Craft sesame-honey bars in a courtyard of sweet tradition.
Somewhere in the lanes of Livadia, behind a low stone wall and under a canopy of lemon and orange trees, Harikleia is roasting sesame. You can smell it before you arrive. It’s one of those things to do in Andros that no guidebook lists — and exactly the kind of experience that ends up being the highlight of a trip.
Pasteli — sesame-honey bars pressed into wooden moulds and left to cool on marble — is one of the oldest sweets in the Greek world, and Andros has its own particular way of making it. Harikleia has been doing it for decades, and this evening she shares the whole ritual with us: roasting the seeds, boiling the honey syrup to exactly the right moment, pressing the golden mixture into moulds with confident hands, and waiting.
While the pasteli sets, we sit around the courtyard table, sip raki and cold water, swap stories, and note down recipes. You leave with your own sweet creations wrapped to take home — and with a very particular memory of an Andriot evening.
