The first women’s cooperatives were created around 1950 when Greece was still very poor and when there was little food. It was set up to give women a moderate income and in order that they could join forces to cook and preserve the little food there was.
Nowadays the women’s cooperatives have different roles. Because of the existence of a cooperative, women can have a job with responsibility, outside their home. They work together with other women so they can improve their social skills and they can share their knowledge of cooking. But there is more.
The women’s cooperative of Petra was created in 1983, not only to cook or do other handicrafts, but also to rent rooms to tourists. They had 3,500 clients a year, so at that time a hotel was not necessary and tourism stayed in local hands. Because of the business, work positions were created, especially for young girls who otherwise had to move out of their village in order to find a job. They also ran a restaurant with local food. Nowadays the women’s cooperatives are a part of the village economy.
In most villages on Lesvos nowadays you can find women’s cooperatives where women together preserve fruit and vegetables, and as in Petra, they often rent rooms. The cooperative in Molyvos has a ’tearoom’ (with a beautiful view on orchards) where they not only serve cookies, cake or other sweets, but also provide the little ‘meze’ dishes which goes with an ouzo.
In all women’s cooperatives you can buy local products. They vary from jams, cookies, cake, tomato sauces and pasta to the famous spoon sweet ’gliko koutaliou’ (fruit or vegetables preserved in sugar syrup). Often they make various sweet food containing almonds and walnuts and they use everything which grows in and around the village. Thanks to the women’s cooperatives many old recipes stay alive.
Natura can take you to one of the many women’s cooperatives on Lesvos. You can taste various products but you can also look into the kitchen to see how they cook and how they preserve. Maybe you even want to help in rolling the pasta or peeling the fruit, in order to try your hand at it. And who knows, maybe they even want to share some recipes with you.
