The hilly port city of Thessaloniki wears its Roman,Byzantine and Ottoman heritage.Credit:iStock
It seems we’re going past a patisserie which sells a famous local delicacy and it would be sacrilege to pass by without trying it. It’s 10am,we’ve not long had breakfast but this is Greece,where food is never very far from the locals’ mouths.
The snack in question is trigona panoramatos – a concoction of filo-pastry cones dipped in sugar-syrup and filled with a secret-ingredient custard cream. They are,says our guide,a typical present that people take home to other parts of Greece when they visit.
They are little parcels of crispy,creamy,sweet-toothed heaven that were originally created in the suburb of Panorama and we continue our journey with sticky hands and happy bellies.
At the Gerovassiliou vineyard we sample wines made from the malagousia grape,described by a staff member as “Greek summer in a bottle”,and others using the fresh,crispness of assyrtiko,an increasingly popular variety that has its origins in the volcanic soil and hot,dry climate of Santorini.
After the wine tasting we have lunch at MamaLuca,a popular restaurant that serves a starter of home-made Sfakian pie. Known more as a Cretan dish,MamaLuca’s version (it’s less a pie and more of a flat pita) is filled with soft and creamy xynomyzithra cheese and drizzled with honey from Mount Athos. There is Greek salad,naturally,and a large plate of meat as a main course,but the sticky,drippy,cheesy delight of the Sfakian pie is the standout.
It’d be sacrilege not to indulge:trigona panoramatos.
The next day,we find ourselves on a Food on Foot tour of Heraklion,Crete’s capital. Our guide,Christina Emm,is a local with her finger firmly in the Cretan food pie and she starts us off at Zimoto,a cafe,sourdough bakery and croissanterie not far from the town’s famous lion fountain square.
Here we sip a calming tea made from local herbs,and stuff our faces with,you guessed it,yet more remarkably indulgent Sfakian pie (also known as Sfakianopita) and platefuls of bougatsa,a traditional breakfast fare made of filo pastry filled with semolina cream.