What’s t
he best tsoureki in Greece, money can buy? In my opinion, it’s Terkenlis. Period.
I know, I know. You, your mom and yia yia make a mean Easter bread (τσουρέκι or tsoureki); but to be fair, I did say ‘money can buy,’ and not all of us have a family recipe or a Greek mother at our disposal. Some of us aren’t even Greek.
Terkenlis makes 10 kinds of tsourekia, including chocolate, orange and the traditional one with or without red dyed eggs. I tried the chocolate glazed with chocolate filling and found that too rich, plus it’s so sweet it makes my teeth hurt.
My favorite is the one pictured: Kastano. The bread is moist with chestnut filling divinely swirled throughout, and the crust has a slight crunch after biting through the white chocolate glaze, which adds just the right amount of sweetness. Pascha perfection.
The only drawback is there’s almost always a huge line, even when it’s not tsoureki high season at Easter and Christmas, because unlike northern Greece there are only three five Athens locations, including one at the airport so friends, relatives and visitors can buy and fly. Smart.
A friend in Stockholm saw it for the first time in C’s mobile phone photo and thought it was “a giant ball of cotton tied in barbed wire, wrapped in a gift box.” Frightening. It’s always interesting to hear someone describe items so familiar to us with fresh eyes. After my friend C and I explained tsoureki and Terkenli, he wants one. But how to get it to him without devouring it on the plane? A dilemma, indeed.
Locations in Athens
Halandri
Papanikoli 100-102
Syntagma
Vas. Georgiou 2
Golden Hall
Marousi
Mall of Athens
Marousi
Athens International Airport – Chocoland
Arrivals Level, near Exit ‘5’
Avlona
53rd km. of the Athens-Lamia National Hwy
As of 2012, Terkenlis uses the same name day module I’ve used since 2007 and lists all locations on a dedicated Stores page. As of 2014, it lowered prices and also offers an online store.
*Article last updated April 14, 2014
Related posts
“Easter in Athens”
“Kokoretsi countdown”
“Easter shopping hours in Greece”
Image from www.terkenlis.gr
http://bit.ly/GRTerkenlis
Kat Reply:
April 19th, 2011 at 14:16
When I looked in early March, this was not the case and I cannot update all 300+ articles every day. It does help, and thanks for letting me know.