Kefir (Κεφίρ)

Kefir is a well known dairy product, thanks to the web. The merits of kefir are well documented on the internet and it is often promoted as a super food. I had never really understood the term, until I visited a friend in Athens, who introduced me to it. She gave me some kefir grains to take home with me, wrapped in a plastic bag, which I carried on the plane back to Hania. Through these grains, I fell in love with kefir; as instructed, I have been dutifully feeding the grains to make them grow, making enough kefir every day to satisfy my appetite.

 Kefir grains

Kefir is one of those products that teaches you how to use and care for it. Kefir is the master here, and you are just the student, a kind of tool to operate it. Making kefir does not need so much time, as much as it needs highly perceptive observation skills, as my friend told me:

"At some point you can experiment with second fermentation, which means leaving the strained kefir out on the counter for another day or two (or even three) until it separates into curds and whey. That's another story. Wait till your grains increase and the mad-scientist part of you will become restless for some fun. The tighter you keep lid on the jar, the more carbonated your kefir will be. Just be really careful when you open the jar!"

Kefir can be made to suit an individual taste: it can be as runny as a light syrup, or as thick as yoghurt, or something in between. It can be made in an airtight jar, but it can also be made in a drinking glass. Because you feed the kefir grains every day, you become attached to your kefir, treating it like a special friend. And because you make the kind of kefir you want, you treat your kefir as a unique member of the family.

 Kefir fermenting in a jar (left) and buttermilk (right). After a day spent fermenting in a closed jar, the kefir is strained into a bowl or glass, and the grains are collected, which are reused in a new jar of milk.

I've always been wary of making any kind of dairy products in my own home, because I do not have a source of fresh milk. So I ask myself: why bother making cheese or yoghurt when I'm buying supermarket milk which has been subjected to all kinds of treatments before it gets to my house? Milk isn't even a local ingredient in our home - locally produced milk costs about twice the price of supermarket milk, making it highly unaffordable at the moment. But you feel differently when presented with a gift like kefir grains. They are a living organism, and if you don't nurture them, they will die. The fear of killing a living organism makes you forget all about your beliefs and attitudes towards processed food, as my friend explains:

"I purposely make kefir with 'bad' milk. It is one of my ways to combat the fact that in fact we do buy mass-produced, fully pasteurized and fully homogenized milk that has been stripped of all its good bacteria. The natural enzymes are destroyed and the proteins are altered. Kefir-ing it puts something back into it and connects me to the billions that came before us that lived on cultured and fermented foods, not refrigerated ones. So when I cannot buy 'good' milk, I just buy whatever I can and then get to use my kefir magic to transform it into something else."

 My first taste of kefir - it was very thick and frothy, like sea foam. After a few plain gulps, my friend also sloshed a drizzle of her home-made pomegranate syrup onto it, which turned it into ambrosia.

When I made my first kefir at home, I put the glass in the fridge, only to find out that you make kefir ex-refrigerator. I thought I'd killed it! But my friend told me not to worry:

"In fact, when and if you have to leave it (if you travel and don't take it with you), this is what you do: just leave it in lots of milk so it has 'food' to eat in your absence. You see, it is now an additional member of the family that wants to be fed, like a pet."

Making kefir doesn't need much knowledge: you need good observation skills and a good idea of how your prefer the final product. Kefir is just something that happens on its own. Knowledge will come after many experiments. The temperature, humidity, jar, tightness of lid and personal taste preference will all play an equal role in your experiments. It took me about a week to understand when the kefir was just the way I liked it (not too runny, almost yoghurty in texture). I like to strain it in the evening after 36 hours of fermenting in a jar (with a tightly screwed lid) and place it in the fridge. In the morning, I top it with the last of my home-made granola (another present from my friend) - it had a beautiful sweet-and-sour taste, and it was very refreshing in its cooled state. During the colder months, my kefir-making will again be the subject of experimentation, with the change in climatic conditions.

 Kefir as a super-breakfast food

So how do you start making kefir? You can only really do it by having someone share some kefir grains with you, or you can buy a kefir-grain starter. The latter is hard to find in the general markets in places like Hania, as kefir is not generally known among the local population, although I would hazard a guess that the immigrant community will know it well, as we have a number of Russian migrants living in the town. Some of them are bound to be making kefir with kefir grains that they have carried with them and/or shared with others.

Once you become used to making kefir, you will use it in more creative ways. My friend makes flatbreads and pancakes with it, using it also as a topping instead of cream. 

That's what makes kefir special - every time you have some of your own home-made kefir, you will be reminded of the friend that gave you the kefir grains. If you feed your kefir grains, they will grow, and you will eventually have more kefir grains than you need, so that you will end up sharing their magic with someone else - and the whole process will be repeated, as your friends discover kefir for themselves.

All the photos have been taken by my muscial artistic talented foodie friend Demetra Lambros. The beautiful plates she uses on a daily basis in her home are hand-made and hand-painted in Italy; some of the patterns are traditional, while others are unique, and they have all been designed by the husband-and-wife team Peter Lambros and Shelley Reisig at Dolce Tableware of Missoula, Montana, US.

