Petimezi

Traditional grape concentrate, 100% fresh grape, high nutritional value. Εxcellent energy source, rich in minerals.

Petimezi is a thick syrup made by boiling fresh grape juice. The flavor is not just sweet, but much more complex, slightly bitter background. Rich in energy, iron and calcium. It contains no preservatives, colour additives or sugar. It gathers the most therapeutic ingredients of grapes and is usually used:

• unchanged as it is, in small "morning shots" for instant energy enhancement: excellent source of iron (anaemia), soothing throat (sore throat, cough), relieving symptoms of depression
• In cooking, as a natural sweetener for marinades especially with vinegar for sweet or sour sauces and balsamic salad
• In pastry with flour for making  Moustalevria (a kind of pudding)  and Moustokouloura (a kind of biscuits), as a sweetener in beverages, yogurt, cakes, cookies and especially as a syrup on homemade pancakes and honey balls.

Uses
In modern cuisine, its uses extend beyond baking.  Added to dishes of meat, fish and vegetables, sauces and dressings it satisfies the appetite of contemporary Greek gastronomes for something traditional, yet new. Petimezi also acts as a preservative in the country cuisine, especially in eggplant and pumpkin sweets. It is poured over toasted bread in “Tsaletia” (pancakes hoecake - an old dish from Samos), in small pies from Tinos like” Fesklopita” to more traditional dishes and at least in one sweet and sour dish with fish, “the Saboro” in many variations in Cyclades.
It is best for accompanying sweet balls and pancakes . It is a wonderful sugar substitute  in beverages, but also in pastry, used instead of syrup in ice cream and yogurt or in green salads with vinegar. In summer it is a lovely refreshing drink (1 part petimezi into 4 parts cold water) and slush (1 part petimezi into 4 parts crushed ice ).

High Nutritional value (% per 100g): Βrix: 85,2oBx / Μοisture: 26,8 / Proteins: 0,6 / Fat: 0,0 / Crude Fibre: 0,0 / Carbohydrates: 65,9 / Energy: 266Kcal / Energy: 1117Kj
Iron (≈): 1,2mg / Calcium (≈): 74mg / Phosphorus (≈): 40 mg,
Petimezi is a 100 % natural product made without adding preservatives, dyes and sugar, which is actually kept long without refrigeration  This dark thick elixir  has been sweetening the human palate for centuries.

Articles about its nutritional qualities are full of references to its history, which goes back to Minoan times, and in many different recipes and pastry.

In other words, our ancient sweetener makes a dynamic comeback! Imagine that the biologist, gastronome and orator, amongst others, Athenaeus (late 2nd - early 3rd centure A.D.) describes in his writings a fish recipe with petimezi. Let's not forget that it was traditionally the main sweetener in every Greek house, which was later replaced by sugar. It seems that it is time to reclaim the position it deserves.