Apple

Apples belong to the cooler, higher parts of Greece rather than the hot coastal plains, and the best known come from Zagora on Mount Pelion, whose apples hold a protected designation, and from the highlands of Thessaly and western Macedonia. Firiki, a small, elongated old variety with dense flesh and a firm bite, is the traditional cooking apple and holds its shape under heat better than most modern varieties.

Milopita is the clearest use of it: a cinnamon-spiced apple filling, usually with walnuts through it, layered between sheets of buttered phyllo instead of the heavy double crust a Western apple pie would use, which gives a much lighter and flakier result. Whole apples baked with honey, cinnamon and walnuts are the simplest version of the same idea, and grated apple is also preserved as a spoon sweet.

Choose a firm, tart apple for any cooked dish and expect a soft eating variety to turn to sauce. Two things go wrong most often: the filling goes in wet, which makes the pastry soggy, so cook the apples down first and let them cool completely, and cut apple browns fast, so a squeeze of lemon over the slices is worth the small effort.