The Hatziemmanouil Winery

The Hatziemmanouil winery is situated on the main road just after the Tigkaki crossroad as you go towards Kefalos on your left hand side. The winery is open on a daily basis for wine tasting, and a visit of the facilities. For more details you cans visit the site at: 

http://www.hatziemmanouil.gr/?page=home

The Triantafyllopoulos Winery

Situated in the Asfendiou area at the foot of the Dikaios Mountains this modern winery is bent on developping wines born of grapes that are cultivated in the area. You can always go for some winetasting in an idyllic environment with the amazing mountains in the background. You can find more details on the site: http://www.koswinery.gr/uk/Triantafillopoulos-Vineyards-at-Kos-Island-Dodecanesa

The classic Greek red tomato

This typically red fruit is one of the basic ingredients of Greek cuisine. The plants usually grow to 1–3 meters in height and have a weak stem. Although in many countries the plants are made to climb, in Greece we let them sprawl over the ground as the scorching summer sun would otherwise damage them. On Kos island tomatoes are cultivated from end of spring to early autumn. Throughout the summer, up until October, tomatoes are wonderfully juicy and full of flavor.

The tomato can become a great snack with just some olive oil and some salt, although, to be honest, I mostly favor the tomato’s pulp spread on toast garnished with olive oil, oregano and a little salt. There are plenty of ways to include the wonderful tomato in a light meal: from the classic Greek salad (with its cucumber, feta cheese, and some olives) through its variations which include some paximadi i.e. rusk (called dakos in Crete and Mirmizeli in Kalymnos) to the much simpler versions such as the tomatosalata (simple tomato salad with some onions), the possibilities are numerous…. For those of you who need something more consistent, there are a myriad of different mouthwatering tomato based traditional Greek dishes like the stuffed tomatoes (with rice and with/or without meat, depending on your preferences) or the strapatsada (kind of scrambled eggs with tomato inside) while the tasty tomato is also widely used as a secondary ingredient in many recipes and sauces.

One of the delicacies of the island is sweet tomato. Unexpectedly through the traditional preparation of this sweet, the tomato flesh remains quite firm and tasty. It is usually packaged in a jar and is a very convenient and original gift to take back home with you. It is an excellent sweet for desert, although a little rich it mixes very well with Greek yoghurt. You should definitely give it a try…

The Asfendiou traditional Oil Mills

There are three old traditional Oil Mills in the Evangelistria/Pera Geitonia area. Evangelistria is the area of the village surrounding the Church of Evangelismos while Pera Geitonia is just after the bridge and before the village of Assomatos. In Evangelistria and just opposite the church lies the Sofou Oil Mill while the Mills of Kiapoka and Kostantaki are to be found in Pera Geitonia.

Oil production used to be one of the major activities on the island of Kos since olive oil was and continues to be a major component of the local diet. Each family used to own a few olive trees -at least- to have enough olives and olive oil for their domestic needs. Olive oil continues to play an important role in today's Koan agricultural economy. In the last ten to twenty years some modern mills have been created and all the traditional mills have been abandoned in favor of the processing plants, so production has in fact increased with the automation of the manufacturing process. Olive oil, olives, olive paste... in their neat little package, are some of the gifts favored by the tourists...

There are three steps in the traditional oil extraction process:

1/ the olives are slowly ground under an edge mill. The stones roll around on their edges on a circular bed crushing the olives that are slowly inserted. After 30 to 40 minutes a paste is extracted

2/ After grinding, the olive paste is spread on fiber disks, which are stacked on top of each other, then placed into the press. By using the press the unfiltered oil is gradually produced.

3/ The unfiltered oil is put in a basin along with lukewarm water where the oil accumulates on the surface and is collected, usually by someone very experienced, to avoid mixing the oil with water.

In the Sofos and Kiapoka mills you can clearly discern the grinding stones while the presses, still in prime condition, are present in all three of the mills. The Kostantaki mill was somewhat more modern as it had some automated parts driven by electrical power as clearly indicated by the strap seen in the picture. The basin is clearly visible in the Sofos Oil Mill.

The Sofos Oil Mill

The Kiapoka Oil Mill

The Kostantaki Oil Mill

Reference: 1/ From the dikaiosnet  website:
                   http://www.dikaiosnet.gr/Asfendiou/asomatos/eyaggel_pera_geitonia.htm

I would also like to thank Mr. Manos Mastrogiorgis for showing me the above three Oil mills and thereby giving me the opportunity to rediscover part of our lost traditions.

The Aubergines that become Moussaka

Aubergines are one of the most abundant vegetables produced on the island of Kos because they are available throughout the summer and the climate favors them. The actual plant is around 40cm to 1.50m tall, has a spiny stem, and produces a white flower. The leaves are large and coarse.

These large, firm dark purple skinned vegetables have a spongy flesh and are somewhat bitter when eaten raw but become rather tender when cooked and have become a major ingredient of Mediterranean cuisine and more specifically Greek cuisine. They are cooked in a multitude of ways, the simplest being just grilled or fried (traditionally accompanied by some garlic sauce), while the “Melitzanosalata” i.e. the aubergine salad (the aubergines are grilled, then skinned and deseeded, and finally mashed and mixed with some olive oil) the papoutsakia (fried aubergines with béchamel, minced meat and cheese) and the classic Moussaka are some of the more popular dishes. All of these recipes are available in most traditional restaurants especially during the summer months.

VIMEL

BIMEL LTD is a manufacturing company that was created in 1998 with the intent to pool the thyme honey produced by local beekeepers in order to standardize the production of packaged products with the brand name of Hippocrates (in reference and reverence to the father of medicine), and promote the local production by highlighting the benefits of honey and developing a product range that would cover the needs of all palates. 52% of the company's shares are currently owned by the local government while the rest i.e. 48% in the hands of local producers.

The current manufacturing site is located in Antimachia but there are plans for it to move shortly some 3kms away in a modern facility with a large showroom. The honey is brought to the plant by the beekeepers and is tested individually to make sure each batch complies to the company's quality standards while the actual composition is also catalogued. The different batches are thoroughly mixed together thereby coming up with a uniform end product. The honey is filtered a total of three times so as to get rid of any impurities, bees or residues. One interesting thing to point out is that if you let the honey rest, dead bees and a lot of the residue tend to come up to the surface, and traditionally letting the honey rest was the actual standard purification method. Today, this method is used to some extent in combination with modern filtering systems which have been added to optimize the procedure and comply to modern day requirements. Once the mixture is complete, the honey is left to rest a few days and is then inserted in standardized packaging of glass (100g to 1 kg) or the larger tin containers. The product range also includes the amphora type of glass packaging and some more elaborate products like honey with nuts or the all new honey with honeycomb. Currently the company's products are only available on Kos island but the aim is to offer them in select outlets in Greece and across Europe. For more information you can always go to the company's site at http://www.vimel.gr/en/.