Greece Background Informaiton - Cretan Diet, Cretan Food/Foods (Greece/Greek/Crete/Creta/Kriti):

Cretan Diet/Food

In the latest years many mentions have been made about the Cretan Diet (Mediterranean Diet). So it is now well known that the Cretan Diet is not only aromatic and tasteful, but also extremely healthy. The food has already taken the right place in our culture, equivalent to our monumental identity and our sun and sea. The most important product that gave so much credit to Cretan Diet is our virgin olive oil. The contribution of the local wine, vegetables, meat, dairy products (feta cheese, gruere) is also significant.

The modern dietology considers the Cretan diet and the Cretan way of life as the reason for long living and good health. Most of the international researches bring Crete forward as the example of the Mediterranean Diet. Since the suggestion that the residents of the island have the lowest mortality rates internationally and the less heart attack or cancer diseases, scientists started searching for the identity of the Cretan Diet that gives the Cretans all these health privileges. But very soon it was obvious that it was all about a story well hidden in the past time. That means it isn’t a result of a research by some scientists but a biological experiment that lasts thousands of years!

For the Cretans, the secret of good health and long living is very simple. They eat all that their rich solid gives them. Many fruits, vegetables, groceries, legumes, varieties of cheese, olive oil and bread. They scent the taste with marvelous herbs like oregano, they make desserts with natural sweetening materials, honey and molasses, and accompany their meal with excellent local wine.

A Cretan consumes 34.6 litres of olive oil annually, an American 11.3 L, against an Australian 1.2 L.
A Cretan gets nearly all his food from nature, eating an abundance of fruit and vegetables. The only fat content in his food and salads is olive oil. Every day, all the family, and their guests, sit around the table, and talk about their daily problems, whilst enjoying one another’s companionship.

On Crete, in ancient times, meat was eaten as a part of rituals when sacrifices were made. At a later period, the days of celebration were the days for the eating of meat, and it was only much later that it became a custom for it to be eaten every Sunday, or every other Sunday. According to the historian Paul Faure, the peasants and the people working in the palaces had frugal vegetarian meals. They were paid in grains (wheat or barley), dried figs, and olives in brine. A little goat, beef or pork meat was consumed only on feast days.
Their religion also forbade certain foods for one third of the year. The orthodox church banned the eating of meat, and in general, any food which came from animals, for long periods of time: 40 days before Christmas, seven weeks before Easter, 15 days before the celebration of the Assumption, on the 15th August, and every Wednesday and Friday during the year.
The Cretans eat three times more bread than the average American. In the past this was always wholemeal, or black bread, made primarily from barley, rye or wheat. Fish was the basis of most Sunday meals and was eaten more in the coastal areas than in the hinterland.
The Cretans eat more fruit than anyone else, twice as much as the Americans, and six times as much as the Dutch. Their grapes ,figs, apricots, pears, and peaches, are renowned for their delicious flavour.
Pulses are eaten every two or three days, whilst vegetables and local greens are a staple at every meal.One or two glasses of home-made wine are consumed with each meal.
Along with the fruit, much of their vegetable intake was, and still is, uncooked. This includes spinach, chicory, artichokes, and large amounts of vetchling (sweet peas) along with purslane, tomatoes, and cucumbers. These are all eaten with large amounts of olive oil. The Cretan stafidolia (wrinkled olive) is considered a priceless treasure. When farmers go to harvest the olives, they merely take a piece of bread with them.They eat some of the olives that they have collected, still in their natural state without having been treated, with the bread they have brought with them. These olives are a totally natural product, and need no salt or other chemical substances to take away their bitterness, as the olives lose their bitterness on the trees.

 Milatos has a lot of  taverns all by seaside and it is famous for that  . You can eat and hear the noise from the waves that hit almost your legs . Worth visiting taverns are "Akrogiali" , "Seirines", "Xatzis" "Meltemi" and "Meraklis" . Don't miss fish food and specially  "rofos kakavia" that is a special fish fished at Crete sea cooked as a soup with carrots,  potatoes, marrows ,onions and tomatoe . Allthough a little expensive , don't miss it. 

