Occasion
25 Greek Name Day and Celebration Recipes
Greeks celebrate name days more than birthdays, and a name day means an open house, a table of meze and far more food than anyone planned.
Greeks celebrate name days more than birthdays. A name day means an open house, a table of meze, and far more food than anyone planned.
That is what spoon sweets are for. Quince, sour cherry, bitter orange, kumquat, apricot, rose petal, even baby aubergine and unripe walnut, each cooked in syrup and kept in a jar for the day somebody calls.
The list also has the sweets tied to particular celebrations. On Rhodes the sesame and honey sweet is given to wedding guests. The spice cake for Saint Fanourios is made with exactly seven or nine ingredients. The wedding pilaf of Crete and the wedding wheat and lamb of Cyprus are here too.
Every recipe on Kalliopi's Kitchen carries the dish's Greek name and a pronunciation, its region where that is meaningful, ingredient quantities in both metric and imperial, and an honest note on what commonly goes wrong. Nutrition figures are calculated estimates and are labelled as such.
1. Cyprus Delights, Rose and Mastic
Loukoumia · Λουκούμια · loo-KOO-mee-ah
Cyprus's own Turkish delight, flavoured with rose water and mastic, and the town of Geroskipou near Paphos has protected status for its style. It is patient work, not difficult work: a syrup, a cornflour paste, a long slow cook, then cubes rolled in icing sugar.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not stop cooking early. The long, slow cook is what sets the texture. A mixture that looks done at twenty minutes is not done.
Make Cyprus Delights, Rose and Mastic2. Thessaloniki Custard Triangles
Trigona Panoramatos · Τρίγωνα Πανοράματος · TREE-goh-nah pah-noh-RAH-mah-tos
Named for Panorama, the hillside suburb above Thessaloniki where a few patisseries made their name on it and people still cross the city for it. Phyllo cones are fried crisp, dipped for seconds in light syrup and filled with vanilla custard. Fill them close to serving. The shell goes soft inside an hour or two.
Yiayia’s tip: Chill the custard properly. It needs to be genuinely thick and cold before filling, or it will soak straight through the fried shell rather than sitting inside it.
Make Thessaloniki Custard Triangles3. Eggless Spice Cake for Saint Fanourios
Fanouropita · Φανουρόπιτα · fah-noo-ROH-pee-tah
Baked for Saint Fanourios, whose feast is the 27th of August, by people hoping to find something lost. Custom sets the number of ingredients, most often seven or nine, and has the cake given away in pieces. It has no eggs or dairy, so anyone fasting can share it. Dense, like a tea loaf.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not overwork the batter. There are no eggs here to give structure, so folding gently rather than beating hard keeps the crumb tender rather than tough.
Make Eggless Spice Cake for Saint Fanourios4. Rhodes Sesame and Honey Wedding Sweet
Melekouni · Μελεκούνι · meh-leh-KOO-nee
The wedding sweet of Rhodes, given to the guests and sometimes stamped with a pattern. It is close to pasteli, sesame bound in honey, but warmer and more aromatic because cinnamon and orange zest run through it, and it is cut into diamonds, not bars. Cut it while still slightly warm, or it cracks.
Yiayia’s tip: Remove the cinnamon and zest before adding sesame. You want their flavour infused into the honey, not large pieces left in the finished sweet.
Make Rhodes Sesame and Honey Wedding Sweet5. Sifnos Honey Cheesecake
Melopita Sifnou · Μελόπιτα Σίφνου · meh-LOH-pee-tah SEEF-noo
A cheesecake with no crust and almost nothing in it: fresh mizithra, eggs and honey. It is among the oldest sweets on Sifnos, and some accounts put dishes like it at well over a thousand years old. It bakes into something nearer a firm, golden custard than a Western cheesecake.
Yiayia’s tip: Drain the cheese if it seems watery. Excess moisture stops the filling from setting properly in the oven.
