Akanes Lailia of Serres

 

 

When visiting Serres, you’ll want to create a sweet memory – an unforgettable culinary experience called akanes. This traditional sweet treat which looks like a loukoumi, has a unique and intense flavor due to the goat and sheep’s butter used in its production.

 

The name akanes is said to derive from the Turkish hakan halva which literally means “The halva of the princes”. It was originally produced in Ottoman royal residences for three centuries during the occupation of Greece. After the population exchange in the 1920s, akanes remained a specialty in the region of Serres.

In fact, the delicacy has been known as akanes lailia, as a reference to Mount Lailia. According to tradition, residents of the area made the sweet treat with spring water from the mountain blended with goat’s butter they produced from their own livestock.

Today, the tradition is kept alive. The people of Serres honor, and guard, the recipe of the past; only the finest and purest of products – spring water, sugar, goat butter, cornstarch and roasted almonds.

The simplicity of ingredients along with the process of making these delightful bites is described as a ritual by the local people. What we know for sure is that they result is an amazing delicacy that stimulates the senses!