The first time I ordered sitaka I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It came to me in a terracotta bowl: white, creamy, with a drizzle of oil and a teaspoon of wild honey on top. I thought it was ricotta. I was wrong, but in a good way.
Sitaka is a traditional dairy product of Karpathos, made from local goat's milk. The process is similar to that of ricotta — the whey is heated until it curdles — but the result has a richness and a complexity of flavour that industrial ricotta doesn't come close to. The island's goats graze on wild herbs, thyme, oregano, myrtle: and you can taste it.
Sitaka with Karpathos honey is one of those pairings that existed before anyone invented the word "pairing". It just works.
You can find it almost everywhere on the island, but the best versions are the homemade ones, the ones the tavern makes itself. Ask for it as a starter, with some homemade Karpathian bread. It's the kind of food that makes you realise you're eating in a real kitchen, not a copy of one.