Hydraulic Almonds Tsagari

Taken from war, occupation, poverty and desolation, history island of Hydra he began timidly from the early 1950s to take over. The houses, most of them abandoned, are transformed into beautiful houses by famous artists who restore them with special care and respect.

The films "The girl in black" with Elli Lampeti by Kakogiannis (1956), "The child with the dolphin" with Sophia Loren (1957), and "Phaedra" with Melina Mercouri and Anthony Perkins (1962) ) contribute to the island to gain international fame.

One of the few cafes in the harbor, where the first guests drank their coffee, was the majestic cafe-confectionery "ta Kyvelia" by Dimitrios Tsagaris, which was located where the Postal Savings Bank is housed today. Its founder from 1930 Aristides Tsagaris who offered and traded for the first time hydra almond macaroons that until that time were made only in homes for self-consumption in celebrations and pleasant events.

The 1957 it is undertaken by Dimitris Tsagaris and his wife Anna and they are the ones who will sweeten all the Greeks and foreign friends of the island. Mr. Anna since then is the one who supports the recipe and continues the art of macaroon to this day. What if her son o Kyriakos (Koulis) took over the confectionery in 1995, no matter how much he entered with great zeal - rare for the new generations who prefer the "letters" - Dimitri's grandson, Mrs. Anna, is in charge of the production of the macaroon. The macaroons Tsagari of Hydra, the ones that sweetened so many and so many and among them Sophia Loren, but she makes them herself!

The ingredients of the recipe are all four: almonds, flower water, semolina and sugar. In a cauldron with lukewarm rose water, mix the ground almonds with the semolina and sugar for a while, and then start laying the mixture. The baked macaroon is put in the oven shaped like pears and after it is baked it is sweetened with powdered sugar and crowned with a clove. My boss prefers the uncooked macaroon, which is very juicy, delicious and more refined.

It is to admire the strength, method and courage of Mrs. Anna. One of the last examples of people who have never learned in their life to do anything but work and give.

For the future in Hydraulic Almonds Tsagari gave me optimism, the consoling attitude of her grandson Dimitris, who after finishing art confectionery classes at Le Monde School, decided to take up her grandmother's art. And it is certain that, with such a long coexistence, together with art, he will have received a piece of the ethos and mentality of the people of the old times. And this may seem to him the most important and useful supply.