History

Apaki is Crete's answer to the problem of keeping pork through a hot summer. The loin is steeped in vinegar with wild herbs for a day or more, then hung over a smouldering fire of sage, cypress, thyme and other mountain wood, which both dries it and perfumes it. Villages guarded their own herb mixes. It predates refrigeration by centuries and survived it because the smoke does something no fridge can. In Heraklion tavernas it now arrives sliced thin with pomegranate seeds and graviera shavings, which is a modern presentation of a very old preserve.

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Make it at home

Yield Serves 8 as a mezeHands-on 30 minTotal 48 hrDifficulty Advanced

Ingredients

  • 1kg pork loin, trimmed
  • 500ml red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon coriander seed, crushed
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 4 sprigs of thyme
  • Wood chips of sage, cypress or oak for smoking

Method

  1. Cut the loin lengthways into strips about 4cm thick so the marinade can reach the centre.
  2. Submerge the strips in the vinegar with the salt, coriander, bay and thyme. Refrigerate for 24 hours.
  3. Drain and pat completely dry, then leave uncovered in the fridge for two hours to form a tacky surface.
  4. Cold-smoke over the herb wood at under 30C for 4 to 6 hours, or hot-smoke at 70C for 2 hours if you have no cold smoker.
  5. Rest wrapped in the fridge for a further day before slicing as thinly as you can manage.

Tip from the editors. If you cannot smoke at home, hot-smoking then a day of rest gets you most of the way. Do not skip the vinegar stage.

Where to eat apaki

Apaki in Heraklion

Merastri ★ 4.7

€€ Greek tavernaOld Town

Merastri keeps a serious Cretan wine list behind its wood oven in Heraklion, and the reds it pours are built to stand up to three-hour roast lamb.

OrderA Liatiko red alongside the wood-oven lamb

PourA Liatiko red with the wood-oven lamb

WineCretan list built around the wood oven

FoodFull Cretan menu

TipThe Cretan list is the reason to linger. Ask what is open by the glass before committing to a bottle.

Directions

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