A culinary day trip to Aegina

The island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf, around 25 km south-west of Athens, offers scenic beauty, pretty villages, great beaches, and culinary delights: olives, lemons, bananas, passion fruit, lemons, wine, but above all pistachios.

Pistachios from Aegina belong to the Pistacia vera Aegina variety, which is exceptionally rich in nutrients and protein with a fruity, finely acidic taste. It is considered one of the best varieties in the world – and according to the locals, of course, the very best. The harvest from the small island of Aegina actually accounts for 2-3% of world trade. Along the harbour promenade of Aegina, there are stalls from various cooperatives and traders where we stocked up on pistachios and products made with them, such as pastries and butter, before we left.

The day began with a short journey on the fast hydrofoil from Piraeus. In November, the climate in the Aegean is still wonderfully warm and not too hot at midday. Ideal weather for hiking, which was today’s plan: walking to Kipseli to visit the ‘Kyriakos’ olive oil mill.

We would explore the charming little old town of Aegina more closely in the afternoon; for now, the path led up into the hilly plantations of olive and pistachio trees. Along the way, we also saw trees with more exotic fruits like bananas, pomegranates or figs. The drought of recent years is impossible to ignore. Many trees can only bear fruit or even just be kept alive by means of artificial irrigation – so in many places, black irrigation hoses run across the parched ground.

By early November, the pistachio harvest was long over, but the olive harvest was just beginning. In a field by the side of the road, three men were taking their lunch break in the shade of the trees. A tarpaulin was spread out on the ground to collect the fruit shaken from the trees.

Eventually, we reached the oil mill and recovered from the walk during the short wait for our host. How modern or traditional is the oil extraction here, and is it actually still pressed out? In the courtyard, large, classic presses, like the ones I know from apple cider production, were rusting away. So it seems something has changed – I was curious.