In nearly every taverna and restaurant in Tinos, you will savor exquisite local dairy products, flavorful charcuterie, fresh vegetables, local meats, and refined desserts. You can even take them with you as they are sold at various points on the island. The island’s age-old animal husbandry tradition has fostered Tinos’ rich cheese-making culture, with delectable cheeses made from cow’s milk and, more rarely, from goat and sheep milk, along with its distinctive charcuterie.
You’ll seek out the fresh “petroma” cheese, the foundation for most Tinos cheeses, which, when matured, yields the “balaki,” the “kalathoto” or “malathouni,” a soft, crumbly delight, and more. There’s also “kariki,” a rare “blue” cheese with a robust flavor that matures inside a pumpkin. Another intriguing cheese is the “graviera” or “boiled cheese,” while butter (both made from cow’s milk) and the contemporary “castelano” cheese are also produced.
Highly distinctive Tinos charcuterie includes pork sausages with fennel, “salsici,” the remarkable garlic-infused Tinos salami, and “louza,” a cured pork tenderloin, either lean or marbled, soaked in red wine and infused with aromatic herbs and spices.
Among the vegetables and legumes, the (few) wild prickly artichokes stand out, as well as the cultivated artichokes preserved in olive oil throughout the year. If you find yourself in Tinos on June 15, be sure to visit the Artichoke Festival in Komi village, where locals serve up an incredible variety of artichoke-based appetisers and dishes amidst live music and dancing.
The small-seeded fava beans of Falatados, the unique pink tomatoes, juicy, pungent capers preserved in salt, dried, or even pickled, along with the pickled sea samphire and artichoke hearts, complete the dream team of the island’s exceptional products.
Read also:
Best Gastronomic Experiences on the Island of Tinos
Tinos, Home to the Cyclades’ best Villages, is Ideal for Exploration beyond Summer
Volax: Spring escape in the mountainous village with the lunar landscape, on Tinos, in the Aegean
