Cattle-farming is especially widespread on Naxos Island, and constitutes one of the main sources of the island’s wealth. Hundreds of hogs and beef cattle graze in the valleys, whereas sheep and goats graze in the more mountainous areas.

The locals produce those splendid Naxian cheeses from these animals’ milk – staple cheeses like kefalotiri, anthotiro, kopanisti, xinomizithra, and xinotiro. But truly exceptional is Naxian graviera, one of Greece’s most popular cheeses, made from cow’s milk.

Because of its exceptional quality, it has been conferred with an officially protected name/origin designation since 1996, and is easily identifiable by its hardness and its small scattered holes. After its production, it is placed in specially shaped molds, where it remains for at least three months, where it ages and forms its unique outer crust.

Arseniko (also known as kefalotiri) on the other hand, is a yellow cheese made from a combination of sheep’s and goat’s milk. Its distinct hardness and sharpness make it the perfect choice to go with your meze (hors d’oeuvres) at “ouzo time” (traditionally around 11:00 a.m. to noon.)

Xinomizithra, on the other hand, is a creamy-rich version of “cottage cheese” produced from goats’ milk. The Naxian variety is prepared within one day of the goat’s milking, and the cheese must be consumed with a few days; otherwise it spoils, and as a result is rendered inedible.

Xinotiro – it means “sour cheese” – on the other hand, while produced in approximately the same way as xinomizithra, differs in that the former ages within a few days, in order to become hard.