Ouzo

Ouzo is a distilled spirit flavoured with anise, and under European rules it can only be made in Greece and Cyprus, with the island of Lesvos and its town of Plomari accounting for a large share of what is produced. The cloudiness that rises the moment water or ice is added is the anise oil coming out of solution as the alcohol thins, not a fault.

It belongs at a table rather than in a glass on its own. An ouzeri serves it in small carafes alongside a rolling series of mezedes, grilled octopus, small fried fish, olives and cheese, sipped slowly across a long afternoon rather than drunk quickly. Anise and oily fish suit each other particularly well, which is why that pairing has held for as long as it has.

In cooking it is used in small quantities for the same anise note. Garides saganaki, prawns baked in tomato with feta, is often finished with a splash of it, and it turns up in fish stews and in biscuit doughs such as ladokouloura. Most of the alcohol cooks off and leaves the aniseed behind, so a tablespoon or two is usually plenty.