IOANNINA
The gastronomic pleasures of Ioannina will satisfy the most demanding. The mountains of Epirus provide a wide range of spices and herbs which are freely used to complement the finest basic ingredients. Fish, of course, from the lake, such as eels and trout, are cooked in sophisticated ways, and together with frog’s legs, a special delicacy, are the hallmark of the Ioannina cuisine.
The traditional Ioannina desserts are famous throughout Greece. The famous ‘sker bourek’, or ‘sugar pie’, the exceptionally delicious baklava and the other syrup pastries are but a few of the flavours that are certain to captivate visitors.
One item made only in Ioannina and nowhere else, is an alcohol free liqueur. This completely unique liqueur is based on a mixture of organic vinegar, nectar, fruit syrups, and herbs. It is usually drunk with crushed ice, and you will soon discover, if you try it, that a drink does not have to contain alcohol to be intoxicating. The traditional coffee shops in the town also serve what they call “sherbetia”, or sherbet, which is a kind of sweet wine flavoured with fruit and flowers.
Ioannina Food Guide
“Like the Pasha in Ioannina”
The expression to “live like the Pasha in Ioannina” means that a person is enjoying the absolute best that life has to offer. It is not enough to have the title of ruler; he also has to live in Ioannina. It is the distillation, in colloquial terms, of the idea that Ioannina was always a wealthy and aristocratic city.The gastronomic pleasures of Ioannina will satisfy the most demanding. The mountains of Epirus provide a wide range of spices and herbs which are freely used to complement the finest basic ingredients. Fish, of course, from the lake, such as eels and trout, are cooked in sophisticated ways, and together with frog’s legs, a special delicacy, are the hallmark of the Ioannina cuisine.
The traditional Ioannina desserts are famous throughout Greece. The famous ‘sker bourek’, or ‘sugar pie’, the exceptionally delicious baklava and the other syrup pastries are but a few of the flavours that are certain to captivate visitors.
One item made only in Ioannina and nowhere else, is an alcohol free liqueur. This completely unique liqueur is based on a mixture of organic vinegar, nectar, fruit syrups, and herbs. It is usually drunk with crushed ice, and you will soon discover, if you try it, that a drink does not have to contain alcohol to be intoxicating. The traditional coffee shops in the town also serve what they call “sherbetia”, or sherbet, which is a kind of sweet wine flavoured with fruit and flowers.
