"The pretty haired Hekamede, gave them kykeon. The old man brought Hekamede from Tenedos, as a present. The greeks had hime choose a woman for his high experience. Hekamede first put a table in front of them, with a shining dark surface, a beautiful varnished table. She put a plate with an onion and yellow honey to be mixed to liquor on the table. She brought the sacred barley flour beside. This beautiful woman prepared them kykeon with pramnos wine in a cup. She grated goat cheese into it with a bronze grate. She sprinkled barley flour on top of it and when the kykeon was ready she invited them to drink."

(Homeros, Ilyad From the book 11 Antique Era Foods translated by Betül Avunç)

The place where the french explorer had to stop with his ships because of the storm, where he had to step down and drink in the taverns was Tenedos, and Hekamede was from Tenedos. It is nowadays known as Bozcaada. This small island has been for ages the meeting points of important travelers, and has gone into historical archives because of the delicious foods prepared by its women. Bozcaada is still continuing with its historical specificity nowadays in the same way. Moreover, it is getting richer and richer with the time passing.

An important part of foods and ingredients used in foods from antique ages are still a part of today's Bozcaada Food Culture. And those are still being used nowadays.

The snakefish stew described in writings dated of 400 before J.C. is still being cooked. The food recipes collector Apicius also describes a wild rabbit kebab that is still being cooked with almost the same recipe.

The food described by Galenos as a crepe of honey and sesame, named "lagana" is still existing under the name of lalanga. A plant from the family of nettles not grown in temperate climated aread, growing in the soil, and described as a flavoured spice, named "kaliminta" has been largely used in foods at that time. There is a plant that I think is the same plant, named "kafkalita" in Rum language, that suits perfectly to the reciped given, and that is used in Bozcaada foods.

This is one of the several examples of the wealth of Bozcaada's food culture, preserved better than any of the other Northern Egean sea islands'. As a consequence, its importance is not only for our country, but for the whole Egean-Mediterranean area.

Moreover, this food culture has met with a lot of new ingrdients through time, the Anatolian influence has been carrying on even to this small part of land. Stuffed kid, stewed manti have come to complete the variety of foods.

It is impossible to summarize Bozcaada foods in one chapter. Squid, octopus, sea urchins and a lot of sea foods, lamb, kid, rabbit, partridge variations of meat and hunt foods, nettles, sorrel, and countless species of plants, broad beans, artichokes, black-eyed peas, squash etc... vegetable foods, fruits like black mulberry, plum, pomegranate, fig, tomatoes jam, baklava like desserts, drinks like wine, liquor also need to be named. If it is impossible to write about each of them here we will try to in the coming times.

Is most of these foods are generally cooked at home by Bozcaada inhabitants, a part of them are proposed to visitors by the restaurants, taverns and cafes.

In the other hand, we hear about these reciped being transported out of the island and taking place in menus of other places, by the way of newspapers. It is a pleasure for us.