What does Rio de Janeiro share in common with the Greek city of Xanthi in Northeast Greece? Most probably one would answer they are sister cities because it is impossible to think that the common denominator is  the name Carioca, an adjective for the natives of Rio, from the indigenous Tupi language meaning "white man's house.” Somehow, the name reached Xanthi, Greece and became the name of the city’s trademark sweet since last century, the karioka. Recently, the city of Xanthi has had an original idea: to certify its sweet karioka as the official sweet of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Already, the confectionery industry of Xanthi produces 56 million pieces of karioka per year, using 70 tons of chocolate, equal amount of chestnuts and 15 tons of butter. The sweets are already exported to Europe, Australia and the United States. Overall, the city is the wonderland of oriental sweets: baklava, kantaifi, ekmek, saragli, walnut pie, samali and ravani, is only an introduction to syrup pastries!

Greek News Agenda: More on Xanthi City