This tiny square is Vrachlioti Square but Corfiots know it simply as Pinia. The well in the middle was a source of water in the Venetian times, and you can see that it’s still a commercial hub from the shops around it. One of these is our first hidden gem – the dairy shop of Periklis Alexis, operating here since the 1950s. Now in its 4th generation, Periklis Alexis’ Dairy Shop has been a favourite of kings and politicians. It has dairy products made from local milk, including rice pudding and galaktoboureko (a custard pie made with filo pastry and a dusting of icing sugar and cinnamon) and it specialises in butter. For most of the year, Corfu’s butter has a characteristic yellow colour because of the grass the cows graze on. But in the summer, it is whiter as the cows are kept indoors.