©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.

Yoghurt (Γιαούρτι)

Some of the most expensive store-bought yoghurt in Greece is made by a company that uses non-Greek (cow's) milk, at a cost of more than €3.50 for a kilo of 2% Greek strained yoghurt. It also uses the most enticing specials to lure people into buying it - at least half the year round, I see it on special at the supermarkets, with 0.30-0.70 cents off the retail price.

Look at the top layer of the yoghurt in a clay pot -it has a 'crust'. The yoghurt's texture cannot be gauged until the crust is broken - it is not as thick as Greek-style strained yoghurt.

At the same time, local yoghurt production in Crete is a profitable business: yoghurt made with sheep's milk and sold in a clay pot is a different kind of yoghurt from the strained variety known as 'Greek yoghurt'. It is available like this at the supermarket, and costs approximately €3.50 for 800g; it's much tastier than the strained 'national' Greek yoghurt, but still not very cheap. Cheaper Greek-style strained yoghurt can be had by other large dairy companies using 100% Greek yoghurt, with prices in the €2.50-3.30 per kilo. I usually go for the Olympos variety, as we all like its taste and texture. 

I found some curdled milk at the bottom of a glass I'd left by accident in my office from the previous day; it was only a small amount, just a gulp or two, but there seemed to be a thick clump of what smelt and looked like yoghurt, surrounded by clear fluid that looked like milky water - the soured milk had turned into sweet yoghurt.

The temperature in my mid-spring office seemed perfect for making yoghurt. In my later experiments, I added a teaspoon of bulk-buy yoghurt to a glass of homogenised milk, and got a thick creamy yoghurt the next day, with no visible milky water liquid residue - it's texture was smoother than the curdled plain milk. If it were strained of excess liquid (eg by placing in a muslin bag), so that only the milk curds remain, it would become one solid mass as the curds stick together with no liquid separating them.

The health benefits of eating yoghurt are well-attested, so it's one of those highly sought-after foods which have also made Greek-style yoghurt very popular. It's also quite easy to make it at home. In Crete, we are partly facilitated by the warm weather; colder weather makes it harder for yoghurt to set. The only problem is that if you want to make yoghurt with Greek milk, it will cost nearly twice the price of yoghurt made with non-Greek milk. A litre of fresh Greek milk costs about €1.30, and makes 800 grams of non-strained yoghurt. If you prefer strained rather than runny yoghurt, it will cost you even more money. It's more economical for me to buy store-bought ready-to-eat yoghurt because I prefer to buy only Greek milk (although there is plenty of non-Greek milk on supermarket shelves these days, and they are cheaper than Greek milk).

We don't eat a lot of yoghurt at home - it's more of an every-now-and-then food. In the summer we make a lot of tzatziki, but in the winter, eating yoghurt is limited to one or two times a week as an evening meal, and as an accompaniment to Greek meals that tzatziki pairs well with, eg yemista, pilafi rice and souvlaki. It also goes well with fruit and honey, but we often eat the fruit on its own; in this day and age, too much honey and yoghurt means too many calories, which we don't often work off at the same rate that we eat them. Hence, we don't eat a lot of yoghurt.

See the curds on the side of the glass? No heat, no special ingredients, no fuss, no bother: to have fresh yoghurt every day, just leave a glass of milk mixed with a teaspoon of yoghurt at a warm room temperature (don't bother it or keep stirring it to check on it), covered (to avoid dirt/dust particles), and away from the sun or excess heat - the only thing you will need is some good starter, such as a teaspoon from a small pottle of Greek strained yoghurt (you will use up the whole pottle in a week if you make your own yoghurt in this way).

When I make yoghurt at home, I don't make it in great quantity, and I don't strain it. You'll find lots of advice on the internet about making yoghurt at home. My method was developed through experimentation. My yoghurt is a much more simplified version of my mother's; the warmer weather helps in my case. It's a very refreshing and tasty breakfast treat when freshly made, so it also gets eaten very quickly. It probably breaks all the health regulations, but at least I don't need to worry about expiry dates, as it is eaten on the day it's made. It goes well with fruit, but not well with honey as it's too runny.

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Single-serve chocolate galatopita (Γαλατοπιτούλες)

The photos seem to have gone astray: you can find them by clicking on this link. Use the previous/next buttons to see more photos.

My friend Hrisida has been at it again, giving me some more ideas for using home-made filo pastry, thereby improving my technique. She mentioned how much she liked galatopita, a sweet custard pie made in Northern Greece. Here in Hania (and probably throughout Crete), the word 'galatopita' is not even heard. I had tried galatopita in Karpenisi when I visited the area last summer; to me, it tasted simply like a 'dairy' pie (it was hard to work out if it was made with milk or cheese).

Galatopita is the first pita on the left (after that, it's spanakopita, tiropita and kolokithopita). The pie looks crusty all over - just like all the other pitas - but with less filo on the top than the other ones.

