History

The pie takes its name from Sfakia, the mountain region of southwest Crete, but it travelled across the island and now appears on taverna menus everywhere, Heraklion included. The dough is made with raki or wine and no fat, wrapped around a ball of fresh myzithra, then rolled flat again so the cheese spreads to the edges. It cooks on a dry pan in a couple of minutes a side. The honey goes on at the table, never in the kitchen, and thyme honey from the Cretan mountains is the traditional choice. Erganos in Heraklion serves them small, several to a plate, as a starter rather than a dessert.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield Makes 6Hands-on 30 minTotal 50 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 250g plain flour
  • 120ml warm water
  • 2 tablespoons raki or white wine
  • Pinch of salt
  • 300g fresh myzithra
  • Thyme honey, to serve

Method

  1. Mix the flour, salt, raki and water into a soft dough and knead for five minutes. Rest covered for thirty.
  2. Divide the dough and the cheese into six each, rolling both into balls.
  3. Flatten a dough ball, set a cheese ball in the middle, gather the edges over the top and pinch them shut.
  4. Turn it seam-side down and roll it out gently to about 15cm across and 5mm thick, without tearing.
  5. Cook on a dry, medium-hot pan for two to three minutes a side, until brown spots appear.
  6. Serve immediately with thyme honey poured over the top.

Tip from the editors. Roll from the centre outwards and stop the moment the cheese shows through. A torn pie leaks and burns.

Where to eat sfakianopita

Sfakianopita in Heraklion

Erganos ★ 4.5

€€ Greek tavernaOld Town

Erganos sits uphill from the Heraklion museums beside Kazantzakis park, a 1986 taverna that most visitors walk past on their way somewhere else.

Why locals goA 1986 taverna beside Kazantzakis park that trades almost entirely on locals and word of mouth rather than passing trade.

TipAsk what the kitchen cooked that morning rather than reading the whole menu top to bottom.

Directions

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