What to Eat in Naxos: PGI Potatoes, PDO Graviera, Arseniko Cheese, Rosto and Kitron

Ask any Athenian chef which Greek island has the best local produce in the Aegean and the answer is immediate: Naxos.

Six Signature Naxian Dishes, Cheeses & Drinks to Order

1. PGI-Protected Patata Naxou: grown on the sandy coastal plains since the 1830s using certified seed, Naxos potatoes have a low water content and high starch density that makes them fry up golden-crisp on the outside and buttery-creamy inside without absorbing oil. Every single taverna on the island hand-cuts fresh mounds of them to order.
2. PDO Graviera Naxou & PDO Arseniko: unlike sheep's-milk cheeses on dry islands, PDO Graviera Naxou is made from at least 80% fresh local cow's milk, aged for 3 to 12 months into a sweet, nutty, buttery hard cheese. By contrast, PDO Arseniko Naxou is a bold, sharp, peppery aged cheese made solely from unpasteurized sheep and goat's milk curd pressed by hand in woven reed baskets and rubbed with olive oil lees. (Also try creamy sour Xynomyzithra and spicy Kopanisti).
3. Kalogiros & Gouna: a beloved Naxian tavern classic where tender braised beef or veal is baked in a clay dish topped with fried aubergine slices, tomato sauce and a bubbling crust of melted Graviera and Arseniko cheese. Down by the port, try Gouna, butterflied chub mackerel sun-dried for a few hours in the Aegean breeze and grilled over charcoal.
4. Rosto &Patoudo: thick chunks of pork leg studded with whole cloves of garlic and braised slowly in dark red wine and black pepper, served with coarse pasta; or Easter Patoudo, mountain goat or lamb stuffed with wild fennel, chard, raisins, pine nuts and rice.
5. Melachrino: a dark, aromatic walnut-cinnamon-and-clove syrup cake drenched in a splash of PDO Kitron liqueur and served warm with a scoop of homemade yellow sheep's-milk kaimaki or Kitron ice cream.

Where to Eat & Shop for Cheese in Chora

Before boarding your ferry home, stop at the Naxos Agricultural Union Cheese Shop or traditional delicatessens like Tziblakis on Papavassiliou Street in Chora to buy vacuum-sealed wedges of 12-month-aged Graviera and Arseniko. For memorable local meals, visit Maro's Taverna, To Elliniko or Doukato in Chora, Axiotissa, and Hariklia / Platanos in the mountain villages.