shain

I'm not 100% sure by I believe that it is partially dried in order to be later grilled or cooked, rather than as a method of preservation. We did not have octopus, and for me it's one animal I cannot comfortably eat, my line passes somewhere between squid and fish - I don't eat fish but am OK with fish sauce and occasionally fish eggs. I don't mind things cooked with fish. Clams etc. I really don't have any discomfort with. Snails, shrimps etc. I'm mostly OK with. But octopuses just seem too intelligent for me.

Thanks! So here's a bonus photo of the octopus that also shows the small garden they had there. It was such a charming hidden gem of a location. One crayfish also had eggs, but hey didn't taste like much. No photo of the squid eggs. They were clumped together and a quite yolk-like flavor, along with some seafood flavors.

As described above, we arrived to have lunch at Ψαροταβέρνα Ο Άγγελος. The waiter / owners was a very nice young guy, his parents were sitting at the restaurant, at which we were the only guests, and apparently the mom is the cook. For starters, he recommended an array of salads all made by his mother, we couldn't pass Carrot salad with mayo and garlic, and eggplant with mayo. Both simple and quite tasty, if a bit heavy in mayo (I'm not usually a fan of mayo heavy spreads). The star was a taramasalata - which unlike the one we had on our first day, was brimming with sea flavor, a bit nutty and had a good balance of garlic, lemon and oil. The only issue is that it was quite intense for me, since I don't usually eat fish (well, I don't eat fish meat at all, but can make an exception for fish sauce, and rarely fish eggs). Served with grilled bread and cold beer. Grilled crayfish - never had one before, very tasty, but a bit challenging to eat 😅 Fried calamari, another animal I don't usually eat. It was also very good and tasteful, the edges got quite crisp, but other than that I didn't really see the point of deep frying, and I think it would have been better grilled. One of the calamari had eggs, which is also something I never had before, and they were honestly quite great. Also, the tomato was very good for it being a garnish. Dessert on the house, yogurt and spoon sweets (can't remember the fruit, might have been quince).

As we were nearing our destination at the South end of the peninsula, we headed for lunch in Kottes, defined in google as a "fishing hamlet". We were driving along a cliff up from the shore. As before, is scattered with olives and low vegetation. The landmass form a bay and the sea is quiet with shallow beaches. [map] Our GPS announced that we arrived, but we were located on top of the cliff with no restaurant or building to be seen. We had to backtrack a little in order to get back to the narrow road down the cliff, which took as to Kottes. But apparently getting to the recommended restaurant required for us to traverse further by foot (or boat, if we had one). The path itself was quite beautiful, with a couple of taverns, boats and olive trees.

Alivancă - a sort of cheese cake made of cornmeal and farmers cheese, along with butter, sour cream and prunes, vanilla and my addition of bit of cinnamon. Served with some mulberries and sour cream.

Driving further into the more rural South, with beautiful view of the sea, endless olive groves, and small sea side towns. We made a stop as we came across a herd of goats. As we opened the car door, we were hit by an intense sharp scent of minty oregano. Along with the constant ringing of bells hanging from the goat's collars this quite a hit on all senses. Here are two video links so that you can experience the sound: https://streamable.com/zvaz2y , https://streamable.com/e/8b1kld?loop=0 Looking around, it's no wonder that oregano fills the air, as it's grown in abundance as far as you can see.

We did not get in, it was still a bit too cold for swimming. We are lucky to have very nice beaches close to home, so we weren't bothered by that. It really is a beautiful "classic" swimming beach. I felt that it's a bit less interesting/unique compared to the other beaches we visited with their dramatic rock formation or beautiful pebbly shores. However, it felt like it be a perfect summer spot to hang out with some friends or family, swim and enjoy some ice cream or cold beer I'm sure that soon enough it will be full of people doing just that.

A stop at famous town of Kala Nera - a touristic, yet charming sea side town, with long and quiet beaches, as well as lots of taverns, cafes and memorabilia stores. The Greek seem to have an eye for style and a talent at keeping things looking charming, authentic and quaint.

Thanks for letting me know. I re uploaded the images, they should show up now.

