Archive for the ‘cuisine specialities’ Category

« Older Entries

The sun, the sea and the olive groves

Sunday, May 1st, 2011

For the people of Crete, this beautiful and tranquil island that lies in the Mediterranean Sea, olive oil is at the heart of their entire culture.

Dating back from ancient times the olive groves of Crete have been famed for the quality of olive oil that is produced from them. The Minoans traded this valuable commodity with the Egyptians and other civilisations. Precious metals and jewels were brought back to the island by the Minoans as some of the things that were traded for their valuable oil.

Routing Number CITIZENS BANKK

It was transported in ‘Kamares’, very thin pottery jars that were designed by Minoan potters especially to transport the many goods they introduced to foreign shores.

Olive oil is still a precious commodity for the island of Crete and the world appreciates the wonderful quality of the oil is produced here.

Cretan olive oil

Cretans are proud of their olive groves and they take the processing of their oil very seriously. The first pressing produces extra virgin olive oil which is the purest kind of oil in the world. The extra virgin olive oil that is produced in Crete is green rather than yellow in colour, making it very different than other oils that are on the market.

One tablespoon of olive has 120 calories, 14 grams of fat and no cholesterol whatsoever. Olive oil takes a long time to mature; the newly pressed oil has a bitter taste and needs time to achieve its peak in taste, which is at around a year after it has been processed.

Cretan olives
For 5000 years Cretan olive oil has been thought to be the best in the world and it owes this to the wonder soil, the fantastic climate and the ideal combination of sea breezes and pure mountain air that makes up the island of Crete.

You will see olive groves all over the island and they are a vital part of the Cretan countryside. There are some olive trees that are as old as the hills themselves dating back to 15th or 16th century and these trees are highly cherished by the people of Crete. Locals claim to have the oldest tree in the world found at Pano Vouves, in Kolymvari, Chania and believe this ancient olive tree to be 5000 years old.

For the Cretan people throughout time, the olive tree and the groves were considered to be sacred. Ancient frescoes, paintings and pottery depict the olive tree as being part of their mythology. The gift of an olive branch from the Goddess Athena to the city of Athens made them choose her as their patron Goddess and thus naming their city after her. The olive tree plays an intrinsic role in Greek mythology and is the symbol for peace and victory for the people of Greece today.

Tags: , ,
Posted in cuisine specialities, culture | No Comments »

Crete passionate about Chania Market

Thursday, April 28th, 2011

Falling in love with the island of Crete is easy with all the wonders that it has to offer visitors, it would be hard not to do so. Becoming passionate about the food in Crete is also something that tourists cannot avoid either and one the ways of becoming so passionate is to visit the grand building that houses the incredible market of Chania.

This gorgeous market offers every imaginable ingredient that makes up traditional food and Cretan specialities.

Routing Number CITIZENS BANKK

It first opened at the beginning of the 19th century to celebrate unification of Crete to Greece and was modelled on the market of Marseilles in the south of France which is renowned all over Europe as the best indoor market to be found on that continent.
The market building in Chania is architecturally magnificent and entering it everyone experiences a feeling of pure delight.

There are over 70 shops and cafes inside where tourists and locals can shop and enjoy traditional dishes in a beautifully cool environment.

Chania Crete

The atmosphere in the market is vibrant with the wonderfully full aromas of fresh herbs, bread, coffee and spices wafting through the air around you.

Butchers, bakers, fishmongers and grocers are all vying for space amidst the numerous cafes in a uniquely Cretan setting. There are cheese stalls with vegetable and fruit stands that will tempt you with all their colourful displays of fresh produce. There are stalls that sell the wonderful Cretan honey, olive oil and Raki.

The small cafes serve delicious Cretan dishes so visitors to the market can sit down and enjoy sampling all that there is on offer and watch the shoppers wandering through the market as they do their daily shopping. The market opens every day from 8am until about 1.30pm and every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday it is open in the evenings from 5pm until 8pm. It is a wonderful place to visit after exploring the island or having just enjoyed the seemingly endless hours of sunshine on some quiet beach that you have discovered that day.

