mastélo

Mastélo is a word with several meanings. It’s a white flavorful, chewy goat or cow milk cheese from Chíos and Tínos, ideal for grilling, not unlike haloumi. The name comes from the Venetian word for ‘milk bucket’. Designated PDO (ΠΟΠ).

On Sífnos, however, μαστέλο Σίφνου means both a special clay cooking pot made on the island, and a dish of mutton or kid with suet, red wine and dill, slow baked on vine twigs arranged on the bottom of the pot. It’s also used for slow cooking the island’s famous chick pea stew, revytháda.