Reading last month's blog by Kalie about the history of mills and millers in Kythera reminded me of an article I wrote that was published in a Kytherian publication in late 2019. Paximathia would have been one of the main foods cooked with the flour made in these mills by the millers, possibly for many generations.
Here is the article.
I went to Kythera in 2019 with a mission: to determine which paximathia were my favourite. I sampled every paximathia I could find on the island and did not realise how different they all were. I thought I would share my results with the wider Kytherian community. I am not going to say which were my favourite as I know this would be way too controversial and there are so many different ways to eat paximathia that not one style of paximathia will suit everybody.
Potamos – I found these to have the most flavour out of all the paximathia I tried. This also made them quite heavy. I also found them very hard which made them hard on the teeth when eaten on their own, but great for dunking. They were also the largest paximathia on the island.
Livadi – These were the lightest in flavour and easiest on the stomach. I found them a bit crumbly which sometimes made them hard to eat without getting crumbs all over my lap, but they were much easier on the teeth. They were not as good for dunking as they fell apart easily. They are also the lightest in fat for those watching their weight. I also found them a touch on the small side, but not much different to others I tried.
Karvounades – I found these a bit lighter in flavour, but not too much. Texture was good without being too hard or too soft. They may have been slightly on the harder side. The size was a touch larger than average.
Karavas – These paximathia were a good flavour. They may have been a touch on the heavy side. I found the texture to be neither too hard or too soft, so they would suit dunking or eating on their own. The size was average of all the paximathia tried.
Kalokerines – “The new kid on the block”. These may have been the hardest to find on the island. All the paximathia above were widely available in the bakeries and supermarkets, but I only found the Kalokerines ones in the Maria’s shops and windmill in Kalokerines. Because of this, I was not expecting much out of them and saved these for last to try, but they surprised me. The flavour was ok, and the texture was somewhere in between Karavas and Livadi, making the suitable for both dunking and eating plain. They were a touch smaller than average.
As you can see, the paximathia varied greatly, which really surprised me. I now have a favourite, so I know for next year. I asked people while I was there how they eat their paximathia and that ranged from eating plain with some Greek cheese on the side to covering with butter, jam or Kytherian honey or dunking in coffee.
One thing I did learn is that everybody takes their paximathia very seriously. There is no perfect paximathia and whichever you like the best is the best one for you.
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