Tsiknopempti is one of the most important days of the Carnival. According to custom, we grill and eat meat on that day. But even if we choose vegetarian dishes, the important thing is to spend time with our loved ones around a table!
The usual choices for Tsiknopempti:
-For the appetizers:
To accompany the dips (or spreads), the salads or the varieties with the cheeses and charcuterie, you can start with a simple and cool white wine like a Moschofilero or a Roditis or even a rosé (which you can continue for as long as the meats are cooked)!
-If you make chicken:
Chicken is a white meat that can be well accompanied with white, rosé or red wine. A chicken marinated with herbs such as thyme and oregano and lemon, you can accompany it with a Malagouzia or an Agiorgitiko Rosé or even a red Agiorgitiko.
-If you make pork:
One of the meats that have their honor that day. Pork is a white meat with generally enough fat so it can be accompanied by all three colours of wine. Sausages and pork pancetta that have enough fat can be accompanied with a white wine such as a Roditis with Sauvignon Blanc or a rosé Xinomavro or rosé Agiorgitiko or a red Agiorgitiko.
Cuts of pork with less fat such as a not-so-fatty steak or brisket, are paired with white wines such as Savvatiano, Xinomavro rosé or Agiorgitiko rosé or a Syrah-Merlot rosé or a red Agiorgitiko.
-If you make beef:
The traditional beef dishes are steaks and burgers, while in recent years, cuts such as ribeye have made a strong entry. Beef dishes need wines with more acidity and more tannins the more fat they have. For this reason, they are ideally combined with red wines such as Xinomavro or blends that have Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from international varieties. They can also be combined with rosé wines from Xinomavro or Agiorgitiko and with rich white wines such as fumé.
-If you make lamb:
For the more traditional dishes such as lamb ribs, kebabs or mutton ribs which are meats with enough fat, you can accompany it with red wines such as Xinomavro and Agiorgitiko, while for the more traditional you can even with… retsina!
-For grilled meat platter:
For the grilled meat platter, which is also one of the most popular dishes of Tsiknopepti, the ideal wines are red Agiorgitiko or blends that have Cabernet Sauvignon and white Malagouzia and Retsina!
-For vegetarians:
For all those who love barbecue but not meat, they can accompany their dishes such as grilled halloumi, vegetarian souvlaki with a rosé Agiorgitiko or a white Moschofilero!
