Greek Prickly Pears

Although it is not exclusive to Greece, the Prickly Pear Tree grows prolifically in many areas here. It is a delicious fruit and we are now busy eating the prickly pears here!

Prickly pears here are called either Frangosyka (Frankish Figs) or Pavlosyka (Paul's Figs). The latter name is used only in Corfu as far as I know and, though it is not certain, I have been told that the name comes from Pavliana, a part of the island where they were originally prolific. If anyone has any more information on this, then I would be glad to here from you.

Although we say 'tree', it is really a cactus plant and grows easily and prolifically in many areas in southern Europe. In Corfu you can find the plants all over the island. The name 'prickly pear' comes from the fact that the fruit has large, sharp thorns which make it difficult to handle. The photo above is of a large, sprawling cactus on our neighbour Soula's land.

An interesting and perhaps little known fact is that researchers from the University of South Florida have found that mucilage from the prickly pear cactus is a natural water purifier. Their researches revealed that the thick gum produced by the cactus could capably filter 98 percent of the bacteria Bacillus cereus from the polluted water. You can read more about this here in a post from my other blog.

You can see in the photo below how the fruit is picked. The tin-shaped part at the top of the long handle is hollow so that you can enclose the fruit in it and then twist and pull it off and put it straight into the bucket or basket. This means that you avoid having to handle the thorns. You'll notice it has two sizes to accommodate for different sized fruit! This is the cutting edge of village technology!

This is Soula showing the fruit that she's just picked.

These are some of the Frangosyka that we picked.

Again, when you are peeling the fruit, you have to be careful of the thorns. As well as the large, obvious thorns, there are tiny little hair-like thorns that take an age to get out of your fingers - ask me!

You can see one way of peeling in the photo below, using a fork to hold the fruit and a knife to peel it. The final photo shows the fruit as it is once the skin has been removed. I can tell you it's definitely worth the effort! The juicy fruit is definitely one of my favourites and especially if you keep it in the fridge before eating.

First, cut off the end.

Slice the skin lengthwise.

Peel off the skin to reveal the inner fruit.

The fruit ready to eat. You can see the seeds here as well. Delicious!

Greek Mastic

Mastic Tears

Photo: Wiki Images

This post is about the traditional Greek product Mastic. Mastic is a resin obtained from the mastic tree (Pistacia lentiscus), which is traditionally produced on the Greek island of Chios . It is known as the "tears of Chios," as the resin is produced in "tears" or droplets. Although, initially in liquid form, they become drops of hard brittle translucent resin after drying in the sun. The resin softens, however, when chewed and becomes a bright white and opaque gum.

The word mastic itself, has the same root as the English word 'masticate' - to chew.

The tree is native to the Mediterranean region, but only the mastic trees of southern Chios "weep" the mastic resin when their bark is scored. The island's mastic production is controlled by a co-operative of medieval villages, collectively known as the 'Mastichochoria ' which are also located in the southern part of Chios. In addition to mastic, mastic oil is also produced. There is even a small Museum of Mastic in the village of Pyrgi.

Pistacia lentiscus shrub

Photo: Wiki Images

Mastic has been used as a medicine since antiquity and in the Middle East is still used in traditional folk medicine. In Ancient Greece it was given as a remedy for snakebite and has been referred to by great Greeks of the time - Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides mentions the healing properties of mastic in his book De Materia Medica and Hippocrates wrote that the mastic is good for prevention of digestive problems and colds.

Nowadays, mastic is used to prepare mastic liqueurs like Mastichato, a spoon sweet known as "vanilla", beverages, chewing gum, cakes, pastries, sweets, desserts, breads, and in cheese production. It is also a binding material or material preparation stabilizer for oriental sweets like "Turkish Delight" or mastic gum ice cream, and is suitable for preparing a pudding. In desserts, as an ingredient of jam or cakes, mastic is used to replace cornstarch and gelatin.

New E-Book - Greek Vegetarian Recipes

We had previously brought out an e-book 50 Greek Vegetarian Recipes. Well, I'm happy to say that this has been updated and more recipes have been added - as well as a new cover! It also includes a step-by-step guide to making your own phylo pastry. It's now called Greek Vegetarian Recipes and is available for download at the same price - 3 Euros.

This 100-page e-book has delicious recipes for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. Authentic Greek recipes as they are cooked locally in the country.

Just click on the image below to download your copy now!

Hippocrates On Food

Hippocrates 460 - 359 BC
'Father of Western medicine'

"Leave your drugs in the chemist's pot if you can heal the patient with food"