Meat cake

This round pie features succulent lamb meat, local cheeses, staka (a Cretan dairy product created by salting and heating the cream of skimmed milk with flour over low heat), and aromatic herbs encased in a fluffy dough.

Traditionally crafted by Chania's skilled housewives, the Easter cake is a delicious solution to making the most of the remaining Easter lamb, ensuring no culinary delight goes to waste.

Dough Ingredients:

• Approximately 1 kilo all-purpose flour
• 1/2 litre meat broth (from boiled meat)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons yogurt
• A pinch of salt
• 1/2 wine glass olive oil
• 1/2 sachet yeast (dissolved in a little hot water with 1/2 teaspoon sugar)

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 kilo lamb leg
• 1/2 kilo mizithra cheese from Chania
• 1/2 kilo tyromalama or malaka
• 4 tablespoons staka
• 1 wine glass of olive oil
• A small bunch of spearmint (finely chopped)
• Salt, pepper, thyme

For Sheet Coating:

• 1 egg
• Sesame seeds (white and black)

Procedure:

Step 1: Wash the meat and bring it to a boil. Once the meat is soft enough to come off the bones easily, debone it, and then strain the broth, and put it aside.

Step 2: Mix meat broth, salt, eggs, yogurt, olive oil, and flour in a bowl. Knead until a fluffy dough forms, then let it rest for about an hour.

Step 3: Cut the meat into small pieces in a bowl, add crumbled cheeses, staka, spearmint, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, thyme, and mix.

Step 4: Roll out a somewhat thick phyllo sheet with a rolling pin, place it in a greased baking pan, spread the filling, and cover with another phyllo sheet, joining the top with the bottom sheet.

Step 5: Beat 1 egg with olive oil, brush the phyllo sheet, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Step 6: Cover the pie with baking paper for the first half hour, then uncover and bake for another half hour until golden. Bake in a preheated oven at 170 °C for about 50 minutes, until the phyllo is golden brown.

Lena Igoumenaki

President of the Cretan Cuisine Festival Association