Tastes
Karpathos is a place where tradition has remained alive over the years, something that is easily perceived both in the social life of the inhabitants and in the local cuisine. Here you will taste dishes made with love and care, such as the handmade traditional macaroons, which are kneaded by the women of the island and after they are cut and dried, boiled and served with tsikomeno (roasted onion) and the famous sitaka (dairy product of the island). Also served in the same way are fake macaroons, which are bites of stale bread, boiled in salted water for a few minutes.
In the island traditional bakeries, you will find a wide variety of pastries, such as shortbread rolls and spicy onion rolls. It's worth trying the local pies such as cabbage pies or kopeles (stuffed with leek and spinach in winter or zucchini and acorns in summer), onion pies, gra (vegetable pie with a fairly thick sheet baked in the wood-fired oven), but the sweet zimbilia or zembilia, traditionally crescent-shaped pastries with a raisin filling flavored with nutmeg and sprinkled with white and black sesame seeds.
In the local cuisine of Karpathos, several recipes have meat as a key ingredient, such as anderizia (intestines stuffed with rice and meat), byzanti (lamb or goat, stuffed with herbs and rice) and ofto (goat stuffed with rice, liver and herbs).
Carpathian dairy products are a key element in the residents' diet. Some products that you will find in several local recipes are manouli (low-fat soft goat cheese), armirotiri (salty hard cheese), sitaka (sheep's or goat's cream cheese) and drula (goat's milk yogurt).
On the island you will find plenty of fresh fish and seafood. Skaros is a fish that is abundant in the Carpathian sea and is cooked broiled or grilled with plenty of lemon oil. Another fish you will find on the island is the menula, which looks like a sardine and is traditionally salted.
There are also plenty of traditional sweets that you can taste in Karpathos. At weddings, guests are offered sisamomeli (with honey and sesame), while another excellent traditional dessert is the Carpathian baklava. On the island you will also find takaki (fried sweets), moschopougia (filled crescent-shaped sweets) and xylikopites.