Tiganopsomo - The Sweet Necessity

In the days of the drachma, back in the 1980s, in a small village far from Corfu town, finding dessert wasn’t simple. There were no pastry shops nearby - not even a bakery that made anything sweet. I still remember the grocer cutting a chocolate bar into four pieces, selling them separately, so everyone could afford a taste.

But people always found a way to be sweet. Ours came from what we had: bread, olive oil, and sugar. Sometimes fresh, sometimes a few days old - fried, golden, and dusted with sugar that melted on contact.

It wasn’t called a recipe. It wasn’t even called dessert. It was just a small act of comfort, a bit of light on an ordinary afternoon. Proof that sweetness doesn’t come from luxury - it comes from knowing how to make do, and how to turn hunger into something gentle.

Try It Yourself

If you want to taste it, do it right. Don’t be shy with the olive oil - let it coat the pan generously. Use bread that’s a day or two old, so it fries crisp and golden.

It should be a little scorched at the edges, the sugar melting just enough to glaze the surface. And the bread — it must be warm, eaten straight from the pan.

It’s not fancy, but it’s real. And when you bite into it, you’ll understand why we never needed more.