Paxos y Antipaxos :: Comparisson reports

“There are six cafés in Gaios, all of them very simple and poor, and four taverns. In summer, when the boats leave, only two remain open. Boats are cleaned and prepared before Easter so that they can leave soon after and begin their summer trade. There are also five grocer’s in Gaios.

In the taverns they prepare tripe, goat head and feet, rams and oxen, fried maridas fish, meat with celery and potatoes, peas, garbanzos, green vegetables with garlic, oil and a lot of red paprika, and boiled broad beans. Broad beans are simply boiled in sea water and then left to rest for two days. They also prepare brodetto stew made from liver, as well as boiled, fried or roasted fish, then cuttlefish and squid ( oktapus).

There is always a small image of a saint in these taverns with a small oil lamp in front. The only furniture includes rough tables and a small wandalmer [= piece of wall furniture in which to store food, normally with a single door, sometimes a drawer, but never with any adornment] in which they place the few plates they possess.

Their names correspond to the owners nicknames. Normally, they don’t sell wine. There are no less than ten taverns (in Magazia) where people from the country normally gather on Saturdays for a drink to relax from the week’s work. In Paxos people do tend to drink. Men and women generally drink wine. On rare occasions some women drink only water and coffee.”