Laikes Agores (the plural form) are found throughout Greece, in every corner of the land and in almost every town and village. If there isn’t one then the town will likely host a weekly “Pazari” ( taken from the word bazaar)  or a central market. At a Laiki you can shop for local fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, poultry, fish and seafood, eggs and cheese, yogurt,  an array of olives, local honey, herbs, teas, spices, local Tsipouro or Raki, wine. olive oil, butter, dried legumes, pasta, sausages/salami. You will also find the odd cantina/food truck selling food for vendors and patrons who may want to grab a bite.

You can also find non-food items like kitchenware, clothing (of various degrees of quality), linens, tools, plants,toys, g-strings, etc, etc! The Laiki Agora has been around since the day’s of Eleftherios Venizelos, who introduced the Laiki as a way of assisting local farmers and artisans to sell their goods to the locals.

The Laiki will consist of both “producers” and “professionals” who sell their goods: producers would be local farmers, apiaries and then the professionals are folks who buy product and then re-sell at the Laiki. The Laiki is not just a rural occurrence as you will find it in operation in the neighborhoods of Greece’s largest cities like Athens and Thessaloniki.

These Peoples’ Markets operate on a schedule, that is to say the Laiki sets-up in your town, village or neighborhood on a set day, once a week. Tables, counters, kiosks and tents are arranged in a designated area closed to traffic from the early morning to just after noon. At that point, vendors pack-up and either sell their goods through their own channels (pick-up trucks, storefront) or travel to another town nearby that may have its turn hosting a Laiki.

The closest comparison I can give you is that our local farmer’s markets are much like the Laiki. When in Greece, the Laiki sets-up on Tuesdays in Nea Kallikratia where usual vendors show up, the usual customers and everyone has a preferred vendor to shop from. We have our favourite farmer who sells juicy, meaty and sweet tomatoes. We buy Feta cheese from one specific vendor. I like the Tsipouro from this fella from the neighboring town of Agios Pavlos. You catch my drift.

As someone who travels to Greece almost each year, it is interesting to see where some of the other tourists shop for food items: most will hop into the supermarket but it’s nice to see some of the more acute tourists shopping for some fruit, yogurt or buying local honey from the Laiki. I love visiting the Laiki: people watching, hearing the shouts of the vendors touting their product, listening to the haggling and bartering, watching the produce change week by week and taking lots and lots of photos of this Greek institution.

When visiting Greece, you should make time to visit a Laiki during your stay. Ask the locals when the Laiki occurs in your town, village or which neighborhood in the city is hosting one. Below are some links that can help you plan when and where to visit a Laiki throughout Greece. The links are not complete, there is no one website with a calendar of all the Laiki Agoras.

If you have a link to the calendar for other Laikes Agoras not listed below, please add in the comments section.

Athens, Piraeus and Thessaloniki

http://www.laikesagores.gr/

http://www.buildings.gr/greek/ipiresies/laikesagores/laikagores.htm

http://www.olath.gr/ut_olath.aspx?type=olathMap

http://www.dionet.gr/news/biolaikes.htm

http://www.scribd.com/doc/110413629/laikes-agores-thessalonikis

Thessaloniki and many areas in Macedonia and Thrace

Halkidiki

Patras

Lamia

Larrisa & Thessalia

Macedonia, Thrace, Trikala, Volos

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The couple also teach English as a second language and Glen now tends to the 1000+ olive trees on their property. The olive trees are of the Koroneiki variety and they are now in the family for three generations! Greek bureaucracy permitting, the olive oil that is pressed from the olives will soon be categorized as organic – no pesticides or fertilizers are used.

The Hotel Estia offers guests to take part in the autumn olive harvest and you get to place a piece of bread under the spout where warm green, freshly pressed olive flows like liquid gold. Stephanie describes the olive oil as “wonderfully delicious” and she adds that a local bee keeper produces some fabulous honey!

In the summer, you can trek through the quiet paths, explore the many quiet beaches and take in some of the local cuisine of Messinia. Rich in olive oil, vegetables, fish and seafood…this is the Mediterranean diet. Like much of Greece, local wine is made and depending on the summer, grapes are harvested mid-to-late August.

When you’re in Greece you’re never too far from mountains or from the sea. A visit to The Estia Hotel offers you both at your doorstep. Consider visiting Greece this year, consider the Estia Hotel in Finikounda, Messinia. Buy Greek, support Greece!

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Regardless, I felt the need to do my part to help promote Greek businesses offering their goods and services and I made a call out to Greeks on Twitter and Facebook to come forward and tell me their story. Did you know there are over a hundred Greek food items that have a PDO designation? A product gains PDO status from the European Union when it comes from a specific geographical location, uniquely made because of its location and method of being made. Products of PDO desgination will also have a seal to protect the consumer from buying counterfeiters cashing in on the original product’s cache. PDO Products are much like an appelation. Would you call Niagara sparkling wine a Champagne?

The first spotlight shines on Crete, this magical, blessed land where you see either mountains, goats and sheep or olive trees and sea. The Cretans are fiercely loyal to their friends and especially loyal to their local ingredients and traditional Cretan diet (some say the true Mediterranean diet). Today’s feature is on Candias Oil, Candia was the name given to Crete during Venetian rule and the name pops up here and there as you travel through Crete.

Candias Oil’s extra-virgin olive oil originates from the same olive-oil producing region, same soil and climate, its extracted from the same olive oil press/mill. Candias Oil selects their oil from small, family-type operations and small batch testing is constantly being made to ensure that acidity levels are below 0.8%. The standarization facility is located in Viannos, on the south coast of Crete in the Heraklion prefecture.

Candias Oil has three PDO-desginated olive oils: one from Viannos, another from Sitia and the third from Peza. I am not going to get into which of Greece’s olive oils are the best but I can and will tell you Greek olive is the best and I encourage to buy a bottle of Greek olive oil. You’ll never buy anything else, your food will taste differently and simple dishes will come alive. Buy Greek!

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