When googling a recipe, I always check the images. After picking the galatopita photos that I liked, I then opened the page of whichever one took my fancy. Here's what I found:
- some use no filo at all (they're baked like a custard)
- some use filo only on the bottom (they're baked like a pie)
- some use filo both on top and at the bottom (like the one I tried in Karpenisi)
- some pour syrup over the baked (filo or filo-less) pie (in other words, they turn out like a galaktoboureko).

There were also some interesting variations, eg nuts/dried fruit in the custard, flavoured custard (notably chocolate) and variations on the way the pita is presented (eg cigar-shaped roll-ups).

Of all the recipes, I have to say that I liked the chocolate galatopita most of all, with its airy-looking crust. The combination and contrast of the pale fyllo and dark custard made it look quite pretty, and very festive. It would make a spectacular Christmas dessert, made as individual servings. It's been a while since I used my ramekin set; now is the perfect time to take them out. The following recipe is based on Asproula's galatopita recipe (in Greek); she also makes her own filo pastry for all her pitas.

For 12 small ramekins (individual servings), you need: 

3 1/2 cups of milk

1/2 cup of fine semolina

1/3 cup of butter (I use olive oil)

3 tablespoons of cocoa powder

1/2 cup of sugar (you can add more sugar if you like your custard to taste very sweet)

2 eggs 

cinnamon

4-6 sheets of filo pastry (I make my own)

Warm the milk in a saucepan, then add the semolina, stirring continuously so that the mixture doesn't stick to the saucepan, and making sure that it doesn't go lumpy, until it thickens to a cream. Turn off the heat and allow the cream to cool slightly. Add the butter, sugar and sifted cocoa and mix well. Finally beat in the eggs and whisk them into the cream, blending everything well.

Grease your ramekins (I use olive oil: you can use butter) and line each one with a small piece of filo pastry, leaving a little (but not too much) pastry hanging over the edge of the ramekins. Grease the filo well and then lay another piece of pastry on top of it. Sprinkle each ramekin with a little sugar and cinnamon (which I forgot to do!), then fill each one carefully (so as not to stain the edges of the filo, like I did!) with the creamy mixture. Try to make the filo pastry stick decoratively over the edge of the ramekins (this will be easier with store-bought filo pastry); grease these pastry bits well. Place the ramekins in the oven on the lowest rack and bake in moderate heat (180C) for approximately 35-40 minutes, until the cream has set. Turn off the oven, let the galatopita ramekins sit for a few minutes to solidify, and then remove them.

  

My home-made filo pastry turned out quite thick, which I put to good use: it made the perfect crispy wafer to dip into the custard as we ate the pie. Because I didn't add much sugar to the dessert, I added some kind of sweetener (which is completely optional): chocolate snow, icing sugar, Greek home-made spoon sweets, honey and ground nuts all make a delicious topping to this festive dessert.  

 

Serve the galatopita cool - it tastes much better at room temperature. The galatopitoules come clean out of the ramekins, but they can also be served in them (recommended if you have baked them 'naked', ie without filo; otherwise, the filo pita needs to be cut). Galatopita can be eaten slightly warm or cold and can be reheated. It's sometimes sprinkled with sugar and/or cinnamon; I served them with some red berry fruit (mulberry spoon sweet from Northern Pilio) and nuts. Another nice idea would be to crumble some tahini-based Macedonian halva over them (if this is available where you are) for extra sweetness.

My preferred way of enjoying galatopita - the day after it's baked, for breakfast. I only had enough filo pastry for 6 ramekins, so I made the remaining 6 galatopites as 'naked' pies. The result: a velvety custard treat.

Another bi-coloured festive variation to this pie would be to make chocolate-flavoured filo pastry (add some cocoa powder to the flour) and omit the cocoa from the custard. It will also surprise your guests and they will think you are a celebrity chef.

Bonus holiday recipes, from my friends:

Kiki Vagianos from the The Greek Vegan - Melomacarona Cookies

Athena Pantazatou, Kicking Back the Pebbles – Grandma Chrysoula’s Kourabiethes

Mary Papoulias-Platis, California Greek Girl - Bittersweet Chocolate Date Nut Baklava

©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki. 

Galotiri (Γαλοτύρι)

Galotiri (galo=milk, tiri=cheese, therefore: milky cheese) is a curd cheese made by combining feta cheese, yoghurt and milk. It's a product of Central Greece, and is used as a table cheese or added to pies and pasties. because it is a fresh curd cheese, it doesn't travel well, so it isn't well known around Greece outside its local origins. We were introduced to it on our recent trip to Pelion.

My first taste of galotiri, Pelion, Central Greece

Galotiri can take the place of feta cheese, tzatziki or fresh mizithra; it is used in a similar way as a spread or accompaniment to other foods. It is lighter in calories and not as salty as plain feta cheese, making it a healthier alternative. It can be made at home and keeps about the same amount of time as fresh curd cheese, ie about two weeks, before it starts to take on a more sour taste.

There are many recipes for galotiri (γαλοτύρι) available on the internet. Here is the basic preparation method.

My home-made version of galotiri. This cheese is available ready made from supermarkets, but not in Crete as there is no demand for it (nor is it known at all).