It is worthless if you come to Milatos and not taste "Hohlious mpoumpouristous " or "hohlious giahni" that you can find  at Latsida a nearby village   that has that  tavern .They are Crete snails that are cooked on the pan with vinegar and rosemary or cooked in marmite with tomato and marrots . Also worth tasting the "souvlaki" and "aiga kokinisti" that is goat cooked with tomato.

Another worth visiting village famous for its food is Kroustas near to Kritsa and Agios Nikolaos  that you can find at its tavern "aiga vrasti" with "skioyfihta makaronia" that is goat boiled with local made spaggheti.

Combine one day tour and visit Anogia (otherwise a  worth visiting place for its history )  and taste "arni antikristo" that is lamb cooked opposite to fire.  

Also worth visiting Zaros famous for its lake and try trout broiled over charcoal at "Votomos"  tavern . 

The Cretan diet is currently considered by nutritionists as a "modus vivende" that endows people with longevity and sound health, as supported by research conducted on an international scale. It was established that the inhabitants of Crete manifest the lowest mortality indices with respect to cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Mr. Serge Renaud, a French researcher-scientist said, "Following a 15-year follow-up study, it was concluded that Crete manifests the lowest mortality rates irrespective of the cause of death". There is no doubt that the above statement attests to the benefits of the Cretan diet. 

The French scientist was referring to wide scale research on nutrition that was conducted with the participation of seven countries, including Greece, in 1956 by Dr Ancel Keys, a pioneering investigator and health revolutionary American. Today, the international community has adopted the Cretan model of nutrition by recommending it as the basis of healthy human nutrition.

For Cretans, the secret of longevity is very simple. They eat anything that their rich soil produces! They consume a lot of fruit, vegetables, greens, fresh produce, legumes, cheese and bread. Cretans use herbs to add flavour to their meals; they make sweets/cakes with natural sweeteners, honey and grape-juice syrup; while the excellent Cretan wine is an indispensable accompaniment to their meals. 

Cretans do not eat meat or, rather, they did not eat meat until a few decades ago. Meat has always had a ritual quality in Crete, and generally in Greece. In antiquity, Cretans consumed meat only a few times a year, i.e. during festivities or, if wealthy enough, every Sunday. In other words, the dietary code of Cretans has deep cultural and historical roots.

This, however, should not be considered as a limiting, or even coercive practice that could undermine the richness of taste. On the contrary, the ingenuity of Cretans exploited fully the entire spectrum of ingredient combinations, which resulted in volumes of recipes for meals and deserts. Snails, for example, are cooked in 40 different ways! Pure olive oil is the sine qua non for all preparations! Fresh produce grown under the most suitable climatic conditions has a prominent place on dinner tables. 

Cretans do not require doctor's orders to consume large amounts of fruit and vegetables. Grapes, raisins, oranges, etc. are a way of life. Even on days strictly associated with meat-eating, such as the Easter Day, Cretans do not eat only meat. On the contrary, they cook meat with artichokes, wild greens or vegetables - a delicious choice!

Modern Cretans are proud of their cultural heritage - the Cretan Diet. They resist the influx of promotional activities favouring foreign nutritional habits (fast food). Cretan products, being part of a centuries old tradition, are treated with the same respect as that afforded to them by their ancestors.

In Cretan homes, the cooking and the ingredients used, remain the same as decades ago. In tavernas, you can often taste the most fantastic, pure and rich in taste, olive oil. Sitting down for a "raki" in a kafeneio, you could be served with the most simple but wonderful mezedes like goat cheese, olives, dolmades (stuffed vine-leaves), grapes, raisins or rusks. All delicious - all healthy! 

The natural environment of Crete favours the development of "earth friendly" methods of growing crops, particularly with regard to basic agricultural products, i.e. those that have adjusted well to the climate of Crete. In the last few years a group of organic growers embarked on a very significant project: to make available select organic products that would meet the exact requirements of modern consumers.
This task started from the olive groves, expanding to garden produce. Demand for such products was impressive.
Every year new farmers join organised groups of organic farmers, while scientific research in the field of organic farming is flourishing. 

Experience the combination of delicious foods, while enjoying the ongoing benefits of the ultimate gift - good health!

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