Make Sifnos Honey Cheesecake6. Quince Spoon Sweet
Kydoni glyko · Κυδώνι γλυκό · kee-THOH-nee glee-KOH
Raw quince is hard, astringent and close to inedible. Long, slow cooking in syrup turns the pale flesh rose and then a deep amber-red, and that colour is how you know it is done. The season is short, in autumn. It is served to guests on a small dish with a glass of cold water.
Yiayia’s tip: Keep the peel and cores. They carry real natural pectin that helps the syrup set properly. Simmering them separately first extracts it before it goes into the main pot.
Make Quince Spoon Sweet7. Sour Cherry Spoon Sweet
Vyssino glyko · Βύσσινο γλυκό · VEE-see-noh glee-KOH
Two things come out of one jar. The whole cherries are a spoon sweet, brought out for guests on a small dish, and the syrup thinned with cold water becomes vissinada, the summer cordial. Pitting the fruit is the slow part. The syrup must stay loose enough to pour, because this is not a jam.
Yiayia’s tip: Use sour or morello cherries, not sweet ones. Their natural tartness is exactly what balances the sugar syrup. Sweet eating cherries give a one-note, cloying result.
Make Sour Cherry Spoon Sweet8. Bitter Orange Spoon Sweet
Nerantzaki glyko · Νεραντζάκι γλυκό · neh-rahn-DZAH-kee glee-KOH
A bitter Seville orange cannot be eaten fresh: far too sharp. Only the peel is used, candied slowly in sugar syrup until translucent, and it makes one of the most fragrant Greek spoon sweets. Older methods soak the peel for days. It is offered to guests as kydoni and vissino glyko are.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not skip the repeated boiling. This is what removes the peel's harsh bitterness while keeping its fragrant oils intact. Fewer boils leave it too bitter to enjoy.
Make Bitter Orange Spoon Sweet9. Candied Baby Aubergine Spoon Sweet
Melitzanaki glyko · Μελιτζανάκι γλυκό · meh-leed-zah-NAH-kee glee-KOH
Aubergine as a sweet surprises nearly everyone the first time. Whole baby aubergines are boiled until tender, each given one blanched almond, then candied for an hour or more in syrup scented with clove, until they are dark and glossy. The almond helps each one keep its shape. After boiling they are fragile.
Yiayia’s tip: Use only genuinely small baby aubergines. Larger ones have tougher flesh and more bitterness already developed, working against the sweetness this preserve depends on.
Make Candied Baby Aubergine Spoon Sweet10. Almond Macaroons
Amygdalota · Αμυγδαλωτά · ah-meeg-thah-loh-TAH
Often mistaken for kourabiedes, because both wear a coat of icing sugar. They are nothing alike. These are ground almonds bound with egg white, moist and chewy, closer to an Italian amaretti than to any shortbread, and naturally gluten-free.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not overbake. Amygdalota are meant to stay soft and moist inside. A short bake at low heat, just enough to set the outside, is what gives them their characteristic texture.
Make Almond Macaroons11. Kollyva
Κόλλυβα · KOH-lee-vah
Not an everyday sweet. It is made for Orthodox memorial services, blessed by the priest and shared among the mourners. The wheat is the point: a grain has to be buried and seem to die before it sprouts, which makes it a symbol of resurrection. Pomegranate, nuts, sesame, raisins and cinnamon go through it.
Yiayia’s tip: Dry the wheat thoroughly before mixing. Excess moisture is the main enemy of a properly finished kollyva, making it soggy rather than holding together well.
Make Kollyva12. Sesame and Honey Bar
Pastelli · Παστέλι · pah-STEH-lee
Sesame and honey, and it has been sesame and honey since antiquity. The seeds are toasted and the honey is cooked to a thin, brittle caramel that holds them in a bar. A little lemon juice at the end stops the honey turning grainy as it cools. Cut it while warm, because cold it shatters.