You need:
200g feta cheese (use good quality barelled feta if you can get it)
100g strained yoghurt
half a cup of milk
salt - feta cheese is inherently salty, but this dip could still use some more...
freshly ground pepper - you can also spicy pepper, eg paprika, or peppercorn mixtures or even garlic to give it a tzatziki taste; some people add light tasty herbs like dill.

Crumble the feta cheese in a bowl. Add the other ingredients and mix everything well, taking care not to melt the feta cheese - it should be crumbly while all the other ingredients should look like thick soup. Some people heat the ingredients together, but I think this is unnecessary - you can simply stir the mixture till it takes on a smooth blend.

Week-old galotiri resembles cottage cheese

The mixture is ready to use as is, but will acquire a better taste in a closed container over the next week. Just shake the container (without opening it) a little every day - open it after a week, and the galotiri is ready to be consumed - if you hadn't already consumed it soon after you made it. If you do manage to let the mixture stand in the fridge and work its magic, you will realise that you have created a good Greek substitute for cottage cheese.

©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.

Milk (Γάλα)

In the western world, milk is one of the most revered basic food items: it is the first meal an infant receives as soon as it is born, the only food a human being produces from her own body. Milk is so versatile in its use that it is able to be processed naturally into a huge variety of different kinds of food items - cream, cheese, yoghurt; with the addition of sugar, it becomes one of the most sought-after hot-weather refreshments in the form of milkshakes and ice-creams. It contains a range of nutrients, and has taken on the role of one of the most basic items on the breakfast table. It is simply unimaginable for a Westerner not to have some milk in some form in the morning, whether it's warmed up in a cup of cocoa, tea or coffee, or in a bowl of cereal, or in the form of yoghurt or cheese.

Στο δυτικό κόσμο, το γάλα θεωρείται ένα από τα βασικά τρόφιμα: είναι το πρώτο γεύμα που λαμβάνει ένα βρέφος αμέσως μόλις γεννιέται, το μόνο τρόφιμο που παράγει το ανθρώπινο σώμα. Το γάλα είναι τόσο ευέλικτο και ευπροσάρμοστο στην χρήση του που είναι σε θέση να υποστεί επεξεργασία, δημιουργώντας μια τεράστια ποικιλία από διαφορετικά είδη τροφίμων - κρέμα γάλακτος, γιαούρτι, τυρί μαλακό, τυρί σκληρό, κλπ. Με την προσθήκη ζάχαρης, καθίσταται ένα από τα πιο περιζήτητα αναψυκτικά του καλοκαιριού, το παγωτό. Περιέχει πολλά θρεπτικά συστατικά, και έχει αναλάβει το ρόλο ενός από τα πιο βασικά στοιχεία του πρωινού γεύματος. Είναι αδιανόητο να μην υπάρχει σε κάποια μορφή στο πρωινό μας.

In 2006, the top 20 milk-drinking countries of the world included Greece. In 2003, the country that eats the most cheese per capita was Greece, with feta cheese accounting for 75% of all cheese eaten in Greece. Cows, sheep and goats are all employed in milk, cheese and yoghurt production throughout the country. This information should all lead one to believe that milk is freely available in Greece; unfortunately, that only happens when the milk-producer farmers are dumping it, complaining of low subsidies, low prices and high middleman's prices. Milk prices are generally determined by the demand, supply and agricultural policy system. In Greece, it is the consumer who gets the worst deal; the cost of milk in Greece is absurdly high in comparison to the average salary of a Greek worker. This is why I get very tetchy when my children don't drink all the milk in the glass, or they eat their cornflakes, but leave the milk in the bowl...

Το 2006, η Ελλάδα ήταν ανάμεσα στις 20 χώρες του κόσμου που κρατούσαν την πρωτιά στην κατανάλωση του γάλακτος. Το 2003, η πρώτη χώρα στη κατανάλωση του τυριού ήταν η Ελλάδα: η φέτα αποτελεί 75% όλων των τυριών που καταναλώνονται στην Ελλάδα. Αγελάδες, πρόβατα και κατσίκες, όλα απασχολούνται στον τομέα των γάλακτοκομικών ειδών. Αυτές οι πληροφορίες θα πρέπει να μας οδηγήσουν να πιστεύουμε ότι όλοι έχουν εύκολη πρόσβαση στο γάλα. Δυστυχώς, αυτό συμβαίνει μόνο όταν οι γαλακτοπαραγωγοί αδιάζουν τα δοχεία στο δρόμο, ως ένδειξη διαμαρτυρίας για τις χαμηλές επιδοτήσεις, τις χαμηλές τιμές και τα υψηλά κόστα των μεσάζων. Οι τιμές του γάλακτος γενικά καθορίζονται από τη ζήτηση, την προσφορά και την πολιτική του αγροτικού συστήματος. Στην Ελλάδα, ο καταναλωτής ζημιώνεται πιο πολλή από κάθε άλλον, αφού το κόστος του γάλακτος στην Ελλάδα είναι πολύ υψηλό σε σύγκριση με τις υπόλοιπες χώρες της Ευρώπης, προπαντώς αν λαμβάνει μέρος σ’αυτή τη σύγκριση το μέσο μισθό ενός Έλληνα εργαζόμενου.

