Skopelos cheese pie, or tyropita skopelitiki, is the island’s best-known culinary export: a spiral, snail-shaped pie made from hand-rolled phyllo and local goat cheese, fried rather than baked. It’s sold across Greece labelled simply as ‘skopelitiki’, a mark of where the recipe originated.

The food angle

What distinguishes this pie from a standard Greek tyropita is both the shape and the method: the dough is rolled into a long sheet, filled, rolled into a sausage shape, then twisted into a tight spiral and fried in olive oil rather than baked in an oven.

What to try

The classic version uses just flour, olive oil and local goat cheese (often blended with the softer anthotyro for balance), though variations with spinach, onion, sweet pastry cream or even chocolate have become common across the island.

Where to try it

Bakeries and tavernas across Skopelos Town and the larger villages sell it, often fresh in the morning; several beachside cafés also serve it as a quick lunch option. Look for it listed simply as ‘tyropita skopelitiki’ on menus.

Local product context

The recipe is widely believed to have arrived on Skopelos with women from neighbouring Alonissos, brought either as brides or as olive-picking labourers, and to have evolved on the island over generations into its current twisted form. Every family tends to have its own slight variation on the filling ratio.

Before you go

It’s traditionally eaten hot, straight from the pan, so look for spots that fry to order rather than pre-made trays sitting under glass. Pair it with a glass of local wine or a strong Greek coffee for the full effect.

• Spiral-shaped, fried rather than baked
• Made with hand-rolled phyllo and local goat cheese
• Recipe believed to have arrived via Alonissos
• Best eaten hot, fresh from the pan