In Crete, bread is never missing from the table. In the old days, families used to knead dozens of okades of flour—hasiko and wheat—every time they baked.

Eftazymo is a traditional, fragrant, and fluffy Cretan bread—something truly special.

Everything starts with the kounenos, a kind of thick paste made by mixing ground chickpeas with lukewarm water. This humble mixture is what makes the bread rise naturally, without yeast.

Cretan women prepare the kounenos and tend to it with the same care they give their children. Then they knead the dough, let it rest and rise slowly.

The whole process—from kneading to baking—is almost sacred, both for the housewife and the householder.

They fire up the wood oven with astoivida, olive branches or dry vines. Once the oven walls turn white, they clean the bottom using the panistis, a long wooden stick with a cloth tied at the end.

Each bread is placed carefully on a long wooden peel and then into the hot oven.

When the bread is ready and pulled out, the entire neighbourhood fills with its aroma.

They remove the loaves one by one, eat the first ones warm with olives and cheese—this is called the xefournia—save a few for the family, and break the rest by hand to make dakos.

Ingredients

• 1 cup ground chickpeas

• 2 kg white flour

• ½ kg wheat flour

• ½ kg barley flour

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 2 tsp salt

• 1 ½ tsp black pepper

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 5 ground mastic tears

• 1 wineglass sugar

• 3 litres warm water

• 1 wineglass olive oil

Step-by-Step

Step 1 – The Kounenos
In a mosora (a large clay or metal bowl), mix ½ litre of warm water with 1 cup ground chickpeas, a handful of white flour, ½ tsp pepper, 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp salt. Stir until you get a thick paste. Cover with a warm cloth and leave it in a warm place.
In 5–7 hours it will rise and almost double in size, turning into a foamy, intensely aromatic starter.

Step 2 – The Prozymi
Once the kounenos is ready, transfer it to a large trough. Add 1 tsp baking soda, 1 kg white flour and 1 litre warm water. Mix until it becomes a stiff batter. Sprinkle with flour, cover, and let it rest in a warm spot for 40–50 minutes until it rises again.

Step 3 – The Dough
When the starter starts to fall, add 1 wineglass olive oil, 1 tsp cumin, ½ tsp pepper, 1 tsp cinnamon, 5 crushed mastic tears, 1 tsp salt, 1 wineglass sugar and 1 litre warm water. Add the remaining flour and knead until the dough becomes firm.

Step 4 – Shaping the Loaves
Shape the dough into round loaves or long shapes like dakos. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, cover and leave them to rise for about an hour in a warm spot.

Bake in a preheated oven at 170°C (fan) for about 1 hour.

Cretan Glossary

• Okades: old unit of weight

• Kounenos: natural chickpea starter

• Astoivida: wild shrub used for kindling

• Panizoun ton pato: cleaning the oven floor with a damp cloth

• Panistis: stick with cloth for oven cleaning

• Xefournia: moment when fresh bread comes out of the oven

• Dakos: traditional Cretan barley rusk

• Mosora: large mixing bowl

Lena Igoumenaki
President of the Cretan Cuisine Festival Association