098Cretan smoked pork

Method

Pan-seared ready-cured apaki meze. Classic meze companion for chilled tsikoudia or crisp white wine.

You will need

• Sharp chef's knife
• Heavy frying pan
• Tongs

1. Slice the cured apaki across the grain into neat, even strips roughly 5 millimetres thick. 5 min Ready when: uniform slices
2. Warm the extra virgin olive oil in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat until it begins to shimmer. 2 min Ready when: oil is hot but not smoking
3. Add the sliced meat in a single layer and sear briefly without disturbing, allowing the edges to brown lightly. 2 min Ready when: sizzling and fragrant edges
4. Turn the slices over and cook for just one minute more so the meat heats through while remaining tender inside. 1 min Ready when: flesh is hot and lightly browned
5. Deglaze the pan with the red wine vinegar, swirling vigorously as it evaporates into a thin coating over the meat. 1 min Ready when: steam subsides and vinegar glazes the slices
6. Transfer immediately to a small serving platter, scatter with dried oregano, and serve warm with lemon wedges. Ready when: herb aromas release in the steam

Tap a step to tick it off.

Make ahead and storing

Best cooked directly before serving so the meat stays soft.

Cooked slices keep in the fridge for up to 3 days; eat cold or gently reheat in a dry pan.

Substitutions

• tsikoudia or dry white wine for red wine vinegar. A splash of grape spirit gives a rounder, softer finish instead of vinegar.

Common mistakes

• Overcooking the meat. Apaki is already cured and naturally very lean; prolonged frying turns it dry and leathery.
• Adding salt to the pan. The cured meat already holds sufficient curing salt, and extra salt makes it unpleasantly harsh.

Regional variants

• In Rethymno, fried apaki is frequently finished with a spoonful of local thyme honey.
• Across mountain villages, apaki is cut smaller and folded into scrambled eggs with wild greens.

About the dish

Apaki is Crete's most celebrated cured meat, historically born out of the winter hog slaughter (hoirosfagia). Lean strips of pork tenderloin or loin are steeped in local red wine vinegar, coated with mountain herbs such as sage, oregano and thyme, and then gently cold-smoked over dried branches of wild shrubs like cypress, olive wood and sage. Today, artisanal apaki is bought ready-smoked and flash-fried in olive oil as a pungent meze alongside tsikoudia, or tossed into scrambled eggs, lentils and seasonal greens.

Found in Crete. Cooked for everyday, sunday lunch, christmas.

Cousins elsewhere

• Lountza (Cypriot). Lountza is cured and smoked pork loin, seasoned heavily with coriander seeds and red wine.
• Lonzino affumicato (Italian). Cured and smoked pork loin found across central Italy, reflecting shared Mediterranean curing traditions.

Nutrition per serving (estimate)

222 kcal · protein 25 g · fat 13.4 g (saturated 3.2 g) · carbohydrate 0.6 g (sugars 0.2 g) · fibre 0.1 g · sodium 920 mg

An estimate (summed from ingredient estimates) that varies with the exact ingredients. It is not dietary advice.

Written fresh by Epikouria editors from general culinary tradition. Recipe by the Epikouria editors. The pan-fried taverna presentation standard across western and central Crete..

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