Field notes · Photographic essay

Patiniotikes in Kampos

Patmos → Dodecanese → South Aegean → Aegean

Moscha Gryllis with a freshly baked Patiniotiki pie in Patmos.

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Introduction

In Kampos, the Gryllis family prepares Patiniotikes, the traditional sweet mizithra pies of Patmos, baked for Holy Week in a wood oven.

In the village of Kampos, the Gryllis family gathered to prepare Patiniotikes, the traditional Easter pies of Patmos. Filled with sweetened mizithra and baked in a wood oven, the pies became a family choreography of dough, fire, trays and Easter eggs.

The pies of Holy Week

In Kampos, I was introduced to the Gryllis family, known for preparing Patiniotikes during Holy Week. These traditional pies of Patmos are filled with sweetened mizithra and baked in a wood oven.

The preparation was not the work of one person alone. The whole family moved around the kitchen and oven: shaping, filling, carrying trays, tending the fire, dyeing Easter eggs and waiting for the pies to bake.

Black and white photograph of Moscha Gryllis holding a freshly baked Patiniotiki pie in Patmos. — Moscha Gryllis holding a freshly baked pie.

Moscha Gryllis holding a freshly baked pie.

Black and white photograph of the Gryllis family preparing Patiniotikes pies around a traditional oven. — Preparing Patiniotikes around the oven.

Black and white photograph of Sideris Gryllis holding dyed Easter eggs while Patiniotikes are prepared in the kitchen. — Easter eggs in the kitchen.

Black and white photograph of Sideris Gryllis standing behind trays of freshly baked Patiniotikes pies. — Freshly baked Patiniotikes.

The kitchen became a small choreography of Easter: dough, fire, cheese, eggs, hands and waiting.

The smell of the pies filled the air. What remained in the photographs was not only a recipe, but a family working together inside the calendar of the island.

A story held by place

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