On 26th of July, there was the religious feast (panighiri) of Aghia Paraskevi, the patron Saint of the eyes, in the village Karano (Crete). As usual, panighiri started in the morning with a church service and ended just before noon.
A meal with enjoyable food followed the Liturgy: free range chicken cooked with olive oil, lemon juice and flavored with oregano, boiled goat, dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves and zucchini flowers), meat balls, a sort of kebab, a wide range of kalitsounia, the small cretan pies (2 types of kalitsounia with local cheese, 3 types of kalitsounia with greens etc.) , tomatoes and cucumbers sprinkled with salt and pepper, black olives, dried broad beans soaked in water, homemade bread ….
…and for dessert, mellow and nutty graviera cheese topped with excellent honey.
T.Noodle, Modern Greek religious feasts include more commercial activity compared to the feasts of the past, however in many small villages and islands people still celebrate in traditional way.
TFP…and I mean plenty of good food!
I learned something about panygri. I agree that without food no holiday or celebration is complete.
I enjoyed reading about this panygyri and learning more about what the religious feast is about. Very few of our holidays here are still tied to the original religious celebration and are instead more focused on commercial aspects. The food sounds wonderful and, of course, dessert had my attention. The graviera cheese with honey sounds delicious but I have to admit that the galaktoboureko from your post last year would have to be my favorite!