The milk cost saga has intensified with the recent discovery that melamine was added to milk sold in China, creating a wholly unsatisfactory image of milk, given its importance in the daily diet of people right around the world (thankfully, we've been assured that no such milk was detected in the milk sold in Hania).

Η πρόσφατη ανακάλυψη ότι προστέθηκε μελαμίνη στο γάλα που πωλείται στην Κίνα δημιουργεί μια εικόνα καθόλου ικανοποιητική για το γάλα, λόγω της μεγάλης σημασίας στην καθημερινή διατροφή των ανθρώπων σε όλο τον κόσμο (ευτυχώς, έχει διαβεβαιωθεί ότι δεν εντοπίστηκε τέτοιο γάλα να πωλείται στα Χανιά).

We are constantly bombarded with TV and newspaper reports claiming that Greece has the highest price for milk per litre in the whole of Europe; it is also claimed that the price of a litre of milk in Greece is much higher than other countries where there is a high level of milk consumption, such as the USA, Australia and New Zealand. I've also seen prices floating around on the internet for the price of milk in Greece, and they do seem rather high. But what I haven't seen anywhere (except in one free monthly newspaper published in Hania, "Καταναλωτής" - katanalotis, meaning 'consumer') is a price index of the cost per item listed by brand name and supermarket chain (because, let's face it, most of us do our shopping there).

Βομβαρδιζόμαστε συνεχώς από τα δελτία ειδήσεων που ισχυρίζουν ότι η Ελλάδα έχει την υψηλότερη τιμή του γάλακτος ανά λίτρο σε ολόκληρη την Ευρώπη. Υποστήριζετε επίσης ότι η τιμή του γάλακτος άνα λίτρο στην Ελλάδα είναι πολύ ψηλή.

(INKA - left - and MARINOPOULOS milk counters)

Here are some 'tricks' to watch out for:

• TV reports blaring out the word 'milk' on the screen with an extortionist's price tag next to it seem to treat milk (and other food staples like bread) as if it is something akin to Coca-cola, a brand name, or a frappe coffee at a cafe; neither are basic products or staples!!!
  
• The phrase 'the price of milk' does not denote a brand name; but milk is never sold brand-less, as it used to be in other parts of Europe, in a plastic bag tied at the top!!!
• generic supermarket packaged milk is much cheaper than any of the milk brands sold at a supermarket, and it is always lower than 1 euro, the benchmark price used during last summer's milk boycott, in which consumers were asked to boycott milk brands that were being sold upwards of 1 euro per litre.
• What kind of milk are those reports talking about? Fresh short-life milk (lasts up to five days from date of bottling)? Fresh long-life (ie highly pasteurised; lasts at least three weeks from date of bottling) milk? UHT milk (can be left at room temperature till it is opened, and lasts a year from time of bottling)? Canned milk (became specially popular after the Chernobyl crisis, when it was believed that people's health might be at risk from the contamination of the earth)? Special category milk, eg infants' formula, Ca-fortified, cholesterol-lowering, etc (which is, of course, sold at a premium)?
  

Milk is not just 'milk' these days.

Μερικά "κόλπα" που πρέπει να προσέξετε:
• Το γάλα είναι βασικό προϊόν: η τιμή του δεν μπορεί να συγκριθεί με την τιμή τιμή της Coca-Cola, ή του φραππέ που πίνουμε στην καφετέρια!
• Η φράση «η τιμή του γάλακτος» δεν χαρακτηρίζει εμπορική ονομασία. Όταν αγοράζουμε γάλα, ειναί πάντοτε συσκευαζμένο. Δεν πωλείται ποτέ χωρίς συσκευασία, οπότε ποιά μάρκα ενοούν τα δελτία όταν λένε ότι αγοράζουμε το γάλα σε μια συγκεκριμένη τιμή;
• Το γάλα που πωλείται με την ονομασία του σούπερμάρκετ είναι πολύ φθηνότερη από οποιοδήποτε άλλα γάλατα που πουλάει η ίδια αλυσίδα σούπερμάρκετ, συνήθως λιγότερο από 1 ευρώ, η τιμή αναφοράς που χρησιμοποιούνταν κατά τη διάρκεια του περασμένου καλοκαιριού στο μποϊκοτάζ των γαλακτος, στον οποίο οι καταναλωτές καλούνται να μποϋκοτάρουν το γάλα που πωλείται άνω του 1 ευρώ ανά λίτρο.
• Για ποιο γάλα μιλάμε; Φρέσκο γάλα μικρής διάρκειας (μπορεί να διαρκέσει έως και πέντε ημέρες από την ημερομηνία εμφιάλωσης); Φρέσκο γάλα μακράς διαρκείας (δηλαδή υψηλής παστερίωσης - διαρκεί τουλάχιστον τρεις εβδομάδες από την ημερομηνία εμφιάλωσης); Γάλα UHT (μπορεί να μείνει σε θερμοκρασία δωματίου μέχρι που το ανοίξετε, και διαρκεί ένα χρόνο από την στιγμή της εμφιάλωσης); Γάλα κονσέρβας; Ειδική κατηγορία γαλακτος, όπως π.χ. γάλα για βρέφη, εμπλουτισμένο γάλα, κλπ (τα οποία φυσικά πωλούνται αρκετά);

Το γάλα δεν είναι πια απλή λέξη στις μέρες μας.

