Hi, sorry I haven’t posted in a while, I have kind of been taking a vacation from our vacation. I was just relaxing on the Greek island of Cephalonia. Above is a map of Cephalonia. In this post I’m gonna tell you about the desserts of Cephalonia and the Ekmek story. One of the best things about Cephalonia is at the end of the meal they always ask you if you want dessert, my parents usually say no but they bring it anyway for free. To get to Cephalonia, we took a bus from Athens to a small town called Kyllini and then we took a ferry from the mainland to the island. We then took the bus from the ferry port of Poros to Argostoli, the capital of Cephalonia. We went to a grocery store to get some groceries and then we took a taxi to our villa and waited for Stanley & Popo to arrive. If you didn’t know, Stanley and Popo are our grandparents and they are going to travel with us for 2 weeks. We were supposed to be at another villa but we weren’t for reasons Popo will tell you about in her guest post.  When they arrived we all went to bed, and the next morning we all got in to our car that we rented and started to drive to our other villa, the one we were supposed to be at the night before. On the way we stopped for smoothies and coffees at a cafe called Myrtillo. I ordered the pomegranate smoothie and it was really good. We continued driving until we got to our villa, Villa Mandola. Villa Mandola was on the north of the island near a few towns called Magganos, Tzamarelata, Vasilikades, Alatias, and Fiskardo. You can see Alatias, Vasilikades, and Fiskardo on the map, Villa Mandola was in the middle of the 3. On to the desserts, the first dessert was Bougatsa. Bougatsa is a sweet pastry with custard inside it, and it usually has powdered sugar and cinnamon sprinkled over it. Bougatsa (like all desserts) is delicious. The first time we had Bougatsa was in Athens but we also had it in Agia Efimia and in the Cephalonia airport before leaving. If you want to learn how to make Bougatsa, here is the recipe, Link. Bougatsa was invented and is the best in the city of Thessaloniki. Unfortunately we didn’t go there. If you go to Greece you should definitely try bougatsa. If you are in Athens you should go to Bougatsa Thessaloniki. P.S. I will be very impressed if you look at the recipe and make Bougatsa. 

The next dessert wasn’t really a dessert. Koulouri the 2nd dessert was a kind of bagel. It was a big thin bagel but it was crispier than a bagel. Koulouri was really really good. The first time we had Kolouri was from a stall outside of a park, we got it for only  0.50 euros (.75 CAD). If you want to make Koulouri here is the recipe, Link . You see a lot of locals walking around with a Koulouri and an espresso freddo (a cold espresso). I love Koulouri!

The next dessert is Greek Biscuits. Unfortunately I don’t have a photo of Greek biscuits to show you. We had Greek Biscuits in Assos, a town in the middle of Cephalonia. Greek Biscuits are really good. If you are going to Assos you should go to a restaurant called Platanos and make sure to go there on a Sunday because that is the only day they serve Greek Biscuits. 

The 3rd dessert is Baklava. I’m sure many of you know about this famous greek dessert. Baklava is a honey-drizzled dessert with a lot of nuts. Baklava is very sweet so after you eat it you get really thirsty. Baklava is the perfect treat. Baklava was actually invented in Turkey but it became really popular in Greece and now it is found at many bakeries and cafes in Greece. The nuts in Baklava include walnuts, almonds, and pistachios. If you would like to make Baklava then here is the recipe, Link. I love Baklava!

The last dessert is Ekmek. Ekmek is a creamy dessert that is really delicious. Now I am going to tell you the Ekmek story. When my family was in Vancouver we got takeout once from a Greek restaurant called The Sweet Greek. We were going to get 2 baklavas but they only had one left so we ordered one baklava and decided to try this other dessert called Ekmek. We didn’t know what Ekmek was but it turned out to be really good. I was really hoping to have Ekmek in Greece and when we were having our last dinner in Greece I was disappointed that we didn’t try Ekmek in Greece. I told my parents they owed me an Ekmek. At the end of our meal the waiter asked if we would like desserts on the house. It was our last Greek dinner so we said yes. Then the waiter brought the desserts and we asked what they were. The waiter said “In Greek we call them Ekmek”. I was really excited that we got to have Ekmek in Greece but it turns out I liked the one in Vancouver better. When we left Cephalonia we took a plane to Milan and then took a train to Florence and that is where we are right now.