Chef Dimitra
Chios Nerantzi Glyko Koutaliou (Νεράντζι Γλυκό Κουταλιού)
Chios bitter orange peel rolled into tight coils, blanched through clean waters, then preserved in a clear fragrant syrup for the spoon-sweet tray.
Culinary Explorer
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Pasteli Kalamatas (Παστέλι Καλαμάτας)
Created by
Kalamata pasteli is sesame and honey made honest: toasted seeds, fragrant Greek honey, and one firm boil so the bars snap instead of sag.
Desserts
Greek
Make Ahead
Comfort Food
Budget Friendly
15 min
Active Time
20 min cook•35 min total
Yield20 small bars
Pasteli Kalamatas is sesame bound in honey, the clean old sweet of Messinia, cut into bars that snap first and then turn fragrant under the teeth. The region is the dish's surname here because Kalamata's version is spare: sesame, honey, a little lemon, no chocolate, no clever dressing-up. Λίγα και καλά, a few things, and good ones.
The whole sweet rests on the honey. You boil it until it reaches the hard stage, then fold in the toasted sesame quickly and roll it thin while it is still obedient. Stop too early and the pasteli stays tacky, bending in your hand and sticking to the paper. Take it far enough and it becomes what it should be: glossy, crisp, nutty, and clean.
I like it wrapped in small rectangles of paper, the way a grandmother keeps sweets in a tin for coffee, not presented like a jewel. A recipe written down is a recipe saved, and this one proves how little a Greek kitchen needs when the honey is good.
Pasteli belongs to the oldest layer of Greek sweets, with sesame and honey preparations recorded in antiquity as wedding and feast foods long before refined sugar entered the kitchen. In Messinia and especially around Kalamata, it became a market and fair sweet, tied to local honey and the old sesame trade of the Peloponnese. Regional versions range from soft and chewy to hard and crisp; the Kalamata style is commonly cut into firm, snappy bars.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
hulled sesame seeds
Quantity
300g
Greek thyme honey
Quantity
250g
granulated sugar
Quantity
50g
lemon juice
Quantity
1 tablespoon
finely grated lemon zest
Quantity
1 teaspoon
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 pinch
neutral oil
Quantity
1 teaspoon
for the paper and knife
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| hulled sesame seeds | 300g |
| Greek thyme honey | 250g |
| granulated sugar | 50g |
| lemon juice | 1 tablespoon |
| finely grated lemon zest | 1 teaspoon |
| fine sea salt | 1 pinch |
| neutral oilfor the paper and knife | 1 teaspoon |
Equipment Needed
- •heavy saucepan, 20cm
- •sugar thermometer
- •rolling pin
- •flat baking tray, about 30cm by 40cm
- •baking paper
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the tray
Line a flat baking tray with baking paper and brush it very lightly with oil. Oil a second sheet of paper and keep it beside you. Pasteli waits for nobody once the honey is ready.
- 2
Toast the sesame
Put the sesame seeds in a wide dry pan over medium heat. Stir often for 5 to 7 minutes, until they smell nutty and a few seeds turn pale gold. Tip them into a bowl at once so they don't darken in the hot pan.
Don't brown sesame hard here. It turns bitter quickly, and honey will make that bitterness louder. - 3
Cook the honey
Put the honey, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a steady boil over medium heat and cook until the syrup reaches 150 C on a sugar thermometer, 8 to 12 minutes. This is the step that decides the sweet: below hard stage, pasteli bends and sticks to your teeth; at hard stage, it sets crisp and cuts clean.
- 4
Fold in sesame
Take the pan off the heat and immediately stir in the toasted sesame. Work quickly with a wooden spoon until every seed is glossy and coated. The mixture will thicken fast, as it should.
- 5
Roll it thin
Scrape the hot mixture onto the oiled paper. Cover with the second oiled sheet and roll it into a rough rectangle about 8mm thick. Press the edges in with the side of the rolling pin so the bars are compact, not crumbly.
- 6
Cut while warm
After 4 to 5 minutes, lift off the top paper and score the pasteli into bars with an oiled knife. Cut all the way through while it is still warm and flexible. If you wait until it is cold, the knife will crack it wherever it likes.
- 7
Cool and store
Let the bars cool completely, then separate them and wrap in baking paper. Store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 weeks, away from damp air. Good pasteli should snap, then soften as you chew.
Chef Tips
- •Use a strong Greek honey you like eating from the spoon. Thyme honey is excellent, but orange blossom honey also belongs in a Greek kitchen. Poor honey makes poor pasteli, no ceremony can rescue it.
- •A sugar thermometer is not showing off here. Honey changes quickly at the end, and the number saves you from a sticky tray. If you have no thermometer, drop a little syrup into cold water: it should harden into brittle threads, not a soft ball.
- •Keep pasteli away from humidity. Damp air steals the snap. Wrap the bars in baking paper and store them in a tin, the old practical way.
Advance Preparation
- •Toast the sesame up to 2 days ahead and keep it airtight once completely cool.
- •Cut and wrap the pasteli the same day you make it; it keeps well for 3 weeks at room temperature in a dry tin.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 29g)
Calories
120 calories
Total Fat
8 g
Saturated Fat
1 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
7 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
10 mg
Total Carbohydrates
16 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
14 g
Protein
3 g
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