What do I do with this?

[Inspectorlemon]

Are there any Greek mums on here who can tell me what this is and what to do with it?

According to Chat GPT that's Sweet Trahana. I was going to say it looks like Bulger wheat but Chat GPT tells me that's only partly true - it's a fermented grain product that has been made with milk, often used in soups. So I guess like you might put lentils or bulgher or similar.

I did a google image search and got that it's

https://www.agoragreekdelicacies.co.uk/product/trachanas-sour-500gr

So it seems that there's a sour version too.

But it seems a bit like bulghar wheat, so could be substituted. Also might work if you used it like you would cous cous?

Trahana soup is what we make with the regular type, as above, it's made with milk and has a creamy taste once made up with stock and we often serve it with chunks of hallloumi in.
I've never come across a sweet variety though-I'd soak a bit in some hot water and see what it's like, then maybe make it into a rice pudding type pudding?

According to Chat GPT "sweet" just means it's been made with milk instead of yoghurt?

Trahana was created to preserve leftover milk. Basically eaten as a type of porridge/soup. What you've got there is the 'sweet' version. Meaning that that the milk wasn't left to sour and/or yogurt wasn't used. Both the sweet and sour versions are typically rehydrated to make soups.

Trahana can be made with cracked wheat or flour rolled into pellets. The difference will be in the final texture. The first will be chunky (like jumbo oats/chunky peanut butter) and the latter smoother (like porridge oats/smooth peanut butter). I can't quite tell from the picture which yours is, but since it's from Greece it could be the latter.

Think of it like a comforting chicken soup. You can put in stock, chicken meat and/or bones to add even more flavour. Cut in chunks of halloumi towards then end just so that it becomes a bit gooey and a pinch of nigella seeds. Squeeze of lemon and pepper to taste. Koulouri (Cypriot village) bread is amazing with it too. Just watch out for adding too much extra salt because it's salty already.

It's important to soak it first in just enough water to cover. If you're just feeding yourself a good indication of portion size is as much as you can grab with one hand. Once it's soaked for at least an hour it should start to break apart. Then it's just a case of heating it slowly with enough water to get your desired thickness. It shouldn't take more than about 20 minutes, although you must keep stirring frequently because it'll stick to the bottom of the pan.

Thank you everyone. The ingredients say goat and cows milk, groats and salt. I will give it a try in a soup maybe.