The cuisine of Chios: Eclectic, traditional and delicious

Handmade pasta, fresh cheeses, traditional sweets and the famous mastic highlight the island's special character.

If the cuisine of Chios were limited to a book, surely mastic would be the chapter with the most pages. This, of course, does not mean in any way that other dishes do not deserve a place in the culinary mosaic of the Eastern Aegean island—quite the opposite.

Unlike many island cuisines, Chios cuisine has a great advantages: it literally offers everything. This is because Chios, as an island bridge with the coasts of Asia Minor, learned to match many raw materials that always resulted in excellent flavours.

The good thing is that you'll find anything your heart desires in Chios —meaning plenty of fish and mastic—from traditional light cheeses that go perfectly with salads and seafood to citrus fruits.

Traditional cheeses have a special place on our plate. Soft with a mild texture that gets even better when grilled, Chios cheeses go perfectly with green vegetable salads (lettuce, cherry tomatoes and grated Chios cheese), or you can also enjoy them on their own.

Of course, if you want to experiment with the flavours, all you have to do is grill them. Add some squeezed, fragrant lemon to grilled cheese, and you'll just see firsthand what enjoyment means.

If you like spicy flavours, you should definitely try Kopanisti, a slightly spicy cheese. It is pretty similar to that of the Cyclades, with the only difference being that it is softer.

Leaving for a moment the passion for traditional cheeses, the next taste love in Chios cuisine is cherisia, the handmade pasta of Chios which is perhaps the local delicacy that has made the island famous all over the world—of course, after mastic.

It is worth trying them with sauce, grated cheese, or minced meat with one of the many ouzo's available on the island.

As an island that is a breath away from the coasts of Asia Minor, it is famous for the local ouzo, which, in addition to homemade pasta, is also perfectly combined with eggplant pilaf.

In Chios, you will find a wide variety of spoon sweets (mastic-based, of course), which you accompany with freshly brewed Greek coffee.

Thanks to the island's special microclimate, the citrus fruits of Chios (oranges, tangerines, lemons, bitter oranges, citrons) are so fragrant and juicy that they are a taste experience in themselves.

As for sweets, it is worth trying traditional Chios mamoulia, masourakia, and soft mastihaloukouma with wafers, but also the unique pastries based on dried figs, which are perhaps one of the most authentic flavours.

Yianni Koutroudi is a columnist for Travel. Translated by Paul Antonopoulos.

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