Monasteries are connected to Greek nature. Nestled in steep rocks, cliffs, windswept slopes above the sea, offer high level gastronomy.
Greece acquires many monasteries. According to tradition, Christian monasticism began in Egypt with Antony the Great. Originally, all Christian monks were hermits who rarely met humans. But because of the adversity of cloistered life, many monks failed. One of the largest monastic centers of Orthodoxy is Mount Athos comprising a total of 20 monasteries.
The environment of a monastery but also the way of life of the monks, free from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, in absolute harmony with the spiritual world where the human element is united with the divine and the ego is subordinated to the will of the whole, is surrounded by an aura of beguilement. The experience of hospitality offered by many monasteries, in a quiet and overwhelming environment, opens the door to communication with your inner self, with truth and tranquility gaining special importance in your personal awakening.
The kitchens at the monasteries are of similar interest. For example, Agioreitiki kitchen is world-famous and there are many monks who have recorded their recipes or published them in a book. The cooking of the monk Epiphanios, Chef at Mount Athos, is distinguished by his love for the flavors of our land, the products and the vines.
Many more monks, whose vocation was cooking, managed to develop their skills and create culinary wonders. Monasticism, moreover, helps one to have perseverance and devotion. The taste excellence of the monastery products is due to the commitment, faith and love they feel when they share.
Our ancestors for many generations traditionally cultivated the top olive variety, known as “Koroneiki”, with great care and passion. Thus the Holy Monastery of Toplou, an innovator in organic cultivation, continues presently this bequest in a man-made environment where simplicity, faith in tradition and devotion of Sitia cultivators dominate, factors that make the Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil PDO Sitia Lassithi in Crete which produce as unique. It is distinguished by its golden-green color, the perfectly balanced taste between sweet and bitter and the long-lasting pleasant aftertaste.
The olive groves are located at the region of Toplou Monastery, in a dominant area of olive cultivation of 400 acres, including 6,000 irrigated olive trees while it is renowned for its ideal climatic conditions and microclimate. All the rules and principles that govern the application of Organic Cultivation are used as well as pro-environmental management practices of the olive groves, which grant their organic olive oil gourmet flavors and special organoleptic characteristics in order to achieve the highest quality.
“Olives, olive oil, infusions from fields that are not sprinkled, liqueur, honey, noodles with our own eggs and fresh milk, fasting trachanas with twelve types of vegetables and jams” are some of the traditional Ormylia products listed by the nun in charge.
In a region of 100 acres with 7.5 thousand olive roots, products such as clotted olives, green olives with oregano and lemon or vinegar, organic green olives in brine and extra virgin olive oil with herbs have a dominant role. In the long list of award-winning Ormylia products – which debuted in 2014 – one can find, among others, the Oregano of Agio Oros, chamomile, mountain tea, Agioreita decoction and excellent liqueurs such as sour cherry, mastic, walnut, loquat, pomegranate and limoncello.
The Holy Monastery of Makariotissa, located at an altitude of seven hundred meters on Mount Helikon, has a long history as it was founded in the 12th century, it prospered as a spiritual center, it gave great assistance to the Greeks during the Turkish occupation, hosting thieves and charioteers while, trying to resist the Nazis, most of it was destroyed. In 1992 it was reconstituted by a brotherhood of monks and thus began the new great chapter of its history. The monks at some point decided to devote themselves to animal husbandry and the production of pure products, both to meet the needs of the monastery and to be able to offer them to their visitors.
The livestock at the monastery is fed with controlled cattle feed and milked by electronic means, so that the milk is completely safe. The products are then prepared in a traditional way and always under the supervision of the monks. Their strained goat yogurt has a nice rich flavor and their goat cheese is marvellous. Their classic custards are just as good. Milk butter is what you want when you prepare your spaghetti, while gruyere made from pasteurized cow’s milk is equally delicious.
At the monastery you will also find various types of pasta to take with you, fir and flower honey, traditional pies but also a series of products that we are not used to finding in monasteries, such as granola, oat cookies, nut bars and pastries in various flavors.
Who is not familiar with rose sugar, a special, aromatic, bright and sought-after sweet, probably of oriental origin since the oriental lovers of beauty and delicate flavors are the ones who first used roses and flowers in their food and sweets.
Between jam and sweet, it is pleasantly consumed with a spoon plain, as a favorite treat but also with ice cream, with yogurt, with pancakes, donuts, on bread with butter and wherever everyone likes it. Par excellence a monastic sweet, loved not only within Greek borders but also by fans of international gourmet flavors as “Rose Petal Jam”, conquers anyone who tries it from the first moment with its intense aroma and distinct taste. Its healing properties for intestinal diseases and indigestion, as well as the well-being and rejuvenation it offers to the body, make it even more eligible.
Our country can be proud to produce the best pink sugar in the world. This is rose sugar manufactured at the Holy Monastery of Panmegiston Taxiarchon in Aigio, which for over 100 years has been produced by the monks and workers in the traditional way and without any chemical preservatives or coloring substances, but only with pure rose petals, sugar and an abundance of love and care, always at the height of spring.
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