Today, just as in Ancient Times, honey has a symbolic meaning.

For example:

• Honey was used at celebrations as a symbol of fertility and well-being
• Honey with walnuts and pastelia (honey and sesame seed bars) are offered to the bridal couple and guests
• In Crete, a traditional wedding dessert is fried dough served with honey (xerotigano)
• On the island of Rhodes, on the eve of a wedding, melekounia are prepared, a dessert with honey, sesame seeds and flower water
• Buns kneaded with honey are given to new mothers
• Pancakes and omelettes with honey are left as an offering at cemeteries after Easter for the resurrection of the souls
• To ring in the new year, homemakers would place nuts, an olive branch and a jar of honey on the table
• Christmas and New Year’s goodies are prepared with honey: melomakarona (spiced cookies), diples (a cross between a doughnut and funnel cake) and sweet buns
• In Crete, the bride and groom are required to eat a spoonful of walnuts and honey during the wedding ceremony. In many villages, the guests are also given walnuts with honey (Tesi Daferera, The Greek Diet, All in Good Measure, Grafida, Athens, 2001).

A necessary delight at any festive table are desserts dripping with honey, the symbol of happiness and abundance: diples, loukoumades, xerotigano, melomakarona, loukoumia, baclava, karydopita (walnut cake), together with fruits and nuts, such as pomegranates, chestnuts, almonds and walnuts (Centre for the Preservation and Dissemination of Greek Culinary Traditions "Archestratos", Greek Cuisine, Greek National Tourism Organisation, Athens, 1999).