What to Eat in Rhodes: Pitaroudia, Lakani, Symi Shrimp, Melekouni and Embonas Wine

Because Rhodes sat for centuries along the spice trade route between Venice, Cyprus and the Levant, authentic Rhodian cuisine (Rodiaki Kouzina) uses warm aromatic spices, especially roasted cumin (kymino), coriander seed and cinnamon, alongside chickpeas, cracked wheat (chondros) and wild thyme honey in ways you won't find on mainland Greece.

Five Authentic Rhodian Specialties to Order

1. Pitaroudia (Rhodian Chickpea, Mint & Cumin Fritters): the #1 meze starter across the island. Soaked chickpeas are mashed with plenty of finely chopped red onion, fresh spearmint, flour and a fragrant pinch of ground cumin, shaped into flat patties and pan-fried in olive oil until crispy and golden outside and fluffy inside.
2. Lakani: the traditional festive dish of Lindos and the mountain villages (especially Siana, Apollona and Embonas). Chunks of local goat or lamb are layered inside a deep, wide terracotta pot (called a lakani) with coarse cracked wheat (chondros) or chickpeas, tomato paste, olive oil and a generous seasoning of cumin and cinnamon, sealed with dough, and baked overnight for 10 to 12 hours in the dying embers of a wood-fired brick oven until the wheat absorbs all the meat juices.
3. Matsi (Handmade Pasta) & Kapamas (Stuffed Goat): hand-rolled strips of fresh village pasta (matsi) boiled in meat broth and topped with sizzling browned butter and grated aged sheep's cheese.
4. Garides Symiakes (Pan-Fried Tiny Symi Shrimp) & Grilled Octopus: tiny whole red deep-water shrimp fried crisp in olive oil with garlic and lemon so you eat them whole like chips.
5. PGI-Protected Melekouni: awarded European Union PGI status, Melekouni is a soft, chewy, 100% natural energy bar made from toasted golden sesame seeds, pure Rhodian thyme honey, blanched almonds, orange zest, cinnamon and nutmeg cut into diamond lozenges.

Tasting Rhodian Wine (Athiri & Mandilaria) & Coriander "Souma"

Rhodes was the very first island in the Aegean to bottle commercial fine wines (establishing CAIR in 1928). On a drive through the western mountain vineyards of Embonas (at family estates like Emery or Kounaki) or in Siana, taste crisp dry white wines made from the indigenous Athiri grape, fruity reds from Mandilaria (Amorgiano), sweet muscat wines, and a shot of Siana's famous fig-or-grape Souma spirit (or green 7-herb Sette Erbe digestif liqueur produced by monks at Filerimos).