Prespes Lakes and Greek broad beans in tomato sauce (gigantes)

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The Prespes Lakes under the rain….

I wanted to visit the Prespes Lakes all my life, and thus was a little gutted to arrive with drizzling rain there last month!

Still, the vistas were so fantastic and the energy of the place so compelling I soon forgot it was raining as I walked about carefree, sans unbrella…

At the Small Prespa Lake, we took the bridge to the tiny isle of St Achilleios (Acchiles). The air was fresh and full of birdsong. The isle was lush all over as you can see in the photographs.

In the short time we had we managed to visit the remains of the Basilica of St Acchileios dating from the 10th century.

A short ride on the coach later, we arrived at the fishing village of Psarades on the shore of the Big Prespa Lake where we enjoyed trout on the BBQ and a plate of locally farmed broad beans (gigantes) in a rich tomato sauce.

Above, you can see the table where we sat. I was instantly drawn to this corner as I loved the painting of the Big Prespa Lake. And that says a lot because on the other side of the seating area there was a woodstove burning, which would have been nice, seeing we arrived to eat rather damp all over haha

Walking around the village after our meal didn’t take long as it is tiny, and it looked rather forlorn that day – hardly any locals or tourists about. Water buffaloes and rare species of dwarf cows were grazing by the lake. It all made for a thrilling sight. All the while, it didn’t stop drizzling with rain, and it was pretty chilly too, but nothing could mar the experience for me.

The Prespa Lakes are on the Greek border to the countries of Albania and North Macedonia. Greece shares the Small Prespa with Albania, and the Big Prespa with Albania and North Madedonia.

Delicious Greek ‘giants’

‘Gigantes’ means giants, and this is the cute ‘ name the Greeks use for broad beans.

Coming back home from the Prespes Lakes, I brought a big pack of gigantes with me, which I’d bought from a local producer on the shore of the Small Prespa. It doesn’t get better than that, I guess, to get the real deal, as the Prespes beans are famous in Greece.

The taste was superb, just like the meal tasted during that taverna meal I mentioned earlier. I included celery (the thick variety, not the slim Greek one) and it gave the meal the exact taste I recall from that taverna meal. GO HERE to get the recipe. It includes mentions to two different variations you can try! Each uses different ingredients that provide a totally new experience every time.

 

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