MelekouniΜελεκούνι

Appearance & taste

Melekouni is diamond-shaped and weighs 10 to 70 g. Depending on the colour of the honey, how darkly the sesame is roasted and the spices used, it is golden yellow to chestnut brown. The mass is soft and supple, compact and elastic; it does not crumble and does not stick. It tastes of honey, roasted sesame and roasted almonds, along with spices and citrus fruit, whose aroma, according to the specification, unfolds as soon as it is unwrapped and more strongly when it is chewed.

The name comes from the dialect of Rhodes and is made up of “meli” (honey) and “kounni” (seed, here sesame seed). Melekouni is sold in its original packaging, labelled “Melekouni — protected geographical indication” or “Melekouni — PGI”.

Production

Melekouni consists of at least 40 % honey and at least 40 % unhulled roasted sesame, plus 1.5 to 10 % roasted almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and/or coriander and, optionally, grated peel or juice of citrus fruits such as oranges, bergamots, lemons or bitter oranges. The spices are measured so that none of them dominates. It is sweetened exclusively with honey, not with other sweeteners.

The sesame is roasted evenly with constant stirring and the honey is heated; then the ingredients are mixed and cooked until an even mass forms. This mass settles, cools, is pressed and is portioned on a suitable surface. According to the specification, how long and how hot the honey and sesame are heated and how firmly the mass is pressed also depends on humidity and temperature and is based on inherited experience. Cutting and packing take place immediately in the same room, because otherwise the mass absorbs moisture and becomes harder to divide and shape. All steps take place on Rhodes.

Origin & history

The area is the island of Rhodes in the Dodecanese nomos, South Aegean region. According to the specification, Melekouni has been served at weddings, baptisms and other celebrations since antiquity and is still the most important sweet at weddings on Rhodes today; it is made in bakeries and at home. In some villages it was divided into pieces on a baking tray after the wedding ceremony and offered to the guests with a spoon. In his glossary of the Rhodian dialect, the folklorist Theodoros Konstantinidis describes how the sweet made from honey and roasted sesame was also sent to absent friends and relatives to announce the wedding.

In Maritsa, on the Friday evening before the wedding, the parents of the bride and groom went from house to house calling on their relatives: “Come and bake melekouni!” The guests roasted and mixed sesame and honey under the supervision of an experienced person; part of it was eaten straight away and the rest was kept for the wedding. There were similar customs in Damatria, Kremasti and Koskinou. The alternative currency of a barter network on Rhodes is also called “Melekouni”.