It’s safe to say that Greece’s Cycladic islands are the most famous outside Greece, considering that Mykonos and Santorini are known outside the country as if they were a country on their own.
Amongst the thirty inhabited islands, cyclical in their geography in the Aegean Sea, which gave them the name, are Andros, Santorini, Syros, Mykonos, Delos, Paros, Naxos, Tinos; surrounded by dozens of uninhabited ones, consisting mainly of rocks and bushes.
With a dry climate on most of the islands, and with a perpetual problem being the lack of water, their inhabitants have never considered agriculture as the basis of the islands’ economy.
As agriculture was never encouraged, the Cycladic islanders turned to the sea. From prehistoric times, they were fanatical sailors and trade blossomed in their bustling ports.
The islands were also rich in natural resources. Chalk and glass lava from Kimolo, emery and marble from Naxos, gold from Sifnos, bronze from Serifos and clay from a majority of the islands.
Apart from being famous for its high quality marble and the skilled technicians that helped build the Parthenon, the largest of the group – Naxos and Paros – were also known for their high quality olive oil and wines, alongside Serifos, Sikinos and Milos.
And on all the islands, thousands of sheep and goats grazed freely, giving the islanders meat and milk and making cheese that to this day is produced and eaten all over Greece.
In 1207, after the invasion of Constantinople by the Franks, the Cyclades were handed over to the Venetians. The Dukedom of Naxos was created and served as its centre till 1566, when the Ottomans annexed all the islands except Tinos, which fell to them in 1715.
After the 351 years that the Venetians governed the islands, a large Catholic population was left behind. The Italian influence remains very strong in the food culture of the islands, with ravioli and puddings as common delicacies, and the celebration of Christmas Eve with seafood.
Given the barren landscape of the Cycladic islands, their culinary culture has been characterised as frugal and simple.
Today, these islands are a tourist Mecca, with diet on the islands being both similar and diverse from one island to another. Santorini is known for its yellow
lentils, cherry tomatoes and its superb white wine of international reputation, Asyrtiko. Wild rabbit, some wild birds, pork and all its derivatives, goat’s meat, and goat’s and ewes milk cheese.
As for the sweets – there is a long list of baked sweets (γλυκά το ταψιού), usually with nuts, cheese, rusks and left-over stale bread. They are majestic in their simplicity.
The best example is kopania (κοπανιά) from Santorini, where the local barley rusks are beaten in a mortar and pestle together with raisins, then made into small balls and rolled in roasted sesame seeds.