Greek Sweets of the Spoon (Greek: Γλυκά Του Κουταλιού), these traditional Greek "spoon" fruit sweets are irresistible either as toppings on ice cream, mixed in yogurt, served on the side with coffee, or spread as jam toppings. Visitors to a Greek home are traditionally offered a sweet welcome with a spoonful of homemade preserves served to guests in a small crystal dish. Any traditional café or kefeneion would also offer a well filled teaspoon (hence the name) accompanied with a glass of iced water.
These unique desserts from Greece are made by using home-style country fruit preserves as a singularity of the Greek confectionery. They represent a warm welcome for the visitor to the friendly environment of a Greek home reflecting the spirit of country's hospitality. These sweets are usually homemade according to the art and secrets of each housewife but in recent years they can also be easily found in supermarkets. They were called 'spoon sweets' because the usual serving size was a well-filled teaspoon. Most of these sweets were prepared at the time of year each fruit matured: apricots, prunes, grapes, quince, bergamot, citrus, wild cherries, watermelon rind and figs followed each other from early summer to late autumn. Other varieties such as pistachio, walnut, fig and bitter orange used fruit that was not yet fully ripe. Sometimes spoon sweets are made by using vegetables (such as eggplants or tomatoes) or even flower petals, mastic and vanilla known as Vanilla Glyko Koutaliou which is a very thick dense white sweet made out of vanilla that has a very thick dense molasses quantity to it but in vanilla form, it is packaged in glass or plastic boxes. This spoon dessert is eaten while being dipped into a tall cold glass of water. The Greek name for this dessert is known as "ipovrichio" which means "submarine", because its dunked into water, henche the name. The art of making sweets by fruits is still alive and well and be can found almost everywhere in Greece. The Greek fruit preserves made from the purest and healthiest raw materials are some of the most sought after Greek products and they are exported worldwide. The main difference between spoon sweets and jams or preserves is that the spoon fruit sweets retains their original shapes and color as well as their taste and aroma. This wonderful spoon sweet is also a tasty on toast at breakfast time.