At the end of August, the aubergine feast takes place at Leonidio, where more than a ton of aubergines are prepared in countless variations. The night of the feast the best food receives prizes by the judges and afterwards there are festivities. Eating and drinking until dawn is a just part of the traditional feast.

Thousands of native and foreign visitors pass in front of the long tables, where there are hundreds of pans and pots, and try a great variety of aubergine recipes. The elegant and imaginative women of Leonidio, with their intense personalities, are the stars of the day. 

They are not bitter

Local aubergines relish every food because they are sweet and don't leave a bitter aftertaste. The gardens in Leonidio are beside the sea, which is why the aubergines are delicious. People in Leonidio don't like black aubergines that grow in other places of Greece, because they are bitter as they say.

They are sorry that young people don't eat aubergines and they fear that this old local food tradition, which started in the 12th century, will die out. Every morning when women in Leonidio wonder about what they're going to make for lunch, they always think of aubergines, even though they know that their children don't like them very much. So apart from the aubergines they have to make french fries as well in order to please them.

Need for modernization

Aubergine planting starts in the middle of March and the vegetables are cut after forty days. If the weather holds, Leonidio has aubergines until November. The farmers claim that they don't use many pesticides, but they confess that it is not possible to completely avoid them.

A farmer in Plaka of Leonidio says: "When a mucky butterfly gives birth to a worm on the plant I have to sprinkle it. If I don't do this, there will be no aubergines, not even for me to eat". Organic cultivation of aubergines would be a great and safe idea for the residents of Leonidio. Their product is so delicious that it is worth paying a little bit extra. 
TEXT-PHOTOS: GEORGE ZAFEIROPOULOS
SOURCE: www.greecewithin.com

MORE PHOTOS

There is a contest for the best aubergine recipe.

Tsakonian women have a penetrating look and finesse.

They also make great aubergine sweets

Cooking begins early in the morning on the day of the feast.

Fields with aubergine crops in Plaka of Leonidio

At night they're dancing local dances.

Plaka of Leonidio, where the feast takes place during the last years.

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