Greece – Flavours of Crete Island

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Cretan cooking has changed little since Thisseas and Daedalos, and King Minos’ realm is a culinary wonderland for those willing and able to get off the beaten track. But there is little to take home from the Mediterranean’s fifth-largest island in the way of dishes or ingredients. Most island food must be consumed in situ.

Cretan bread is in a league of its own. Bakeries around the island offer different versions of paximadia -twice-baked loaves made with chickpea flour or ancient island grains such as barley- that are dampened under the tap, sprinkled with excellent local olive oil and eaten daily. Other small, dried rolls and biscuits-from spiced chick-pea loaves to ornate breads decorated for births, engagements, weddings and funerals-round off the island selection of baked goods.

Greens are the defining element of the Cretan table, and they are cooked in a hundred different ways. The most accessible places to sample them are little village tavernas where menus feature wild cardoons, simmered with rabbit, borage, red-veined celery, wild carrot greens, bryony, mallow, tiny wild asparagus and dozens of other island vegetables and herbs.

Crete produces many cheeses -in particular the mouthwatering anthotyro, the graviera, a sweet, yellow, sheep’s milk cheese which is traditionally aged in mountain caves near Rethymno. The easiest places to buy Cretan cheeses are at the markets in Iraklio, Rethymno and Hania, the island’s three main towns. Hania has one of the most beautiful enclosed markets in Greece.

Cretan snails are among the finest in the world. They appear in restaurants and tavernas only when in season, but the number of recipes rivals the number of cooks. Bourbourista, a popular local preparation, combines rosemary, salt and vinegar in the pan. Snails are cooked with wild fennel, stewed or simmered in a pilaf with hondro (bulgur).

All Greek roads eventually lead to Athens. There is no identifiable cuisine specific to Greece’s capital, but much can be said for the city’s Central Market and the renewed vigour of its restaurants. Many edible Greek treasures can now be found hidden somewhere in Athenian shops, and a journey past tourist menus to corner restaurants and home cooking will richly reward those who take the trouble to look.

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Source by Vanilla Hofmann