Mystical, secret and... gourmet

Mystical, secret and... gourmet
Greece
Magazine: September 2007

A lazy and golden afternoon in Katàpola, in the little port of Amorgos, the island at east of the Cyclades.
Four tanned elders’ playing cards at a table on the sea-front bar, while drinking Greek coffee (Gliko, with sugar added), and smoking cigarettes.
The northern wind, the Meltemi, cools the torrid Greek summer, while blowing through the white hair of these fi sherman/peasants.

The Cyclades are our Mediterranean Maldives, guaranteeing desert bays, sandy beaches and shores.

Churches and Cliffs

Amorgos isn’t visited often by Italian tourists, even though it’s a spectacular and interesting island. It is ideal for those who love the Cyclades, with their iconic orthodox churches, and blue domes, the geometric white houses that stand out in the blue skies.
Amorgos, with its beautiful mountains, panoramic roads and secret bays, washed by crystal clear waters. The island is famous for the Greek orthodox Monastery; the Moni Hozoviòtissas built up high a cliff on the Egeus. Amorgos has many trekking paths and two very picturesque little ports (Katàpola e Aegiali).
La Hòra (historic centre) is situated over a cliff, at a 400mt altitude over looking the sea, with pretty houses full of geraniums, and separated by tiny streets and plazas, full of bougainvillea and tamarisks fl owers. Amorgos, has a tradition for a great cuisine, and has been in the past the set, fro the fi lm by Luc Besson” Le Grand Bleu” inspired by the two famous underwater subs, Majorca and Moyol.
Last but not least, you can fi nd very pretty rooms to rent, at very competitive prices, and eat well in the psarotavernas, (fi sh restaurants) with 18 euros. Amorgòs has all the ingredients for a special and relaxing vacation, far away from the summer crowds.

From Minos onwards

This island has been inhabited from historic times, artefacts found dating back to the very early, Cretan population settling down on the hill that dominates the southern part of the Katàpola port. Traces of early settlers in Minoa, considered the summer retreat of the king Minos, You can visit two historic cities, in the modern area of Arkesine and Aegiali.
Later the island was conquered by the Athenians and the Romans, but after experiencing various colonisations, in 1209, the Venetian Marco Sanudo, incorporated the island into the Duchy of Naxos.
Three centuries later it was conquered by the Turks, but freed in 1832, and then united to Greece. 

The Pasteli ritual

When I arrive, I have the luck to see the traditional ritual, of the pasteli preparation, on a veranda overlooking the sea. In two days time, Jorgos sister will get married, and friends and family will participate in creating the pasteli, delicious pastry made of honey, sesame, minced orange peels, and spices. Spiros, the cousin, will stir the whole mix, in a big pot for more that half an hour.
Aegiali, offers sandy beaches, bordered by trees, ideal for families, and a few good taverns: To Limani, where the white tables are hidden in a little alley of the village, and Lakki, belonging to a bungalow village by the sea.
The Gavala family cultivates their own produce that will later cook in various ways. From Aegiali I climb all the way to Tholaria, a small mainland village, and then return back to the seashore to watch the sunset. Just before the sunsets, the road to Katàpola, I’m able to see the beautiful small Cyclades and Naxos.
La Hora is illuminated by the yellow streetlights, and I walk all the way to the Psaropoula Tavern, famous for their homemade cuisine. My favourite dish is the fasoulada (a bean soup) to eat with maridakia, very small fried fi sh. Delicious also, the famous Greek salad, with fresh goat cheese, and toasted wholegrain bread.

Pleasures and flavours

While returning, I stop to explore la Hora, beautiful in the late afternoon light.
In a small alley I fi nd Liotrivi, a traditional tavern, where Vangelis Prassinos and his mother, are cleaning the beans and vegetables, which will be needed to cook the Horiatiko, a dish cooked in the oven, made of meat, carrots, peas, beans and kasseri, cheese from Amorgos, melted in a terracotta casserole.
Traditional dishes, rich in fl avour are hard to savour, in the other islands swarming with tourists. Amorgos is such an authentic and genuine island, where the nightlife is very limited, to walking in the Hora, or by the seashore of Katapola.
You could also drink a cocktail at the “Le Grand Bleu” at the port, a nice little place with blue electric neon lights, but where you can watch every night the Luc Besson fi lm.
From the various beaches in Amorgos, I need to discover the ones by the Gulf of Katapola. From Xilokeratidi, the fi sherman neighbourhood I take a path that will bring me to the sand beaches of Agios Pandeleimon. Close by you will fi nd the creeks of Maltesi, Finikas and Agia Saranda, great for a relaxing day at the sea.

Le Grand Bleu

Luc Besson’s movie, filmed in Amorgos, has in starring roles, Jean Reno (playing Enzo Molinari, loosely based on the Italian skin-diver champion, Enzo Maiorca), Jean-Marc Barr (playing the role of the other skin-diver, Jacques Mayol), Rosanne Arquette and Sergio Castellitto.
A film that talks about the sea, and the abyss of the human psyche.
The story of the film is about Enzo Molinari and Jacques Mayol, their destiny is linked, by their passion for skin diving and pushing their rivalry in to, reaching more than 100 m underwater.
The film distributed in 2002, was also shown to the XIX Europacinema film festival, Besson a film director of excesses, in this film, the main characters experience the deep waters of the abyss, and then floats their shipwrecked souls.