The most famous products of Lefkada are Eglouvi’s lentils, honey from Athani, sausages and wine. Also interesting are the local pies as well as mantolato and pasteli which used to be a specialty of the barbers! Ivari has excellent quality avgotaraho (roe) despite the fact that these are produced in small quantities. Also famous is the embroidery of Lefkada and the remarkable “Karsaniki” stitch (originated from the village of Karia) which doesn’t exist elsewhere in Greece.
In the town pies are not so common, while on the contrary in the villages they are ubiquitous and easily made. In addition to the vegetable pie with aromatic wild greens, also worthy of note are the rice pie (rizopita), pasta pie (macaronopita) made with eggs and milk, olive oil and cheese, as well as the ‘briani’, pie made with thick green courgettes.
Wine:The most reclaimed, traditional wine varieties that grow in Lefkada is Bertzami and Bardea. Grown on the municipal units of Sfakiotes, Karia, Apollon and Ellomenos at an altitude of 200 to 700 meters and considered among the best varieties our country produces. In recent years, thanks to the tourism development in Lefkada, young winemakers with expertise and modern facilities undertook the task to highlight the local wine varieties, even succeeding special awards at wine fairs.
The winery facilities are open to public either directly or by appointment.
A visit to a winery is a real journey into the world of wine. The duration of a tour ranges from 20 minutes to 1 hour, based on time and interest of the visitors. The tour begins with the exhibition of vintage wine-making tools. Later on passing through the vineyard, visitors will be introduced to the wine-making and production space, where they can see up close all the processes (vinification, aging, bottling). Finally the tour ends at tastings area, where visitors can taste and purchase the wines of the winery.
Fish in Lefkada is always fresh and high quality since local fishermen go fishing around Ionio every day, sometimes using the traditional fishing methods. Since you can’t take them with you don’t lose the opportunity to taste them while you are on the island
Handicrafts: But what really enchants the visitors are the handicrafts created by the local women. Wonderful embroideries and woven fabrics known for their beauty. Especially the embroideries from Karia are made with a special technique totally different from any other technique used in Greece. White lace knitting in different sizes and the creation of blankets with designs that have their roots in the Byzantine era are also exquisite. Buy some as a present for your friends back home.
Sausages: The butchers continue, as they always did, to make the speciality air-dried salami and pork sausages. Lefkadian salami with its mild aroma of garlic and with whole peppercorns has been exported since olden times.
Lentils: Eglouvi’s lentils is an extremely rare and delicious variety that has been awarded in several agricultural product exhibitions.