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Papua New GuineaFlavors · Rhodes
Toasted sesame and honey bar with almonds, orange peel and spices, cut into diamond shapes. It is Rhodes’ sweet offered at weddings and baptisms and has a Protected Geographical Indication from the European Union.
Traditional sweet from Rhodes, Egeu Meridional
Also known as: Μελεκούνι, melekounia
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Melekouni — Rhodes, Greece
Melekouni is a sesame-and-honey sweet. The honey, traditionally thyme honey from the island, is heated with spices and orange peel; toasted sesame and almonds are added to the syrup, and the mixture is spread over a surface, smoothed and cut into diamond shapes before it hardens.
The municipality of Rhodes lists melekouni among the island’s traditional products and notes that it is served at weddings and other celebrations. The Bee Museum of Rhodes records the custom of preparing the sweet in groups in the days before a wedding: relatives and neighbors gather to toast the sesame, boil the honey and cut the pieces that will be offered to guests.
In 2017 the European Union registered Μελεκούνι as a Protected Geographical Indication under Implementing Regulation 2017/2363. The registration ties the sweet to the island of Rhodes.
Rhodes , Egeu Meridional
Melekouni is Rhodes’ sesame-and-honey sweet, offered at weddings and baptisms, and has a Protected Geographical Indication from the European Union since 2017.
Toasted sesame, honey (traditionally thyme honey), almonds, orange peel and spices such as cinnamon and clove.
In small pieces, diamond-shaped, by hand, eaten alone or with coffee.
Weddings and baptisms, when it is offered to guests, and island festivals. It is also available year-round.
Your questions
A bar of toasted sesame and honey with almonds, orange peel and spices, cut into diamond shapes. It is the traditional sweet of Rhodes, offered at weddings and baptisms.
Yes. The European Union registered it as a Protected Geographical Indication in 2017 (Implementing Regulation 2017/2363), linking it to the island of Rhodes.
By island custom: families prepare the sweet together in the days before the wedding and offer it to the guests.
Flavors of Greece
White wine flavored with Aleppo pine resin, added to the must during fermentation. The Attica Region calls it an Attica specialty, where it is made mainly with the Savatiano grape, and the name is a traditional designation reserved for wines from Greece.
Layered baked tart of thinly sliced zucchini and potato, with mizithra cheese and mint, sometimes topped with pastry. It is named for Chania, in western Crete, and is a summer dish (June to August), when zucchini are in season.
Rooster or veal slowly cooked in a tomato and wine sauce seasoned with cinnamon, bay leaf, nutmeg and other spices, served with thick pasta and grated cheese. It’s Corfu’s Sunday and festive dish, of Venetian heritage.
Thin slices of beef dredged in flour, browned and cooked in a light sauce of white wine or wine vinegar, with plenty of garlic, parsley and pepper. It is a Corfu dish of Venetian heritage, served with potatoes, rice or pasta.
Dry barley rusk, moistened and topped with grated tomato, fresh mizithra or feta cheese, olive oil and oregano, sometimes with olives and capers. It’s the best-known snack and light meal of Cretan cuisine.
Grape marc brandy distilled in Crete after the harvest, without anise. It has a geographical indication as Tsikoudia of Crete, is served chilled in small glasses, and accompanies Cretan hospitality from the start to the end of a meal.
Fried patties made from chopped tomato, scallion, herbs and flour, served as a snack. They are a specialty of Santorini, made with the island’s small tomato, grown without irrigation in volcanic soil.
Sweet natural white wine from Santorini, made with Assyrtiko, Aidani and Athiri grapes dried in the sun and aged for a long time in barrel. It ranges in color from amber to dark brown and is part of the Protected Designation of Origin Santorini.
Sweet white wine from southern the Peloponnese, made from grapes sun-dried and barrel-aged. It revives the wine that merchants shipped from Monemvasia to Europe in the Middle Ages, when the port was known by its Frankish name, Malvasia.
Mykonos onion pie, filled with onion, the island’s fresh cheese tyrovolia, eggs and dill, between two layers of pastry. It is noted as one of the island’s oldest and most traditional recipes.
Sweet fortified red wine from the Patras region, made mainly from the Mavrodafni grape and aged in barrels until it develops notes of raisins, coffee and dried fruit. It has a protected designation of origin and is the dessert wine most associated with the city.
Pomace brandy (grape marc), with or without anise, served chilled in small bottles with snacks. It has geographical indications for Thessaly and for Tyrnavos, and in Volos it gives its name to the houses where each round arrives with a meze.
Pie made with very thin pastry, open and layered, filled with semolina custard and topped with sugar and cinnamon. It is also made savory, with cheese, ground meat or spinach. In Thessaloniki it is eaten in the morning with coffee and sold in pieces cut to order.
