In Crete, galatera are the traditional Easter breads made especially for Holy Thursday. Locals also call them avgotes—because at the center of each bread sits a single, bright red egg.

These festive loaves get their name from the generous amount of milk (gala) used in the dough. The sourdough starter is reactivated—anepiazete, as Cretans say—with warm milk and flour, which also gives the bread its unique softness and slightly sweet taste. The same dough is used to make anevata kalitsounia, the beloved sweet cheese pastries of the season.

In earlier times, every child in the family would get their own koutsouna—a small bread shaped like a doll, either a boy or a girl. It was their Easter gift, and they looked forward to it all year long.

Ingredients

• 2 okades of flour (approx. 2.56 kg)

• ½ okada yogurt (approx. 640 g)

• ½ okada milk (approx. 640 g)

• ½ okada sugar (approx. 640 g)

• 75 dramia butter (approx. 240 g)

• ground mastiha

How It’s Made

The process begins the night before. The starter is mixed with half the flour and half the lukewarm milk. By morning, when the dough has risen well, the remaining milk is gently heated—never to boiling—and the sugar is stirred in until dissolved.

This warm, sweet milk mixture is then combined with the starter in a large traditional basin, the mosora, and more flour is added gradually. Finally, the butter goes in, and everything is kneaded gently into a soft dough. It might be sticky at first, but once it rises, the texture becomes smooth and workable.

Cover the dough with a warm cloth and leave it to rise for 3 to 4 hours.

Once ready, the fun begins. The dough is shaped into loaves—or animals, birds, reptiles, anything the imagination allows. They're decorated with nuts and pieces of dough shaped into little ornaments. For the eyes, whole cloves are used.

The loaves are then placed on parchment-lined trays and left to rise for another hour. Just before baking, they're brushed with a beaten egg mixed with a splash of water to give them that golden finish.

Bake in a preheated oven at 160°C for 30 to 40 minutes, until they’re a lovely golden brown.

Lena Igoumenaki

President of the Cretan Cuisine Festival Association