Located in the heart of Ermoupoli’s market, in the famed Manavika area, Prekas Grocery Store may not be lavish in design, but it is unique. Its shelves are filled with every possible Syros delicacy – from loukoumia (Turkish delight) and wines to louza (cured pork), kopanisti cheese, and candied eggplant. Other islands are represented, too, as more than half of the products he sells come from the Cyclades.

Kostas Prekas founded the store in the early 1990s, initially in a different part of Ermoupoli before relocating to Manavika, taking over a pre-war grocery store that had been operating as a delicatessen. He was just 22 years old. Just as the merchants of old once did, he set out across Greece in search for quality products. “Without really knowing what I was doing, I went from café to café in villages, asking locals where they sourced their trahana, their cheese, or they honey,” the grocer recalls.

Prekas quickly recognized the value of traditional gastronomy, not only as a cultural asset but also as an essential part of the visitor experience in a tourist destination such as Syros. He researched local agricultural production and traditional recipes, encouraging restaurateurs and chefs to incorporate them into their menus. Over time, he established his own workshop, becoming one of the first to collect, process and package capers, sea fennel, sun-dried tomatoes, pastelaries (dried figs) and many other traditional Cycladic products. His efforts significantly expanded the range of standardized products from Syros, contributing to the promotion of the island’s unique culinary culture.

Among the many delicacies in the store are such rare Cycladic products as Folegandros split peas, wild lavender honey from Serifos, tiny wetland snails from Syros, aged Kassos graviera cheese, and his own sun-dried capers. Many of these Cycladic products were items that Prekas found during his travels and subsequently introduced to the wider market, giving them space on his shelves and enthusiastically recommending them to customers.

His hard work led, inevitably, to the expansion and renovation of the store. Many of the award-winning products from this year’s Gastronomos Awards are already on his shelves, spotted by his experienced eye, and new selections will likely follow. Among other achievements, he played a key role in reviving xeroloukoumo (a local spin on Turkish delight) and in promoting the cultivation of tsapatsoupa, a rare striped tomato variety from Syros. On his farm in Apano Meria, he grows a portion of the tomatoes that he sun-dries, along with Mykonian green beans. In the past, when he struggled to find Greek sesame seeds for pastelaries, he collaborated with farmers on Paros and in Evros to cultivate a local variety.

His library is a treasure trove of Syros’ cultural heritage; among the volumes is the first cookbook printed in Greece (Η Μαγειρική), published on Syros in 1828, as well as an important 1790 Paris-published beekeeping manual authored by Syros’ own abbot, Father Stefanos Dellarokas.

“Customers who have their own trusted grocer, fishmonger and greengrocer are truly lucky – especially if they’re professionals,” Prekas said on the occasion of receiving his award, in an acceptance speech that also warned that the grocer’s trade is, unfortunately, disappearing.

Kostas Prekas is proud of his island and his region. For 32 years, his grocery store has been a beacon of local culinary heritage – a true promoter of the best in Cycladic foodstuffs. 

The 17th Quality Awards of Gastronomos were dedicated to the producers of the Cyclades. At a crucial crossroads in the history of the Cyclades, where various circumstances have limited engagement with the primary sector, the awards highlighted the exceptions – those who persist in working the land and tending to livestock, producing cheeses and traditional cured meats, cultivating native varieties, honoring Cycladic traditions, and steadfastly preserving the Cycladic way of life.

This article was previously published in Greek at gastronomos.gr.