, yielding exceptional wines, the best known being the local demi-sec red, made from varieties such as Fokiano and Athiri, as well as Cretan Thrapsathiri and the Cycladic Gaidouria.
If you find yourself on the island during the Christmas season, you will taste anterizia, tripe stuffed with rice, spices, and pieces of meat, which are pan-fried beforehand.
At Easter, you will be treated to a portion of vyzanti, lamb or goat stuffed with rice and herbs.
In everyday cooking, traditional pies hold a special place, such as kremmydopita (onion pie), gra (wild greens pie), the small “tourtes” (myzithra cheese and sesame pies), and “kopeles”, which are vegetable pies where the filling depends on the season: spinach and leek in winter, and purple amaranth and courgettes in summer. Do not miss the chance to try alochorta, small wild greens that grow on rocky slopes and are usually served as a salad.
Among the sweets, the honey-drenched xerotigana (fried pastry spirals), loukoumades (honey puffs), and zimbilia (small pastries filled with ground raisins, cinnamon, and cloves) stand out, alongside sisamomeli, a traditional honey and sesame sweet offered to the bridegroom for strength, and Karpathian baklava, which resembles Cretan diples (fried dough strips) and is sprinkled with crushed walnuts.
Exquisite thyme honey, local olive oil, kousoumas (barley rusks), and sourdough bread baked in a wood-fired oven complete the Karpathian table. In the mountainous interior, around the villages of Othos and Volada, vineyards thrive, yielding exceptional wines, the best known being the local demi-sec red, made from varieties such as Fokiano and Athiri, as well as Cretan Thrapsathiri and the Cycladic Gaidouria.
