PRODUCTS FROM TINOS
The visitor of Tinos has the chance to taste the traditional kitchen of the Cyclades, but also the remarkable Tinian specialties, made with local genuine products. Alongside the garden production that abounds in irrigated gardens, many kinds of fruit tree thrive in the hillsides of the island. Furthermore, some bushy plants and wild fruits grow freely in the non cultivated areas. These can be caper, sage, dictamnus, thyme, oregano, chamomile and many other kinds of vegetation, as well as prickly-pear cactuses and mushrooms, while the so called “wild artichokes” are widely cultivated.
The island's opulent vegetation, mostly in "Kato Meri", created prosperous conditions for husbandry. Every farmer household has self sufficiency when basic food products are concerned. In particular, the farmers breed cows, sheep, chickens, rabbits and more, while the dove-cotes that are all over the island, are a testimony of dove- breeding. The animal though, that every rural household in Tinos was breeding for a whole year is the swine, which is being fed in order for its weight to increase, preparing it to the pig-slaughtering in winter, thus ensuring the family’s yearly meat and fat provisions.
After all this vegetable and animal affluence, it is apparent that Tinos has the capability of offering the locals and the visitors, genuine and pure products, some of them, exported and in great demand. "Louza",(special wine-processes ham ) sausage, ham, and "Skordato", are famous delicacies. Far-famed also are: the tasty Tinian milk and various cheeses like the gruyere, the soft cheese "kopanisti", the round Tinian cheese, the unsalted cheese "petroma", the unsalted soft cheese "anthotiro" and "Malathouni", which are all produced in a modern corporate milk and cheese dairy factory.
The visitor can also find local thyme-honey, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh and dry figs and every kind of fresh fruit and vegetables. The first-quality red grape is also known, while you can try grape juice-jelly. In conclusion, the visitor can not leave the island if he doesn't drink Tinian wine and exquisite raki (arrack).
All the above products can be purchased from the food store owned by the agricultural cooperative, as well as at the super- markets of Tinos. It is certain that everyone before departure will buy the famed Tinian confectionery made of pure products; almond cookies, fried sweet dough rolls, "diples", "psarakia", "bezedes", sweet cheese-pies, Turkish delights and more.

RECIPES

Sun-dried tomatoes in batter

INGREDIENTS FOR 15 PIECES
15 sun dried tomatoes
1 ½ cup flour
2 spoons fine-cut parsley
1 small dry onion grated
2 spoons fine-cut fennel
2/3 cup water
1 ½ cup olive oil for the frying, salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS: Put the dried tomatoes in the water for a day, so they loose their salt and get fluffy. In a bowl, pour the flour, add the onion, fennel, salt and pepper. Mix all these ingredients with water, as much as needed, until a thick batter is made. Pour the tomatoes into the batter. Take the tomatoes one by one along with some mash and fry them in hot oil, both sides. They are served hot.

VARIATIONS: The tomatoes are also tasty without the vegetables. Put some sugar on the soaked tomatoes and then pour them in the mash.

Omelet or "Furtalia" with sausage

INGREDIENTS FOR 4-6 PEOPLE
200gr sausage pieces
1 kg potatoes
2 spoons butter
2 spoons olive oil
5 eggs
2 spoons grated cheese
2 spoons milk
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Peal the potatoes. Cut them in thin slices. Put in a non-stick frying pan the butter and the potatoes and add the sausage cut in small pieces. Cover the pan and braise. Stir regularly with a wooden spoon, until they are baked. Mix the eggs with all the rest of the ingredients and pour over the potatoes. Fry one side of the omelet and then turn it the other side to fry as well. It is served hot and goes with a season´s salad.

Savore with molasses

INGREDIENTS FOR 6-8 PEOPLE
1kg of small fish
½ cup flour
1 cup frying oil
For the sauce:
3 spoons olive oil
3 slices of garlic fine-cut
3 spoons flour
¼ cup vinegar
¼ cup molasses
1 cup water
1 small spoon sugar
salt, pepper

DIRECTIONS: Wash the fish, salt them and leave them for a while in the salt. Then strain them. Afterwards, roll them in flour and fry them. Put them in a shallow platter. Put the garlic in the hot frying oil until golden and add the flour, stirring. Add the molasses slowly, the vinegar the water and the sugar and stir them with a wooden spoon, avoiding the forming of lumps. Add water, if needed, to make a liquid sauce and adjust its taste until it's sweet and sour. As it is hot pour it over the fish. They are served hot or cold.

VARIATIONS: Add a branch of rosemary and eliminate the molasses.

NOTE: The fish covered with this sauce could be preserved unaltered for days. In the old times, when they didn't have fridges, the farmers and fishermen took them along when they were to come back after 2 or 3 days.

Stuffed Squid

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE
1 ½ kg Squid
1 big onion finely-cut
½ cup of rice
1 cup parsley finely-cut
3 spoons of caper
1 slice of hard grated bread
1 cup olive oil
1 cup white wine, salt, pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Clean the squid by separating the head from the tentacles and the rest of the body, removing the guts and the thin transparent back-bone. Wash the parts. Fine-cut the tentacles and strain them. Put the oil to warm up and add the onion. Sauter for a few minutes, add the tentacles, wait for their water to evaporate and then, add the ½ cup wine and the rice. Stir for a few minutes until the rice absorbs the liquids. Take it from the hot plate and add the parsley, the capers, the bread, salt and pepper and stir. Stuff the squid and close them with a toothpick. Put them in a deep frying pan. Add ½ cup olive oil, ½ cup wine and simmer for half an hour.

Sweet fried Dough-Rolls (Xerotigana)

INGREDIENTS FOR 40-50 PIECES
500 gr. all purpose flour
½ cup lemon juice
½ cup olive oil
1 shot of raki (arrack), water
3 cups olive oil for the frying
Finely cut walnuts, sesame, cinnamon

For the syrup:
3 glasses of sugar ½ glass of water 3 tablespoons of honey

DIRECTIONS: Put the flour in a bowl, make a hole in the middle and pour the olive oil, the lemon juice and water, mixing until the dough is thick. Cut the dough in orange- sized balls. Flatten it until you get a very thin puff pastry and cut it in rectangular stripes 10 x 20 cm. If the puff pastry is sticky, powder it with corn flour. Heat the frying oil. Put the stripes one by one and with fast moves fold it into a tube, rolled with the help of two forks. Fry each roll golden all around. Put the fried roles on absorbent paper so they are free from oil. Put all the ingredients for the syrup in a pot and let them boil until ready. Put the fried rolls on a platter and pour the syrup. Sprinkle with the walnuts, cinnamon and sesame. We can preserve the fried roles after we fry them for two or three weeks and when we want to serve them, then we pour syrup and we garnish.

VARIATION: You can make the dough with orange juice and without water.