Cookies of Ancient Greece

The Jewish diaspora of the island of Crete is considered one of the oldest in Greece. Jews appeared on Crete and Rhodes more than two thousand years ago, and over the past 23 centuries they have been under the rule of a variety of empires and peoples - from the Romans to the Turks.

You will need:

1.5 kg flour

640 g butter

375 g sugar

2 eggs

one and a half glasses of orange juice

half a glass of cognac

1 packet vanilla sugar

1 packet of baking powder

Nicholas Stavroulakis, a famous researcher of the cuisine of Greek Jews, identifies seven nations that had a serious influence on the formation of the gastronomic preferences of Greek Jews. In addition to the above-mentioned Romans and Turks, this list also included Persians, Arabs, Byzantines, Spaniards and the Greeks themselves. However, Nicholas forgot to mention one more people - the Minoans, apparently because the Minoan civilization disappeared long before the Jews appeared on Crete. But the Cretans, the direct descendants of this civilization, preserved its culinary heritage and even managed to pass it on to the Jews as neighbors.

The cookies you see in the photo are one part of this legacy. At first glance, it seems that there is nothing special about them - except perhaps the most delicate orange taste, but you can’t see it in the picture. But the shape gives the cookie away - such lines can be found on every ancient Minoan fresco.

Cooking method

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, orange juice and cognac. Mix flour with baking powder and combine with egg-sugar mixture. Knead the dough, form it into thin sausages and form them into cookies, as shown in the photo. And then bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees.

Bon appetit!

Anna Markova