Rodopou Pilafi Festival, July 12th 2017 - Rodopou Village, Kolymbari
Summer time is a time for celebrations in Crete and this night was to champion the famous pilafi rice dish that is so loved and adored by the Cretan people. It is a dish that is served on special occasions, especially weddings, and every person who makes it considers their pilafi to be the best on the island.
Rodopou is a good sized village of which the Rodopos Peninsular is named after. It is a lovely traditional village that is not very touristy and enjoys a splendid location that is protected from the wind on three sides by the steep slopes of the rocky outcrops that rise up majestically around it. It is the last village and surfaced road on the route out to Cape Spatha and Menies beach and boasts a few kafenions, wonderful tavernas and a splendid church.
The festival was based in the village square and we turned up at around 9:45pm for the 9pm start time. This is the custom in Crete as nothing really starts before 10pm on these occasions in most places. We arrived with a fair amount of people all with the same idea, but luckily our Greek hostess had booked us a table and with 15 of us it was very gratifying that she did. We had a great location central to the stage but just back enough so that the speakers were not overwhelming and as we sat down we noticed the place starting to fill around us.
After a glass or two of the local roumeko wine and raki with a few yamass's the food started to appear. If you have never heard of roumeko it is a grape that is endemic to Crete and specifically the Chania region. It produces a wine that is likened to sherry with caramel and raisin flavours that give it a distinct taste...it can also be very strong, so be warned!
Anyway, I digress; the food was brought along by the burly men of the village who weaved their way through the crowds with their large wooden trays held high in the air. We started with Bread, Greek Salad and Dakos followed by the first trays of Pilafi which was accompanied by a tender Lamb dish served with fried potatoes. As if this wasn't enough we were then presented with goat and chicken that had been cooked and the stock used to boil the pilafi...and then we were given even more pilafi rice. The pilafi had that wonderful meaty taste and like every pilafi I have had so far is served at the temperature of molten lava. It is a very traditional dish and it does have a flavour that first time tasters can find a little too rich, but I love it. We finished off with some chocolate covered honey balls (loukoumades) that were absolutely delicious and brought a smile to the face.
The evening was filled with the wonderful music from the five-piece Cretan band who played their mandolins, lyre, goatskin bagpipe (that's the only way I can describe it), drums, guitars and flutes to great effect. They mixed in a few modern Greek songs and the dancing from the crowd as well as the professional dancers was fantastic to watch.
As we began to drift away from our table at around 1am we were still seeing more people just turning up to enjoy the night's festivities. I am sure there will be one or two people who managed to watch the dawn break this morning whilst they enjoyed yet another plate of pilafi and a glass of roumeki or raki.
Overall a fantastic traditional evening of music, dance, wine and food that will live on in the memories for a long time.
If you get the chance to experience a panagyrie or festival on your trip to Crete then it is highly recommended that you take the chance and see for yourself just how the Cretan's love to party and celebrate.