Verified in Heraklion.
Apaki is a signature dish of Greece; we have verified places to eat it in Heraklion. Pork loin marinated in vinegar, then cold-smoked over aromatic wood and herbs until it turns dark and dense. Start with where to eat Apaki in Heraklion.
Pork loin marinated in vinegar, then cold-smoked over aromatic wood and herbs until it turns dark and dense. Cretan kitchens shave it thin over rocket and graviera, or fry it into eggs at breakfast.
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.
Where to eat in Heraklion:
Where to eat Apaki in Heraklion: the editor picks
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