SUPERMARKETS in HANIA
In Hania, a summer resort town which turns into an agricultural production unit in the winter (unemployment is lower here than other areas of Greece, and people tend to be more affluent), with a population of about 60,000 in the greater area (which increases ten-fold in the summer with tourists), we have two major supermarket chains serving the greater area: INKA (the only local chain) and CARREFOUR (the former Champion-Prisunic stores, aka MARINOPOULOS). Their prices are similar for many products.

Σουπερμάρκετ της ΧANIA
Στα Χανιά, μια πόλη που μετατρέπετε σε θέρετρο το καλοκαίρι και γεωργική μονάδα παραγωγής τον χειμώνα, με πληθυσμό περίπου 60.000 στην ευρύτερη περιοχή (η οποία αυξάνεται επί δέκα φορές το καλοκαίρι), έχουμε πολλές αλυσίδες σούπερμάρκετ που εξυπηρετούν την ευρύτερη περιοχή. Από τον έρευνα, φάνηκε ότι οι τιμές μεταξύ αλυσιδών δεν διαφέρουν πολύ στις τιμές του γάλακτος.

.
LIDL supermarket in Hania, selling brussel sprouts and children's ski suits; Brussel sprouts are NOT grown in Crete, and most Cretans would be hard-pressed to imagine how such a vegetable grows. I was very lucky to have seen them growing in the middle of winter in a garden in Colchester, England. Moreover, it doesn't snow here, while our mountain range, Lefka Ori, does NOT have a ski centre! LIDL (a German discount supermarket chain) sells many products suitable for and familiar to Northern Europeans; no wonder many tourist residents in Hania often do their supermarket shopping here, especially since they are used to spending much less of their monthly income on food items than the average Greek. Given that Greeks exhibit the typical consumer society habit of buying what they don't need, they are the perfect targets for German products that may have not sold well in Germany. The locals of the town never knew what an advent calendar was until the advent of LIDL...

I prefer to shop at INKA, which always stocks local produce at reasonably good quality, although I've found MARINOPOULOS to be slightly cheaper for some generic products. There are also other supermarket chains operating in Hania, such as LIDL, DIA, SPAR (under the name CHALKIADAKIS); these chains are not as widespread as INKA and MARINOPOULOS (I went to Spar once in the last six months, while i have never used DIA). The pricing policy may differ between supermarkets, but milk has become a known-value item (KVI as it's known in the trade), especially since the milk boycott; a store selling it at too high a price would earn the nickname 'farmakeio' (drugstore).

MILK TYPES
In our house, we need a litre of milk per day in the summer months, rising to 1.5 litres in the winter. Being the chief cook and shopper in my household, I should be an expert in supermarket prices, and how to choose what I'm going to buy from the wide range of milk types available. So why do you see so many different brands of milk on my kitchen counter?

• 'Blue' milk - 3.5% fat - is for the children;
• 'Green' milk - 1% fat - is for the adults;
• Calcium-enriched milk for yiayia (she has osteoporosis);
• I always look out for specials on milk, which occur frequently as various brands compete against each other;
• I buy a mixture of brands to make sure I'm not buying only the cheapest product, but also a better quality (price is often associated with quality, not just in psychological terms) whenever I can afford it, but I do not buy milk that costs more than 1.50 euro per litre (a litre of petrol costs less than this!!), as I consider it a luxury product, given the benchmark set during the 2008 milk boycott, urging consumers to buy milk sold at no more than 1 euro per litre;
• I hardly ever buy fresh short-life milk, as it is always imported from the mainland, it never reaches Hania the day it was packed, and given it's five-day-maximum use-by date, we might not consume it before its expiry date. In any case, I would have to go to the supermarket on a daily basis to ensure that we are adequately supplied with milk if I were to use short-life fresh milk on a regular basis.
  

A range of milk products, all sold as 'fresh', with prices ranging from 0.98 to 3.05 euro, from three different supermarkets in Hania. The gingerbread biscuits in the right-hand photo were bought at LIDL, in the futile hope that my family might appreciate my taste in sweets...

MILK PRICES: November 11-14, 2008
Only refrigerated milk is investigated; all other packaged milk (UHT, canned, powder) is inferior to refrigerated fresh milk, and this is what was being referred to during the milk price boycott; this is also the kind of milk that the media focuses on when they report rising milk prices. There is a 0.01-0.02 cent difference between INKA and MARINOPOULOS. All prices were calculated from the largest packaging available for each brand, and are presented as the euro price per litre. Milk produced in Greece is clearly stated; we all prefer a home-grown product over an imported one.