A day trip destined at Agia Kyriaki at the far Southern end of the Pelion peninsula. We drove along the South-Western shore [map]. Our first stop was a small sea side town, Kato Gatzea. A narrow road separates the front row of houses from the shore. Most houses are well maintained, with flower gardens and vines. Some houses are abandoned and the vegetation overgrown. Among them are ample coffee shops and a couple of taverns, many closed due to the combination of covid and of it not yet being high season. Still, groups of older locals are found sitting over cold coffee - as seems to be true everywhere at any time. Who are we to deviate?

Shish! I got all out of order here. Imagine this being posted a bit before :P Take note of the restaurant in the 2nd photo. We shall meet again.

😰 Lao gan ma makes many things taste much better, but that's really stretching it!

Here's it's a bit of the opposite - there are restrictive limitations on imports. But people still don't understand seasonality, so people still buy local but overpriced and bad tasting produce. And what doesn't grow well is also mediocre and expensive (e.g. pineapples, cherries, most berries). And sometimes one wants an avocado at summer

Strawberries and kiwis are a great pairing

More from my smilingly ever-increasing backlog. Those are from two French-bread pizza nights. Both night were accompanied by a variety of beers, pickles and some sliced veggies or a salad. The breads were sliced length wise into thirds, buttered/oiled and half-toasted. Then toppings go on and all baked until the bread is crisp and cheese is melty. I don't have a photo of the plain cheese pizza, but here is one of a slice topped with some Lao gan ma. A build-your-own pizza for the little one (not my little one, no plan for kids any time soon 😅 ) "Greek" pizza, mozzarella and feta, tomatoes, oregano, chilies, olive oil. Onion, olives and more tomatoes after baking. Black beans flavored with smoky chipotle, coriander seeds, cumin, oregano. Mozzarella, cheddar. Finished with pickled onions and chilies. Black beans, cheddar, tomatoes, onion, fresh chilies. Finished with a bit of lime. Experimental #1 - Mozzarella, scallions, sesame oil, Szechuan peppercorn. Finished with chili oil. Experimental #2- Mozzarella,zaatar, tomatoes. Finished with sumac.

😕 You can get great vegetables, if you care enough to spend a bit more time and money. Still, I always envy the farmer markets culture of American cities, which seem to include a larger variety of specialty produce and of heirloom varieties.

Vegetables bought at your average greengrocer or market, as opposed to farmers markets and high-end / boutique grocers.

It's the same pastry, very similar to the one from the day before, but this time mostly spinach rather than the wild greens, who tasted of chard and fennel. Those are more subtle, but still crunchy and delicious. I'd say those tomatoes are on par with the tomatoes you get at Israeli farmer markets (generic vegetables in Israel are quite mediocre, supermarket veggies often worse).

Having a good breakfast spread served to you with is one of life's greatest pleasures. Apparently, we were the only guests at our hotel that day, and so the stuff opted to skip the buffet and instead serve us at the table. Vegetables, nice cheeses, homemade bread and spanakopita, eggplants in rich tomato sauce, olives, fresh OJ, coffee, hard boiled eggs (not my 1st or 4th choice of egg prep method, but OK...). We passed on the croissants, thankfully, because then we also got some fresh and warm loukoumades - slightly crisp yogurt doughnuts with honey and cinnamon. The honey (since there was some interest higher up the thread) is very good, but not much different than the wild flower honey I get at home, perhaps a bit sharper and less warm-spiced (I haven't had clover honey in 10+ years, so I can't compare).

I fully agree, it's just that my interpretation of the OPs intention is different - As I see it they meant "those are dishes that are like tarts (which are assumed to be sweet)" rather than "those are dishes that you could confuse for desserts". 😁

True. But as a counter point, there are also many cultures that uses beans mostly for sweets (e.g. anko). Still, for many Westerners this will seem very strange, I also won't be surprised if for many in those cultures, a savory application of bean paste will seem strange as well.

I don't wish to put words into cteavin's mouth, but not all cultures and people are as familiar with all of the variety of dishes in existence. I could see how without knowing of French style quiches and savory tarts, one could assume all tarts are desserts.

Those are cooked in sugar until just tender enough to cut with a fork/spoon. The resulting syrup is thick but runny. They eat a big like candied citrus peel. I think large pieces work well with the yogurt, because otherwise it tends to dim the fruit flavors. Like this you get a bite of quince, with a bit of yogurt, then some yogurt as a palate cleanser.

(Bastardized) galaktoboureko with orange caramel and rosemary 😆