The 12 days between Christmas Eve and Epiphany have been associated with myriad local customs throughout the Cyclades – and one of their main roles was to strengthen family ties. This is where food enters. The traditional Cycladic Christmas dishes were one of the means through which the locals interpreted the events of the divine birth and the coming of the new year – and the best excuse to gather communities around the dinner table to reaffirm their connections.
Smack in the heart of the Aegean Sea, the Cyclades is not the typical winter wonderland you’d be normally inclined to spend the holiday season in. Yet Christmas and the New Year come with some wonderful age-old (and perhaps somewhat bizarre) traditions in which gastronomy plays a central role. Ever thought of going off the beaten path for the festive season? Here is what you’d be eating in Greece’s pearly-white islands.
