Travelogue in Lesvos - Greek Gastronomy Guide

"Nowhere else in the world,
the sun and the moon do not rule so harmoniously,
do not share their power so fairly,
as much as on this piece of land
who once, who knows, in what times improbable, what god,
to have fun, he cut and blew away
same maple leaf in the middle of the sea. ”

Odysseus Elytis

And if the great poet is dazzled by the beauty of her landscape Lesbos, my boss bowed to the beauty of her architecture. There is no island with such a rich and diverse stock of well-preserved built environment. Both her city Of Mytilene - where despite the 1970s saw the destruction of its incredibly beautiful historic buildings - as well as the large towns Agia Paraskevi, Plomari, Polichnitos, Pencil, Agiasos but also the dozens of villages win you over from their picturesqueness with the cobbled streets and the beautiful houses.

Homes of many categories: the tower houses of lords in the countryside of Mytilene, the "Turkish houses" with their sahnisia on the upper floor, the mansions of the villages, the holiday villas of towns, the mansions of the 19th century archontology, at a time when -mainly in Mytilene- the lords produced wealth and culture. Public buildings, unique churches and metropolises, schools and high schools with monumental architecture, industrial buildings (oil mills, soap factories, snuffboxes, etc.), bath buildings that utilized the warm waters of the island, humble farm houses, but also cafes, the most and most beautiful cafes in Greece (from which we singled out the historical ones Panhellenic and Hermes, the Hangout in Agiassos, of Mrs. Rini in Agios Dimitrios, and the Athanasiadeion in Plomari), and finally commercial stores, to rely on both aesthetics and atmosphere of the 1960s.

Η Ermou street in Mytilene It is a typical beautiful street of the Agora, where you will find "modernization" shops and modern department stores, but the main weight falls on the puppet food shops (grocers, grocery stores, fishmongers, butchers who sell and pastourmadas, palipaidas, etc.

In the countryside landscapes sometimes calm, soft with olive groves, chestnut forests, pines on Mount Olympus, oaks and spruce, and sometimes wild, rocky in the area of Eressos reminiscent of Mani, and elsewhere pastures, surround the two large bays of Gera and of Kalloni and around the habitats that host flocks of passing birds, egrets, herons, storks.

The primary sector of Lesvos is fully developed with meat, cheese - we visited and got to know the most innovative cheese factory, the Dairy of Lesvos - we tasted them three PDO cheeses of the island (feta, oil cheese, cheese), the oil, and of course the Ouzo, where 17 ouzo companies in good cooperation with each other maintain the myth and the quality of the favorite drink of the Greek, producing 50% of the Greek production and expanding the activities abroad (we have selected 6 typical companies Ouzo Plomariou - Isidoros Arvanitis, Matarellis, EPO, Varvagiannis, Pitsiladis, Veto, I sneer) acting as the best ambassadors of the island. Finally, we got to know the famous one up close Kalloni sardine and the company LEVA, which, among other things, is canned, as well as anchovies and other pastries.

Η traditional cuisine of Lesvos It depends on its raw materials - land and sea - but also on the influences it has received from the refugees of Asia Minor, as well as -at least on the bourgeoisie- on the influences of the countries with which it had trade and commerce, Russia, Egypt, Europe.

A great renewal in the life of Mytilene brought and University of the Aegean which, in addition to its action, and the financially beneficial consequences of the stay of 4.000 students on the island, also transferred a dynamism and new ideas to a society that had lost its balance a little. Of course, the whole effort of the former minister also played a big role Nikos Sifounakis for the rescue of settlements but also of the old soap and oil factories that found new roles and new uses (from the interesting museums around the processing of the olive, the Museum of Industrial Olive Oil of Lesvos in Agia Paraskevi is the best effort). Painting lovers have the opportunity to enjoy works by artists in beautiful museums such as Teriard Museum and Theofilos Museum in Mytilene, as well as Jacobides in Chydira.

The Taverns of the island many and so many other fish taverns, honest with local and fresh ingredients (indicatively we chose the Mercury in Mytilene, him Antonis in Cayani, the Cross in Agiasos, and him Bamboo in Molyvos), while we tried it keskeki on Feast of the Bull in Agia Paraskevi.

Having avoided the development of Tourism to this day, Lesvos has protected its natural and cultural stock, and relying on its state-owned livestock production, can fine develop alternative Tourism activities and of course the Gastronomic Tourism can become one of its powerful weapons.

A big thank you to the local sponsor of Lesvos, the ouzo Plomariou Isidorou Arvanitou, the president of Mytilene Pano Pizzio which facilitated me unimaginably in my research during the journey to Lesvos, giving me his precious time, the Aristides Sifnaios and Erietta Kokkidou -my godparents- who welcomed me with love and all those on the island who welcomed me to their workplaces, to their shops, opened their homes and their hearts.