Yiayia’s tip: Use a sugar thermometer if you have one. Judging the honey's caramel stage by colour alone is less reliable. A genuine 150C gives the right brittle set.
Make Sesame and Honey Bar13. Pontic Greek Wheat and Meat Porridge
Keskek · Κεσκέκ · kes-KEK
Wedding food among Pontic Greeks, made in large quantities, and the labour is part of the occasion. Wheat berries go in whole with chicken or lamb and simmer for many hours until both fall apart. Then it is beaten hard, traditionally with a heavy wooden tool, into a smooth, thick porridge that almost stretches.
Yiayia’s tip: Soak the wheat overnight without fail. Unsoaked wheat berries take considerably longer to soften and may never break down properly within a reasonable cooking time.
Make Pontic Greek Wheat and Meat Porridge14. Kataifi
Κανταΐφι · kan-dah-EE-fee
Baklava's logic with a different pastry. The nuts and syrup are the same idea, but the walnuts are rolled in fine shredded strands closer to vermicelli than to sheet phyllo, so it bakes crisp and threadlike where baklava is flaky. Cold syrup goes over the hot pastry. Give it several hours, or overnight, to soak through.
Yiayia’s tip: Let the pastry reach room temperature first. Cold kataifi pastry is brittle and harder to tease apart evenly. A short rest at room temperature makes it far more workable.
Make Kataifi15. Cretan Wedding Pilaf
Gamopilafo · Γαμοπίλαφο · gah-moh-PEE-lah-foh
Gamos means wedding. This is the rice that feeds a whole Cretan wedding, cooked in broth from whole roosters. At home it is one bird and one pot. It is no everyday chicken and rice, because of the fat that goes in last: butter, and by tradition a spoonful of staka, Crete's clarified dairy fat.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not rush the broth. A genuinely long simmer is what gives gamopilafo its deep savoury base. A short stock leaves the whole dish tasting thin.
Make Cretan Wedding Pilaf16. Kalymnos Honey-Soaked Cheese Pancakes
Katimeria Kalymnou · Κατιμέρια Καλύμνου · kah-tee-MEH-ryah kah-LEEM-noo
Salty cheese inside, honey syrup outside. Greek baking normally keeps savoury and sweet pastries apart, and this Kalymnos pastry puts them in one bite: thin dough folded over soft cheese, fried crisp, then soaked in syrup while everything is still hot. On the island it belongs to weddings and name days.
Yiayia’s tip: Seal the edges firmly. A poorly sealed pastry leaks its cheese filling into the hot oil. Press and check each one before frying.
Make Kalymnos Honey-Soaked Cheese Pancakes17. Kumquat Spoon Sweet
Glyko koumkouat · Γλυκό κουμκουάτ · GLEE-koh koom-koo-AHT
A British botanist brought kumquats to Corfu in the nineteenth century, and hardly anywhere else in Greece grows them now. The island makes liqueur and marmalade from them, and this: whole fruit in thick syrup, served to guests on a small plate. Kumquats, sugar and water, simmered gently until the bitter skin mellows.
Yiayia’s tip: Pierce the fruit before soaking. This lets the syrup penetrate properly and helps release the kumquat's natural bitterness during the soaking stage.
Make Kumquat Spoon Sweet18. Unripe Walnut Spoon Sweet
Karydaki glyko · Καρυδάκι γλυκό · kah-ree-THAH-kee GLEE-koh
Whole green walnuts, shell and all, boiled repeatedly over several days to draw out their bitterness, then kept in a dark syrup scented with clove. They come out almost black and taste bittersweet, unlike any other spoon sweet. Few preserves are more prized, and few are more work. Wear gloves: the skins stain.
Yiayia’s tip: Get the timing right. This preserve is only possible during a narrow window when a needle passes easily through the whole young walnut. There is no substitute once that window closes.
