Our gracious hosts Aglaia and Costas Kremezi welcomed us into their home to teach us all about the traditional food of Kea. Aglaia is a cookbook author and photographer, with her husband Costas by her side who coordinated our daily schedule in Kea. Costas was also our expert on cheese and wine during our learning dinners after cooking classes.
Our first night in Kea, Costas walked us up ancient roads to Liontas, an ancient statue of a lion. Along our walk we stopped in a cemetery, where we learned that once a burial spot is needed, they remove the bones to burry the next person--wha?? Then, we made it to the main town and ate a meal of Kean specialties, the most interesting being a dish with scrambled eggs and pork. The next morning, we travelled to the Kremezi's house for our first Grecian cooking class. We met Aglaia for the first time, and realized the incredible similarities between Aglaia and Costas verses Johnny and Pamela. First, we made lagunes, which is a flat bread with olive oil and yummy cheese, tomatoes, and green peppers. For our main course, we prepared stuffed eggplants and Aglaia's assistant roasted zucchini and fig leaf wrapped cheese. Aglaia recruited all hands on deck with chopping vegetables and preparing the flatbreads and eggplant. Before our lunch, Costas showed us their working olive press and gardens around their property. Our cooking class on day two introduced the group to working with phyllo dough, a delicate dough which is rolled out very thin using particular methods to not break holes in it. We made cheese pie and vegetable pie, both amazing. We also had the incredibly unique experience of learning how to behead a fish and remove its spine for eating :). Some stomached it better than others! Our time between meals was spent at the beach, with the view of the clearest water I have ever seen. It was a little funny to be lying on the beach and not hear waves but bugs in the background. A great end to our adventures abroad.
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