Σύμφωνα με την ανάρτηση του ταξιδιώτη – μπλόγκερ David
Hirtenstein στην σελίδα του : http://atasteofancientroutes.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/the-heart-of-santorini/
Σύμφωνα με μέρος της ανάρτησης, στην οποία μπορείτε
να δείτε πολλές και ενδιαφέρουσες φωτογραφίες από την επίσκεψή του στην Σαντορίνη,
The Heart of
Santorini
I found the
heart of Santorini after just 1 day of walking. I intended to stay just a day
or two, but ended up being adopted, making new friends from all over the world,
and eating a lot of amazing food…
I was on my way
to the lighthouse at the Southern end of the island when I came across “The
Good Heart”, a shop selling local products. Outside was Anna, a smiling
bright-eyed lady, and the owner of the shop. She was sitting with a bowl full
of almonds, removing the skins in preparation for a typical wedding sweet. When
she saw me she jumped up and screamed happily “WELCOME”, before presenting me
with a tasting plate. “All local products, homemade…open hand, sit down”. I
couldn’t really say no, could I?
The tasting
plate – a real taste of the island. The tomato paste is to die for!
The next day I
stepped into the shop and felt like I was in an episode of Gordon Ramsay’s
Kitchen Nightmares. The shelves were totally disorganised and overflowing,
nothing was marked, the floors were a mix of different things, and Anna was
excitedly running around doing various jobs, screaming at the 2 Katerinas, the
2 girls working in the shop. Meanwhile, every time somebody arrived at the
shop, Anna would shout “disco”, which meant a tasting plate would appear, and
the new arrivals would be encouraged to take a seat on the beautiful terrace
outside. However, the tasting plate consisted of a complex mix of…everything.
All the homemade products: goats cheese (xloro), sundried tomatoes, tomato
paste, fava, pickled white aubergine, Olive tapenade, jams and spoon sweets,
sweet vinsanto wine, red and white wines, and a selection of other products
from the island. It would take a few minutes to prepare, and at the same time
dishes stacked up in the sink, around whoever was working there. It created an
incredibly hectic disaster zone, especially when a sudden rush of tourists had
Anna screaming “disco, disco disco”. A crazy rush as Anna screams, tourists
look around the shop, and general mayhem ensues.
Inside the shop
after a little re-organising. It’s a foodie heaven.
Into this
environment I stepped, and despite agreeing to help for 1 day, I ended up
staying 2 weeks! I was invited into the family (after the first night in the
tent I was invited to sleep in the house) and spent my time helping in the
shop, cooking with Mihalis and chatting with all the incredibly interesting
tourists. It was a fantastic experience, and I really saw how passionate Anna
and Mihalis are about their work. Everything is homemade with love and
attention to detail. And the recipes? Well they’re a secret!
