Cretan Cuisine

Crete cuisine is one of the cuisines in the world with oldest and tasty traditions which started from the prehistoric period. Cretan diet has the most characteristic and quality in Mediterranean diets. Studies have shown that Cretan population has the lowest mortality and shown that they have the least mortality resulting from cancers and cardio-vascular diseases in the world.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the Mediterranean diet is rich in cereals, fruit, vegetables and good fats which are the health food. It seems that the main factor contributing to lowest mortality is due to them being the largest consumption of best quality olive oil in the world. Cretan diets have their own secret recipe with Mother Nature. They incorporate large amounts of vegetables, fruit and pulses. Instead of using artificial seasoning, they use natural seasonings such as basil and thyme. More often than not, the locals enjoy their meals with local-made wines and bread baked traditionally.

Cretans fill themselves with a variety of dishes in a meal, and they take their time in preparing a variety of dishes. Their cuisine is made with natural resources for example desserts are made with natural sweetening such as honey and molasses. Instead of using sugar which is product of chemical elaboration and industrialized, honey which is a natural sweetener is used in their food preparation and cooking. The Mediterranean source of fat is olive oil. The Cretans uses olive oil to replace other sources of fat such as butter which is widely used in other parts of the world. Olive oil is another member of the health food family. It has the strongest antioxidant property as a natural product. The soil and climate in Crete and Mediterranean are good for the flourish of olive trees, thus producing good quality olive oil with wonderful aroma and low acidity. Some of the dishes made according to traditional recipes are stuffed vine leaves, cream cheese, boiled snakes, honey and cheese, Sfakia pies and casserole, rusks, staka, patty and rabbit casserole.

Visitors can get a taste of Cretan cuisine easily in Crete simply by dining in the many restaurants and taverns offering traditional dishes. Visitors can even bring home natural products from traditional stores. that any visitor would cherish. In the pages of "Touring" you will find more information on all these villages.