October 23, is the feast of St. Jacob. The images below are from a small feast (panighiri) for the name day of Jacob- who is the son of the owner of the olive grove- and his patron saint. This panighiri always starts on the evening of the previous day.
The family has a fame to be very hospitable, so they filled the table with an amazing amount of food.
Salted sardines, kalitsounia, graviera which resembles Swiss gruyere, rusks and soaked broad beans are common foods of a Cretan panighiri.
Here is the menu:
Kalitsounia (small pies filled with spinach and wild greens), salted sardines, rusks, soaked broad beans, graviera cheese, Greek salad, roasted red peppers, stuffed grape leaves, stuffed zucchini blossoms, pork stifadho (meat and onion stew), pork cooked with peppers, chicken with okra, chicken with olives, goat slow cooked with a little olive oil in a casserole (tsigariasto).
We left the place at 11 o’clock, the meal was not over though. Pork steaks over a wood fire and pilafi in a huge pot were the signals for the formal part of celebration!
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And here is the photo of a magnificent chicken dish. The bird was slowly cooked with fresh tomatoes (the last ones of the season), onion, wine and plenty of sweetened, juicy, green olives!
Recipes:
Anevata kalitsounia
Kalitsounia filled with amaranths
Kalitsounia filled with cheese, mint and almonds
ΓΙΑ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ ΕΔΩ
History of Greek Food 