Our first meze on Ikaria this spring. The weather is great, just like summer, and beckons for a seaside view and an ouzo. So, we took off for Thea’s in Nas, and whiled away the afternoon with a couple of cool sips of Greece’s milky national drink. Greeks never drink without eating, even if it’s just a little something. Pictured here are a few amazing homemade Ikarian treats: Thea’s own pickled wild greens, stamnagathi to be exact; her own cured green olives; and the best of all, wild water-hyacinth bulbs, called volvoi, put up in brine. They are delicious, slightly bitter and crunchy. Ikarians aren’t the only people in the Mediterranean to savor this ancient treat. The Sicilians love these bulbs, too, and call them lampascione.

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