Ovelias is a Greek Easter tradition where a whole lamb is roasted on the spit. The word ovelias pronounced Oh-veh-LI-as comes from the ancient Greek word “ovelos” which used to be a wooden or steel rod, where pieces of meat were skewered on and slowly cooked. Nowdays, the word “ovelias” means a whole lamb cooked for Easter on the spit.
Greek Traditions
Flaounes pr. flah-OU-ness (singular flaouna) is a traditional Cypriot Easter cheese bread made with an aromatic yeasted phyllo dough, filled with a special Cypriot cheese, called Pafitiko, made during the Easter period especially for flaounes, flavoured with Masticha (mastic resin), mahlepi (mahleb) and mint.
Sheftali pl. Sheftalia are Cypriot oval shaped crépinettes, made with minced pork, herbs and spices which are then wrapped in caul fat and barbecued.
Taramosalata, is a wonderful Greek dip made with red or white fish roe of the cod or carp fish, served as an appetizer.
Tsourekia (singular tsoureki) pronounced tsou-RHAE-khia, is a kind of brioche sweet bread which is made in Greece during Easter.
Homemade Lemon squash is made with only two ingredients. Lemon juice and sugar. Nothing like homemade lemon squash to beat the summer heat!
Halloumi is indigenous to Cyprus and is one of a few cheeses made in Cyprus, so as a Cypriot and a food blogger this is something I wanted to try and make myself.
I hope you enjoyed reading Part I of our trip to Northern Greece and I hope I will not bore you with this long post, but there were many things I wanted you to see. I am dedicating this post to all my Greek friends who live abroad and would like to find out more about Greece.
Battered Bakaliaros (salted cod), in Greek “μπακαλιάρος”, is the traditional food we eat in Greece on the 25th of March.
Kathara Deftera, which means Clean Monday marks the beginning of Lent. During this period the Orthodox abstain from eating meat and dairy products.