Page 65 - MYCONIAN COLLECTION MAG 2021

discover|local people

The “Paga” in Gialos

IF THERE IS ONE HABIT that’s hard to break, it’s the street market that local fishermen hold every morning in the area of
Gialos. As long as you get there early enough to enjoy the “paga” display, the fresh fish and “baksevanika” – fresh vegetables
sold in crates by local producers straight from their own gardens, their “baxedes”. By the time the visitors wake up from a night
of hard partying everything will have disappeared and the stands will be shiny and clean. Everything here happens early in the
morning. If you are looking to find authentic Mykonos, you just have to sacrifice some hours of sleep and get to the “entrance”
to the town. There, you will easily discern who the “morning people” of the land are, who don’t change habits easily. Gialos
was once the heart of the area, but to this day tradition is still alive and kicking here. Even if one cannot enjoy local products,
they can discover gastronomical treasures such as courgette flowers, purple amaranth (a type of green), brown-eyed Mykonos
beans (black-eyed peas), plums, and aromatic plants such as oregano, thyme, fennel, spearmint, sage and marjoram.

LIVING OFF THE LAND
"We are no business. We are a home", says Nikos Zougalenis about Rizes Folklore Farmstead, and it's a Mykonos home open to all.

Nikos Zouganelis

“WHAT VISITORS SEE is our life, lived as close as possible Nothing is “frozen in time” because nothing is for show and
to my memories of older generations”, says Nikos Zouganelis, everything is tended to following traditional methods. You
who grew up in a traditional Mykonos farmstead. His father, can also see folklore artists working the loom, painting icons,
Giannis, kept sheep and cultivated the land while his mother creating traditional “tsampouna” bagpipes… When you visit,
tended to the household and made cheese. Nikos felt an you are a guest. “We want to show visitors they are loved
urge to honor this authentic way of life by creating a fully and tended to; to treat them, make friends with them – then,
functional farmstead that taps into the “rizes” [roots] of the if they want, they can participate in this life, and understand
land and traditional folk life. Rizes Folklore Farmstead was how things were before technology”, explains Nikos. And
the result. “We are no business. We are a home – expanded to indeed, you can help milk a cow, gather eggs, join him at the
welcome visitors, but still a home”. Visiting Rizes, you start to garden patch… More than anything, though, this family want
LOCAL PRODUCTS
understand this way of life, with the wood oven, cheese dairy, you to join them at the table, breaking bread and living a purer Discover simple gastronomical treasures such as fresh eggs, courgette flowers, purple amaranth (a type of green), brown-eyed Mykonos
cows, chicken coop, wine press, vegetable patches, donkeys… life for a few hours. www.rizesmykonos.com beans (black-eyed peas) and aromatic plants such as oregano, thyme, fennel, spearmint, sage and marjoram.

064 MYCONIAN COLLECTION MYCONIAN COLLECTION 065