Rarely is a social event conducted outside of a meal in Greece. Food is a tasty, central element in most family gatherings. And, Greeks have a particular flair for preparing fresh, healthy foods gathered from the vast countryside. Already from the ancient times, Greeks appear to have been aware of the value of food like olive oil, olives, green vegetables, herbs and many other products found in great abundance.

During their history of many centuries, it is obvious that Greeks based their diet on those products - with cooking recipes preserved to today. But, that doesn't mean that fermented beverages were overlooked. Grape-gathering, wine-making and tsikoudia-making are activities enjoyed in the autumn every year. Wine-making involves crushing the grapes in special stone constructions called "patitiria." This is done by several people taking turns, walking or running in place on top of the grapes.

Tsikoudia or "raki" is a strong local drink made from the remains in the patitiria, after most of the grape juice has been removed. This is allowed to ferment and then is distilled. Traditional methods and machinery are still used.