Links to previous posts

PART 1.  INTRO
PART 2.   GRIKOS
PART 3.  CYPRUS
PART 4.  GREEK ISLANDS
PART 4 B.  IONIAN AND CYCLADES ISLANDS

PART 5.  NORTHEASTERN AEGEAN AND TURKISH ISLANDS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
LINK to information about the Cyclades

The Cyclades
Approximately 20 inhabited islands extend from the southern tip of the peninsula around Athens and dot the central part of the Aegean. These include Milos, Kea, Naxos, Andros, Myconos, and Santorini, as well as many uninhabited land masses. The mainstays of the cuisine?savory barley and wheat biscuits, simple cheeses, and cured pork?have remained more or less unchanged throughout the centuries. The drystone terraces on the steep hillsides were originally built in antiquity to expand the scarce cultivable land of the islands so that the people could plant barley, beans, and vegetables. Barley, which has been cultivated in the Mediterranean since the beginnings of civilization, was for centuries the staple for the island people.Paximadia, the barley biscuits, were convenient food for sailors, who took them on long voyages. Today, city people as well as tourists love these versatile crunchy biscuits, which are crumbled and made into delicious salads with the flavorful island tomatoes and capers, drizzled with fruity olive oil and seasoned with fragrant oregano. ...