Listed 5 sub titles with search on: Local products for destination: "LESVOS Island NORTH AEGEAN".
It is everywhere well supplied with fruits, but like Chios and Lesbos it is best in respect to its wine.(Strabo 14,2,9)
Lesbos which exports olives and oil, and Chios, which is famous for wine.
Lesvos Olive oil
It's quite difficult to imagine Lesvos without its silver trees under
the endless Greek sunshine. Today, in Lesvos there are eleven millions (11,000,000)
olive trees occupying an area of 465 thousands of acres, having an average production
of 100,000 tons olives or 20,000 tons olive oil.
Lesvian olive oil is incomparable in taste and flavor and has the
best nutritional properties. In Lesvos are cultivated two varieties of olive trees:
- The variety "Kolovi" is local and occupies an area of 65% of the Lesvian olive
grove at the south and southeastern of the island.
- The olive variety is called "Adramytini" occupies an area of 35% at the north
and northeastern section of Lesvos.
Like the other kinds of oils and fats, olive oil offers about 9 calories
per gr. of weight. It has resistance towards the phenomenon of oxidation and is
highly digestible. The fact that olive oil has the proper percentage of saturated
and non-saturated acids makes it the basis of the Mediterranean Diet, which has
been world serious illnesses and that contributes to man's long life.
The last few years began the production of Biological Olive Oil. This
was started at a place called Achladeri. Also the Lesvian olives after processing
(carved or pickled) can become a very special delicacy.
Cheese of Lesvos and Lemnos
Even in Homer's Odyssey we have an analytical description of cheese
making from sheep-goat's milk. The result of this long termed experience through
centuries in combination with the mild and salubrious climate of the islands is
that the diary products of Lesvos and Lemnos have a unique position in the world.
Traditional dairy products (with protected designation of origin)
are Ladotyri Mytilinis, Feta, Kaseri and Kalathaki of Lemnos, unique in taste
and flavor. The traditional cheese-making factories guarantee unique properties,
as they only process the local high quality sheep-goat's milk - milk that under
special conditions could be characterized as organic.
The natural flora and the local tribes of sheep and goats are an additional
guarantee for the milk's superiority. Of course another significant factor is
the man-producer himself, who kept the traditional cheese-making methods, inheriting
to the new generations a traditional and unique cheese (Feta, Ladotyri, Yraviera,
Kaseri, Kalathaki ect).
Ladotyri-cheese is produced in a traditional way in Lesvos from sheep's
milk. Its name derives from the fact it is conserved in high quality olive. It
matures for three months in underground storehouse or in cool spaces and it has
a delicious taste.
At last Kalathaki-cheese is made from sheep-goat milk, traditionally
and only at the island if Lemnos. Its name derives from the fact that after its
production it is placed in small baskets and it is stored there until the last
step of maturing.
Salted fish
Salted fish are characteristic products of the North Aegean Sea islands,
and especially of the Province of Lesvos. Famous around the world are the Kalloni
sardines. In Lesvos and Lemnos there are small industries for the processing and
standardization of fishes for long period of time. Fish are cought on a daily
basis by small island boats (psarokaeka) and the processing that follow is based
on experience, which is inherited from generation to generation, enriched with
the modernization of the proper machinery.
Fish that are processed, are sardines, mackerels and tuna-fish, in
a traditional way with pure natural sea-salt. The factors which give a superiority
to the Lesvian salted fishes is the high quality of the fish and their natural
environment especially in the two gulfs of Lesvos island (Gera's & Kalloni's).
Ouzo
This drink is distinguished for its pleasant aggressiveness which
brings balance to its flavour, causing a revolution to the senses and a pleasant
recollection and joy for every special moment in life. A right and balanced ouzo,
contains 46% alcohol (the max content), fact that gives it a passport to travel
all around the world without being affected by climate or time, keeping its initial
flavour and taste.
Ouzo is a Greek drink, it has been connected with the Greek soul,
hospitality, sea and sky, and is an art, which demands persistence and is full
of challenges. It can be drunk with ice-cubes or without or with water. These
additions convert its clarity into a white color, fact that confirms its high
quality. It is mainly served with seafood.
Wine
At ancient times Mithymna of Lesvos was considered as the nectar of
the Olympus Greek Gods. In Lesvos there were vast vineyards, butt today they do
not exist anymore. There is small ones- a kind of family-business-, which produce
small, but of high quality quantities of wine.
The island of Lemnos still remains a wine-producer island and its
wine is widely known. The picturesque harbor of Myrina (capital of Lemnos) offers
the proper scenery for the marriage between the original taste of tradition and
the peaceful holidays at the island of Dionysus. The vineyards, which have been
cultivated for centuries and are still being cultivated today, belong to the unique
variety "Moschato Alexandryas". Their cultivation is a tradition and its roots
are in the years of mythology.
The picturesque and carefully cultivated vineyards are according to
the European standards occupying an area of 6,500 acres and their production approaches
700kg/acre. As chemical fertilizers are not used, the producers can guarantee
for the natural and high quality of the Lemnian wine.
Honey
The visitor's attention will be drawn by white or light blue boxes
in the bees to fill them with the excellent Lesvian honey. The honey, which is
produced at Lesvos and Lemnos, is well known for its taste and thyme's flavour
and can be purchased at the local market. It is processed with a traditional way,
without using chemical additives, keeping its high quality and gaining day by
day its fame. The visitor can try local honey with various flavors except thyme
like pine tree and flower's flavors/s.
Pottery
Lesvos was and still is one of the most significant and known centers
of traditional pottery. Possibly due to the Lesvian clay's composition, Lesvos
is full of traditional ceramic's workshop, which the natives call "Tsoukaladika".
The most famous and significant were established and still today exist in Ayiassos
and Mantamados, where pottery is a tradition inherited from generation to generation
without any changes.
Woodcarving
Woodcarving is another popular traditional art characteristic of the
culture of the province. Experienced works were carving and still today carve
the wood of olive trees, chestnut-trees and cherry-trees, converting it into various
shapes inspired from the Christian life (items for monasteries or churches-iconostasis,
throne of the Patriarch) or for the decoration of the Lesvian house, (consoles,
sendouki), items immortal through time. Now days the woodcarving tradition continues
is Ayiassos, Mytilene and Asomatos.
Also weaving still exists today. This popular art has been rescued
through women who used to make their houses apparel (a necessary piece of their
dowry) to the traditional loom. Fortunately our ancestors have rescued and still
try to teach all these traditional techniques to the new generations. And today
we can see all these young people to reproduce this popular art using the same
techniques and methods.
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