Of course we love food but one should not forget drinking. We do have a number of recipes in the Greek side of the blog for making some drinks but now it’s time to make Raki Apple Pie. Not exactly… pie of course.

Krousonas apple (the right stuff)

So it was Saturday, we were at a wedding in Krousonas (a village up in the mountains of Herakleion, quite nice, you should go). Krousonas is famed for their lovely hard and yummy apples. So, as we were walking on the way to the wedding, we see a local, we say our hellos (it’s Crete after all) and he was so overjoyed that he gave us half a car of apples, organic with absolutely no chemicals. When we were done with the wedding (yes it was lovely, the couple was nice, I even danced some Cretan dances – be aware) we distributed the apples among us.

I ended up with a lot of apples, I eat, I eat again for days, got very bored and I thought I should make an apple pie. But not really. I made Apple Raki but I swear, it smells like apple pie.

Wanna make it? Here are the secrets .

Phase A.

Phase A

You will need :

• 1 litre Raki (vicious stuff from Crete but the Turkish varieties will do too. Make sure they are not aromatic, just plain raki)
• 1 kilo red apples (try to get organic ones, they tend to be a lot more fragrant)
• 10 cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• Ginger (fresh or not, doesn’t matter) A little bit, let’s say half your thumb.

If you have a big glass container with a lid that closes really well then just slice the apples. If you will use a bottle then grate them. If the apples are organic and without any sprayed chemicals then include the peel.

Cover them in raki, add all the spices and leave in a dark and cool place for 1 month. From time to time just shake the container.

Phase B.

Open and smell. Admit that I am right to call this one an apple pie.

Using a fine strainer empty the liquid in a new container and take care to squeeze the juice from the apples between your hands.

Με την ολοκλήρωση της Φάσης Β.

Filter the liquid once or twice through muslin or even a paper coffee filter. This is to make sure you take out all the ‘dust’ from the spices.

Put in a pot:

• 150ml water
• 200gr. sugar (black sugar is a lot more fragrant)
• Some of the apples we already used

When it comes to the boil take it off the hob and let it cool.

Mix together the two liquids and pour the mixture in glass bottles with a tight fitting cap.

At this point do not drink this! It would be a waste. Let it do it’s own thing for about 20 days without opening it at all.

After 20 days, get your friends together and open it to everyone’s delight.

To your health – or eviva in the Greek way