Koronos

Love and more love. It’s both a wish and a recipe. This is how Mrs. Matina, known throughout Naxos by her first name, a skilled cook and the driving force behind the “Matina-Stavros” tavern (also known as “The Plateia”), in Koronos of Naxos, will bid you farewell after serving you a sumptuous meal. It’s also the secret ingredient she adds to her huge pots.

 The food that the residents of this Cycladic island prepare has changed little over the centuries

By Nena Dimitriou *

Naxos is a fertile garden in the middle of the Aegean Sea. Za, the highest mountain in the Cyclades, Mount Fanari and the entire area around the village of Kinidaro yield crystalline marble, granite and emery.