Make Unripe Walnut Spoon Sweet19. Karpathos Hand Pies
Pougia Karpathou · Πουγιά Καρπάθου · poo-YAH kar-PAH-thoo
Small cheese pies from Karpathos, cousins of the mainland tiropitakia. The filling is a soft, mild local cheese with a great deal of fresh mint, where the mainland uses dill or parsley, and the dough is gathered into a pouch, not folded into a triangle. Make a large batch: raw ones freeze well.
Yiayia’s tip: Seal the pouch firmly. A loose seal lets the filling escape during frying or baking. Pinch the gathered edges together properly.
Make Karpathos Hand Pies20. Rose Petal Spoon Sweet
Triantafyllo glyko · Τριαντάφυλλο γλυκό · tree-an-DAH-fee-loh glee-KOH
A spoon sweet made from petals, not fruit. Fresh rose petals sit with lemon and sugar for hours, or overnight, then cook down gently into a scented syrup with the petals still in it. Chios is the island most associated with it. The white base of each petal is bitter and comes off first.
Yiayia’s tip: Use only genuinely fragrant, unsprayed roses. A scentless florist's rose gives a disappointing, flavourless result, and any pesticide residue is a genuine concern here since the whole flower is used.
Make Rose Petal Spoon Sweet21. Apricot Spoon Sweet
Verikoko glyko · Βερίκοκο γλυκό · veh-REE-koh-koh glee-KOH
Nafplio and the Argolid around it have long grown apricots, and this is what the region does with them. Whole or halved fruit is candied slowly in a light syrup with lemon and one or two cloves, no more, because apricot is easily drowned. It softens far faster than quince. Start checking at thirty minutes.
Yiayia’s tip: Use firm, slightly underripe fruit. Fully ripe apricots collapse into the syrup rather than staying as distinct, glossy halves through the candying process.
Make Apricot Spoon Sweet22. Cypriot Wedding Wheat and Lamb
Resi · Ρέσι · REH-see
Wedding food in Cyprus, historically made in huge cauldrons the night before and stirred in shifts. Pounded wheat, lamb and its broth cook for hours into a thick porridge, part pilaf and part savoury pudding. Browned butter and a lot of cinnamon finish it. To a Cypriot that is the taste of a village wedding.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not rush the wheat. The creamy texture only comes from long, slow cooking that lets the wheat give up its starch. Cooked too fast, it stays grainy and loose rather than thick and porridge-like.
Make Cypriot Wedding Wheat and Lamb23. Cypriot Sweet Cheese Pastries
Bourekia me anari · Μπουρέκια με αναρή · boo-REH-kyah meh ah-nah-REE
A celebration sweet in Cyprus, made for name days and family gatherings. Anari is a soft whey cheese, produced there alongside halloumi. Here it is sweetened, scented with cinnamon, sealed in thin half-moons of dough and deep-fried. Most homes fry a batch and serve it at once, while the pastry is crisp.
Yiayia’s tip: Use fresh anari if you can. Its mild, faintly sweet flavour is what makes these work as a dessert. If you cannot find it, a well-drained ricotta is the closest easy substitute.
Make Cypriot Sweet Cheese Pastries24. Cypriot Semolina Custard Pastries
Shamishi · Σιάμισι · SHYAH-mee-shee
The fried pastry of Kataklysmos, the flood festival Cyprus keeps around Pentecost, when stalls along the coast sell them hot. Inside is semolina custard, not cheese, and it is the orange zest that makes it smell Cypriot. They are home sweets as well, dusted with sugar and cinnamon and handed round warm.
Yiayia’s tip: Cool the custard until firm. A warm or loose filling will slump and leak as soon as it hits the hot oil. Cook it genuinely thick and let it set completely before filling.
Make Cypriot Semolina Custard Pastries25. Spanakopita
Σπανακόπιτα · spah-nah-KOH-pee-tah
Pies are the centre of Greek home baking, and this is the one that left the country. Greens and cheese in quantity, almost nothing else, inside pastry thin enough to read through. Every sheet has to be brushed with fat. Dry phyllo fuses into one papery slab, and the separate leaves are the point.