Τιμές του γάλακτος
Ο έρευνας έγινε τον Νοέμβριο 11-14, 2008. Μόνο τα γάλατα ψυγείου διερευνούνται (δηλ. όχι UHT, κονσέρβες, σκόνη. Αυτό είναι το είδος γάλακτος που τα ΜΜΕ επικεντρώνονται όταν συζητούν την τιμή του γάλακτος. Υπάρχει μια διαφορά μεταξύ 0,01-0,02 λεπτά μετζξύ τις αλυσίδες σουπερ μάρκετ. Όλες οι τιμές υπολογίζονται από τις μεγαλύτερες συσκευασίες που διατίθενται για κάθε μάρκα, οι οποίες παρουσιάζονται ανά λίτρο. Το γάλα που παράγεται στην Ελλάδα κατονομάζεται, αφού είναι σαφώς ότι όλοι προτιμούν ένα εγχώριο αντί για εισαγόμενο προϊόν.

It may be a fact that a single person who only needs up to a litre of milk a week will not be able to buy fresh milk at this price, since they are more likely to prefer to buy a smaller quantity sold at a more expensive price, but that's the cost of single living; I could complain about frontistiria prices instead...

Είναι γεγονός ότι ένα μόνο πρόσωπο το οποίο χρειάζεται μέχρι ένα λίτρο γάλα την εβδομάδα δεν θα είναι σε θέση να αγοράσει φρέσκο γάλα σε αυτή την τιμή, δεδομένου ότι είναι πιο πιθανό να προτιμά να αγοράζει μια μικρότερη ποσότητα που πωλείται σε ακριβότερη τιμή.

DELTA Greek short-life; DELTA (trading under the VIVARTIA conglomerate) is one of the leading milk distributors in Greece.	1.30
Lidl GALPO Greek own-brand* short-life; LIDL is a discount supermarket, whose quality is checked according to German standards. The food products are not always of the highest quality, but it is known to stock mainly own-brand products at very cheap prices.	0.90

OLYMPUS Greek short-life; OLYMPUS is a small company based in Trikala (Northern Greece). According to recent laboratory checks, it is believed to maintain an extremely high quality in milk production, and has gained points over its immediate competitor, DELTA. Their packaging is also more appealing: bottles rather than tetrapaks.

1.61**

DELTA MMMILK long-life; this milk is being sold with a 0.30c discount since summer.

1.23

NOYNOY FAMILY long-life; NOYNOY (trading under the Friesland conglomerate) is one of the leading milk distributors in Greece. It took FAGE's place in the competition between milk companies after FAGE stopped trading in fresh milk. The milk is of German origin, not Greek.

1.35

FAGE GALA-10 Greek long-life; FAGE was once one of the leading fresh milk distributors in Greece. It opted out of the fresh milk trade, due to the fierce competition associated with this line of business, and now deals in all other milk products except short-life fresh milk. They also sell their milk in bottles rather than cartons.

1.35

FAGE FARMA long-life; this milk is being sold with a 0.30c discount since summer.

1.08

Carrefour ALPS own-brand* long-life; Marinopoulos own-brand.

0.91

MEVGAL "Your milk every day" long-life; this milk replaced MEVGAL's original Greek product, being sold at 1.48c per litre. During the milk boycott, MEVGAL was selling it with a 0.50c discount. It was clearly profitably unviable, and MEVGAL ceased producing it. The current product, of German origin, has a similar packaging.

0.98

OLYMPUS BIO long-life; organic, 'bottle'.	1.99**
MEVGAL Ariani long-life; buttermilk, 'bottle'.	1.79**

NOYNOY Calci-milk long-life; calcium-fortified.

2.03**

DELTA Daily long-life; sold in different coloured packaging, each one making various claims as a specialised milk product; 'bottle'.

2.20**

KRIARAS fresh goat's milk short-life; this is the only fresh milk product made in Crete, using non-bovine milk. All other fresh milk sold in Cretan supermarkets is produced from cow's milk.

2.40**

DORNA BIO long-life; this Greek-Swiss company (Romanian milk) originally starting selling this organic milk at a very cheap price (1.44). It also carried 2-for-the-price-of-1 promotions. I bought it regularly until it suddenly raised its prices practically overnight (about a year ago), and the 2-for-1 offers ceased...

1.89**

OLYMPUS ZOIS (LIFE) long-life; this Greek product was being sold with a 330ml orange juice giveaway, whose value did not exceed 0.60c. As our oranges in the village are not yet ripe, this was a chance for me to procure some fresh juice. Yet more bottled milk as well as bottled juice...