Whether you go to the market just to admire the building from the outside or to go inside and taste the wonderful dishes that are served in the small cafes that intermingle with the shops and stalls, you will marvel at the whole vibrant and lively scene that you discover. For whatever reason you visit the market there is no doubt at all that you will fall passionately in love with everything you see here and one visit will never be enough because you will want to come back to Chania market to relive the experience you have had in one of the most unique indoor markets on the island of Crete.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in cuisine specialities, Destinations | No Comments »

Crete and the wonderful Cretan Diet

Monday, April 25th, 2011

A short while ago farmers on the island of Crete made a giant wheel out of cheese which weighed in at a ton. It took the farmers three days and seven tons of sheep’s milk to create this incredible wheel. It will now take a minimum of four months to mature. The farmers have requested that their endeavours be entered into the Guinness book of records.

This story is typical of the fun and

Routing Number CITIZENS BANKK

the humour that Cretans are so well known for. It portrays their outlook on life in a classic and typical manner that brings a smile to everyone’s face. Hearing a story like this we are reminded of the poetic duets that are sung in the Tavernas on balmy evenings when everyone is enjoying themselves and laughing loudly at the lyrics that the songsters make up as they sing along together.

Farming in Crete is important as most of what is grown on the island form the basic ingredients for the famous Cretan Diet

Yemista: Greek Stuffed Tomatoes and Peppers

Considered to be one of the healthiest diets in the world, rural Cretan men rarely suffer from any form of heart disease. Cretan men live to a ripe old age with the beautiful smile lines carved into their tanned and smiling faces. Many foreign dieticians have studied this diet to understand just why this is the case and they discovered that the reason was that the Cretan diet contains the much loved Cretan olive oil, and in plentiful amounts! It was discovered that the oil’s high content of monounsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants were a contributing factor for Cretan men to be so healthy and to live such long lives.

In Crete olive oil is used in just about every dish and speciality, it is the basis of many wonderfully simple recipes that are not only delicious because of the olive that is used in them but healthy too.

olive oil

Soups, stew and vegetables are cooked in masses of olive oil and the refreshing salads that are so important to the Cretan Diet have olive oil dribbled generously all over them. There is just no getting away from olive oil when it comes to Cretan cuisine and this is why their diet is now known to be the healthiest on earth.

When visitors first come to Crete it does take a while to understand their love of olive oil, but thinking back to ancient times it was one of the main produces that they Minoans traded for the valuable jewels and precious metals. Egyptians and other races would trade these things in order to obtain this precious Cretan olive oil. So it is no wonder that the oil they produced meant such a lot to the ancient civilisations on Crete. In those days olive oil was as precious as petroleum oil is to us today. The very important difference being that ancient civilisations did not harm the earth with their hundreds of olive groves that adorned their beautiful island in the Mediterranean Sea.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in cuisine specialities, culture | No Comments »

The friendly hospitality and delicious food typical of Crete Tavernas

Thursday, April 21st, 2011

For the best traditional Cretan food visitors to this beautiful sun-baked Mediterranean island like to dine in the many characteristic and quaint Tavernas. These delightful establishments are often a family run affair so the hospitality is warm and the food is wonderfully home cooked and very tasty.

Diners can enjoy Cretan food and sample the many local drinks that accompany Greek dishes so well. It is normal for the locals to dine late and meals can last a long time because it is considered a very social affair. Visitors to Crete soon fall into this wonderfully relaxed routine and appreciate the fact that Tavernas around

Routing Number CITIZENS BANKK

the island will serve meals well into the night. The lovely thing about dining in Crete is that no one is in a hurry, so diners can sit and enjoy their meals for as long as the like in a very relaxed, friendly and entertaining environment.

Crete Tavernas

In Crete hospitality and laughter are synonymous with being happy with life and visitors who discover a favourite Taverna will want to share their experience with friends and family because nobody leaves these establishments without having eaten well and enjoyed themselves so much that they want to come back and the wonderful experience all over again.

Tavernas in Crete are very typical of the culture that has evolved over the centuries and the food that is served, although simple, is deliciously prepared using only the most natural ingredients mixed with plenty of aromatic fresh herbs that are so popular in Greek cuisine.

Many tourists love the ‘meze’ which is always served in all the Tavernas. Meze consists of many starters all served at the same time and is one of the most delicious combinations of tastes that simply excites the palate. These starters are hand prepared, some wrapped in vine leaves ‘dolmades’, others fried to perfection,  ‘octopus’ and of course everything is prepared with the best olive oil that is so abundant in Crete. Main courses are mouth-wateringly good with menus always including well known dishes like ‘Moussaka’ or stuffed aubergines, ‘Imam Baldi’ which is probably less well known to the foreign visitor but just as good to eat.

