Papanikolaou Cheese Dairy
Shops & local products
Samothraki's only cheese dairy, in Makrylies: feta, graviera and island cheeses made from local sheep and goat milk, with a small farm shop.
- Shops & local products
The island's cheese, made in Makrylies
The Papanikolaou dairy in the village of Makrylies is the only cheese maker on Samothraki. Panagiotis Papanikolaou's grandfather opened it in 1953; years after it closed, Panagiotis came home from his studies in Thessaloniki and reopened the family business with his father.
Each spring and summer around sixty island farmers bring their milk here. The cheeses are made only from Samothraki milk, roughly four parts sheep to one part goat, from animals that graze the island's wild herbs.
What they make
- Feta and graviera, the hard, tangy cheese that won a Gastronomos award in 2013
- Myzithra, a soft whey cheese often eaten with honey, and anthotyro
- Formaela for grilling, kaskavali and kaseri
- Makrylisio, named after the village
The small shop also sells cold-pressed olive oil, honey, oregano and other herbs, herbal soaps and natural cosmetics. Most cheeses are vacuum-packed or in brine, so they travel home well. Papanikolaou graviera also turns up on taverna menus around the island.
Finding it
The shop is on the left of the road from Kamariotissa towards Xiropotamos as you pass through Makrylies, a village of only a few houses.
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