1.58**

* INKA does not have its own brand fresh milk
** These products are being sold at a premium price, over 1.50 euro per litre, which is much more than the cost of a litre of petrol.
ΔΕΛΤΑ* – μικρής διαρκείας. – 1,30
ΓALΠO* – μικρής διαρκείας. – 0,90
OΛYMΠΟΣ* – μικρής διαρκείας. – 1.61**
ΔΕΛΤΑ MMMILK – μακράς διαρκείας – 1.23
NOYNOY FAMILY – μακράς διαρκείας – 1.35
ΦAΓE ΓΑΛΑ-10 – μακράς διαρκείας – 1.35
ΦAΓE ΦΑΡΜΑ – μακράς διαρκείας – 1.08
Carrefour Άλπες – μακράς διαρκείας – 0,91
ΜΕΒΓΑΛ Εχεις γάλα – μακράς διαρκείας. 0,98
OΛYMΠΟΣ BIO – μακράς διαρκείας, βιολογικό – 1.99**
ΜΕΒΓΑΛ Αριανι – μακράς διαρκείας – 1.79**
NOYNOY Calci – μακράς διαρκείας, εμπλουτισμένο με ασβέστιο – 2.03**
ΔΕΛΤΑ Daily – μακράς διαρκείας – 2,20**
ΚΡΙΑΡΑΣ* φρέσκο κατσικίσιο γάλα – μικρής διάρκειας – 2.40**
ΔΟΡΝΑ – μακράς διαρκείας, βιολογικό – 1.89**
OΛYMΠΟΣ ΖΩΗΣ – μακράς διαρκείας – 1.58**
*Ελληνικά γάλατα
** Τα προϊόντα αυτά πωλούνται σε τιμή πριμ, πάνω από 1,50 ευρώ το λίτρο, που είναι πολύ μεγαλύτερο από το κόστος ενός λίτρου βενζίνης.

CONCLUSIONS

• An average price for milk according to the above table (NOT including any of the products being sold at premium prices) is 1.14 per litre of fresh milk, in an affluent Greek island town, transportation costs included. It is well below what is being reported by the mass media. This is what I am actually paying, since I buy all types of milk in the non-premium price range, taking advantage of discounts and special offers. If I simply stuck to the cheapest range of refrigerated milk available, it would still be less than 1 euro per litre, 0.90-0.98 to be precise, in the three supermarkets I frequent.
  
• The longer the shelf-life, the higher the pasteurisation process.
• The more local the production unit, the more expensive it is.
• The more expensive milk is, the more likely it is to be sold in bottles than tetrapaks, the latter being much easier to dispose; they can be folded down, whereas the plastic bottles used for milk packaging cannot even be crushed. Your rubbish bin will fill up in next to no time with air...
  
• The more specialised the milk product, the more expensive it is.
• Milk produced furthest away from the selling point is usually the cheapest.

ΣΥΜΠΕΡΑΣΜΑΤΑ
• Ο μέσος όρος των τιμών του γάλακτος, σύμφωνα με τον πίνακα (μη συμπεριλαμβανομένου τα προϊόντα που πωλούνται άνω του 1.50 λίτρου άνα κιλό) είναι 1,14 ευρώ ανά λίτρο φρέσκου γάλακτος. Είναι πολύ πιο κάτω από αυτό που αναφέρεται από τα μέσα μαζικής ενημέρωσης. Αν απλά αγοράζουμε το φθηνότερο γάλα που διατίθεται στο ψυγείο, θα εξακολουθούσε να είναι μικρότερο του 1 ευρώ ανά λίτρο, 0,90-0,98 για την ακρίβεια, στα τρία σούπερ μάρκετ όπου έγινε ο έρευνας.
• Όσο πιο μεγάλη διάρκεια, τόσο υψηλότερη είναι η διαδικασία παστερίωσης.
• Όσο πιο τοπική η μονάδα παραγωγής, τόσο πιο ακριβό είναι.
• Όσο πιο ακριβό το γάλα, το πιο πιθανό να πωλείται σε φιάλες μπουκαλιο΄θ αντί για tetrapaks, η οποία συσκευασία είναι πολύ πιο εύκολη να πετάξετε.
• ‘Οσο πιο εξειδικευμένο το γαλακτοκομικό προϊόν, τοσο πιο ακριβό είναι.
• Το γάλα που παράγεται πιο μακρυά από το σημείο πώλησης είναι συνήθως το φθηνότερο.

The cost of living is generally lower on an island, but so are the salaries. Many agricultural products are cheaper because people often grown their own; milk is only available cheaply to people who have milk-producing animals on their property. We have orange and olive trees, and a well-maintained garden, but no animals; therefore, we buy 'imported' milk in the same way that someone on the mainland buys it: in a tetra-pak or plastic bottle. If anything, packaged milk should be more expensive on an island than in an Athenian supermarket if transportation costs raise prices. So, which milk do you buy?

Το κόστος ζωής είναι γενικά χαμηλότερο σε ένα νησί. Πολλά γεωργικά προϊόντα είναι φθηνότερα γιατί οι άνθρωποι συχνά καλλιεργούν τα δικά τους. Το γάλα διατίθεται φτηνά μόνο σε ανθρώπους που έχουν ζώα παραγωγής γάλακτος για την ιδιοκτησία τους. Το συσκευασμένο γάλα θα πρέπει να είναι πιο ακριβό σ’ένα νησί απ'ό,τι πωλείται σε αθηναϊκό σούπερ μάρκετ αν το κόστος μεταφοράς αυξάνει τις τιμές. Αυτό δεν ενδεικνύεται από τον έρευνα.

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