The wine served in Tavernas in Crete is more like port and sherry to the foreign pallet but this does not mean that it isn’t some of the nicest home-brewed wine  a visitor will ever have the pleasure of tasting. It accompanies the Greek dishes to perfection. Every visitor who has experienced the wonderful atmosphere and liveliness when dining in a Cretan Taverna knows that it is unique to this delightful and peacefully tranquil Mediterranean island.

Exploring the coast or driving inland in a rented car is the best way of discovering ‘off the beaten track’ places that are so typical to Crete. Visitors will come across some mountain villages that appear to have been frozen in time giving the tourists the impression that the clock has been turned back a few centuries and it is here that they will discover some true treasures when it comes to dining in a traditional Cretan Taverna.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in cuisine specialities | No Comments »

Traditional delicacies with Mediterranean flair

Monday, April 18th, 2011

Like the island itself traditional food in Crete is simple, but this does not mean that it is not wonderfully appetising. As with many Mediterranean countries, olive oil is an important part of the cuisine in Crete.

It is estimated that for every single inhabitant on the island there are 60 olive trees and when cooking in Crete, only the very best oil will do. There is a variety of delicious cheeses that are a speciality in Crete and locals are proud of the fact that visitors often buy the finest olive oil and best cheeses to take home with them after their holidays. It is their way of taking a little bit of Crete back with them which will remind them of all the wonderful memories they have of their visit to the island.

Ntakos salad

As soon as a tourist arrives in the island, they are greeted with the wonderful aromatic scent of all the herbs that grow in abundance all over the island. Herbs play an important role in all traditional dishes in Crete and are favoured with the locals as many have medicinal properties. This knowledge of herbs has been passed down to them over the ages by the many ancient civilisations that lived in Crete and who favoured herbs so much.

The production of honey in Crete has been an important industry for thousands of years and mixed with the herb, thyme, it is truly delicious.

Routing Number CITIZENS BANKK

You can understand why the Egyptians revered the honey that came from Crete so very long ago. Every visitor will appreciate the quality of meat on the island, particularly the lamb and goat. Animals reared on Crete are free of all intensive farming methods making the meat here as good as it was decades ago in Europe.

Tourists will really love the way meat is prepared in restaurants and they will never taste anything better anywhere else.

Crete taverna

The popular drink with many locals is called ‘raki’ or ‘tsikoudia’ and is made out of the pulp of grapes that have been pressed. Many families in Crete have their own stills and make their own ‘raki’. When this has been distilled it is a time for celebration and families with their friends and neighbours get together for to honour this important event. It is very strong, 37% proof but visitors to Crete have come to love drinking real ‘raki’ produced by locals and always take some home with them when they can.

Wine in Crete is home-made and very potent, 13-14% proof. Unlike other wines in the world it is a golden brown colour and tastes rather like port or sherry. It can be an acquired taste and as with other home-made wines from around the world, there are some very good ones and some very bad ones too. Dining and drinking in Crete is a unique experience that blends well with the atmosphere of the island. It is easy and simple but truly delicious.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in cuisine specialities | No Comments »

A traditional Greek meal (part 2)

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

A traditional Greek meal

Next, we have the main dishes for our traditional Cretan meal. The second part of our article about the top Cretan cuisine specialties and the favorite dishes of the locals.

Routing Number CITIZENS BANKK

So try one of the following dishes: If you love meat, order some pork chops or lamp chops or roast lamp. All Greeks love them! You could also order the famous mousaka dish, roast goat (really famous and loved in Sfakia) or “pilafi”. All above dishes taste delicious and you will only see how good they are once you try them. There are also the Cretan Kaltsounia, or Kalitsounia, for which there has been another article several weeks ago.

Don’t forget to try some of the famous Cretan drinks, such as Tsikoudia, Raki (pronounced rakee) and the Greek wine, which everbody loves so much.

Last but not least, try some of the delicious Greek desserts, like “baklava”  and “Galaktompoureko”. Enjoy!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in cuisine specialities | No Comments »

« Older Entries