Ioannina has always been the center of a pretty remote, until recently, region of Greece, and, as such, it had to cater for a variety of customers, from the mountain villagers who came to the city once a week for supplies to merchants and officials of the area. Their culinary needs varied enormously, which is why a rich and varied food culture exists for everyone, from local street food to haute cuisine.
Bites of Ioannina food and history. We start at the old administrative center of the Ioannina city, at the Clock Tower, around where we taste a local favorite, bougatsa (a pastry, sweet or savory), particularly popular as a pick-me-up in the morning.Then we’ll be having our first bite of Ioannina history with a fine view of the southeast of Ioannina.After that break, we will be enjoying a platter of local cheeses. The countryside in Epirus is full of herbs that add to the quality of the milk produced, and, thus, the dairy products here are pretty unique. We will accompany the cheese with the local aperitif, tsipouro. Next door, we’ll be tasting the Greek street food par excellence: gyros (grilled meat cut thin with tzatziki sauce, on a pita). Yummy. We continue for some local street food: lamb souvlaki (kebab, i.e., wooden skewers threaded with cubes of meat that are marinated and then cooked over charcoal). Then we’ll taste food combining local ingredients and recipes in a new form.At the end, we’ll savor the local dessert: siropiasta (sweets made with thin leaves of pastry nuts over which a syrup, lemon, and water are drizzled after baking).
You will make your own way to the meeting points