Smyrna cookies, along with tsoureki and red eggs, are now an essential component of many households’ culinary traditions. We refer to them as Smyrna cookies because they originated in Asia Minor. In Smyrna, they are called Easter cookies because they are traditionally associated with Easter. In Greece, however, they were referred to as Smyrna cookies because they became widely known after 1922, when refugees from Asia Minor brought with them the recipes of their homeland. According to Aikaterini Polymerou-Kamilaki, former director and scientific collaborator of the Hellenic Folklore Research Centre of the Academy of Athens, sweet and fluffy breads, such as cakes, were virtually unknown in Greece. The same is true for sugar, a luxury item that was rarely used in Greek confectionery, except as a sweetener in beverages, and was only available to the privileged social classes. The most common sweeteners were honey and grape molasses.

However, sugar was a popular ingredient in cosmopolitan Smyrna, where it was imported from Europe via Constantinople. “Recipes on how to make cakes, sponge cakes, meringues, and sweet breads also arrived from Europe together with sugar, allowing the women of Asia Minor to perfect recipes such as vasilopita (which in Smyrna was a sweet cake with dried fruits, nuts, and spices), tsoureki, and of course cookies and koulourakia,” explains Mrs. Polymerou-Kamilaki.

One starts to appreciate the variety, finesse, and uniqueness of their sweets when one considers the abundance of spices they also had at their disposal, such as cardamom, vanilla, mahleb, mastic from the island of Chios, and so many other “strange” ingredients. Privileged and daring, the women of Smyrna created a baking tradition that was entirely different from that of Greece.

Smyrna means exotic

These kinds of desserts were unknown to the Greeks. Greek vasilopita, for instance, was traditionally a savoury filo pastry pie filled with meat, poultry, and/or vegetables. Similarly, Christopsomo was made without sugar or spices and instead sweetened with a small amount of honey or grape molasses “to sweeten the new year.” Tsoureki was unknown. In other words, people were unfamiliar with sweet, fluffy, baked goods, except in major cities. As soon as tsoureki, sponge cakes, cakes (some even with chocolate and cocoa!), and fluffy koulourakia scented with butter and mastic were introduced, they were embraced, loved and adopted immediately. The term smyrneika (“from Smyrna”) was applied to everything the women of Smyrna brought with them, which is how these cookies got their name.

Smyrna cookies are made primarily with high-quality butter and aromatic spices such as vanilla, but orange zest or mastic are also used. Despite the numerous variations, they are all distinguished by their fluffy yet crispy texture, aroma, and finesse. The most common shapes are an elongated spiral (like a small boat), a snail, and a double snail, but they are frequently braided into a simple braid as well.