Yiayia’s tip: Squeeze harder than you think necessary. If any liquid at all comes out when you press the filling in the bowl, go back and squeeze again. This one step decides the pie.
Make Spanakopita
More Greek Name Day and Celebration Recipes
45 more, 70 in all.
BaklavaBaklavas ΜπακλαβάςDesserts · 1h 45m · serves 24
LoukoumadesLoukoumades ΛουκουμάδεςDesserts · 45m · serves 6
GalaktobourekoGalaktoboureko ΓαλακτομπούρεκοDesserts · 1h 30m · serves 12
MelomakaronaMelomakarona ΜελομακάροναDesserts · 1h 5m · serves 30
TiropitaTiropita ΤυρόπιταBreads and Pies · 1h 15m · serves 8
DolmadesDolmades ΝτολμάδεςMeze and Appetisers · 1h 50m · serves 8
KourabiedesKourabiedes ΚουραμπιέδεςDesserts · 52m · serves 30
Cypriot Stuffed Vine Leaves with MeatKoupepia ΚουπέπιαMain Courses · 1h 50m · serves 6
Cypriot Easter Cheese PastriesFlaounes ΦλαούνεςBreads and Pies · 2h 5m · serves 16
Cypriot Bulgur Shells Stuffed with MeatKoupes ΚούπεςMeze and Appetisers · 1h 40m · serves 8
MahalepiMahalepi ΜαχαλεπίDesserts · 30m · serves 6
Cretan Sweet Cheese Hand PiesKalitsounia ΚαλιτσούνιαDesserts · 1h 10m · serves 8
Cretan Spit-Roasted Lamb Facing the FireAntikristo ΑντικριστόMain Courses · 4h 30m · serves 8
Corfu Smoked Cured Pork FilletNoumboulo ΝουμπούλοMeze and Appetisers · 30m · serves 10
Mani Cured and Smoked PorkSyglino Maniatiko Σύγκλινο ΜανιάτικοMain Courses · 2h · serves 8
Epirus Hand-Rolled Cheese PieTyropita Ipirou Τυρόπιτα ΗπείρουBreads and Pies · 1h 45m · serves 8
Pontic Greek Dumplings in Yogurt and GarlicManti pontiako Μαντί ποντιακόMain Courses · 1h 50m · serves 6
Cheese Triangle PastriesTiropitakia trigona Τυροπιτάκια τρίγωναMeze and Appetisers · 1h 10m · serves 8
Lamb SouvlaSouvla arni Σούβλα αρνίMain Courses · 4h 30m · serves 10
Semolina Syrup CakeRavani ΡαβανίDesserts · 1h 5m · serves 12
Metaxa Serving GuideMetaxa ΜεταξάDrinks · 5m · serves 4
Mastiha Liqueur Serving GuideMastiha ΜαστίχαDrinks · 5m · serves 4
Kitro Liker Serving GuideKitro ΚίτροDrinks · 5m · serves 4
Cypriot Halloumi and Mint RavioliRavioles ΡαβιόλεςMain Courses · 1h 20m · serves 6
Patras Cinnamon and Clove LiqueurTentoura ΤεντούραDrinks · 45m · serves 20
Thessaloniki Baked Feta with PeppersBougiourdi ΜπουγιουρντίMeze and Appetisers · 35m · serves 4
Lamb on Smoked Aubergine PureeHounkiar begienti Χουνκιάρ μπεγιεντίMain Courses · 2h 20m · serves 6
Politiko Spiced Beef StewTas kebap Τας κεμπάπMain Courses · 2h 20m · serves 6
Cypriot Trahanas SoupTrahanas ΤραχανάςSoups · 55m · serves 4Get one proper Greek recipe a week
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