Omathies

These traditional Cretan sausages are typically made with a combination of pork offal (usually liver, spleen, and heart), rice or trachanas (usually the local variety of sour trachanas called xinohondros), nuts, dried fruit, spices, and seasonings. Omathies are traditionally flavored with currants, raisins, or sultanas, almonds, salt, pepper, and cumin, while some versions may also contain ingredients such as cinnamon, sugar, orange peel, a variety of herbs, onions, or leeks. Once boiled and chopped, the sausage mixture is typically placed into clean pork intestines, which have previously been soaked in lemon water, vinegar, or wine. The sausages are then usually pricked and boiled in salted water before they’re baked. Associated with the Byzantine period, the preparation of these sausages is believed to date back to ancient Greece. Initially, omathies were a type of blood sausage consisting of pork blood, fat, and cereals. Although blood is not contained in the present-day versions of the sausages, their name, which is derived from the Greek word aima, meaning blood, still reflects the ancient use of blood for their preparation. Traditionally, omathies used to be served as part of the meal eaten on Christmas morning after the church liturgy.