2 Weeks of Eating Cretan

Here is the link to my latest article published on MediterraneanLiving.com . https://www.mediterraneanliving.com/two-weeks-of-eating-cretan/

Meat off the Street

     In Greece there is lots of street food, and it isn't necessarily healthy by any means. What it is though is tasty, filling, cheap, and available into the wee hours of the morning. Most people love to try Gyros which are the giant spinning cylinders of meat that gets shaved off. You can choose between pork and chicken. It is stuffed into a pita with tzatziki, tomatoes, onions, and loaded with French fries. Yum! 

     Recently however I stumbled across a new way of eating meat on the street. I was walking down the street in the capital of Crete, Heraklion, and I saw a bunch of smoke rising from a grill and the smell of souvlaki was overwhelming! 

When I walked up to the shop it was literally a charcoal grill right in front of you with no glass in front. There were skewers of pork souvlaki, chicken souvlaki, greek burgers, and greek sausages all being grilled. 

     I ordered pork souvlaki because that's the best selling food at this shop. Each stick I ordered came with a grilled piece of bread and slice of lemon. I squeezed the lemon over the stick and the flavor of the lemon and oregano on grilled meat is just too good to be true. There's something about eating meat off of a stick that makes you feel like a caveman. There's nothing difficult or crazy about this meat, it's flavored simply, cooked simply, and simply freaking delicious!

Snails in Tomato Sauce with Potatoes and Zucchini

“ΣΑΛΙΚΓΑΡΙΑ”

               

Snails can be found everywhere in Crete. At a Cretan market there are bags upon bags of snails to buy. Most Cretans however are gathering them by themselves in the olive fields because they can be found everywhere. Try this traditional dish with a simple and flavorpacked sauce with fresh vegetables. You won’t be able to stop soaking up this delicious sauce with a nice crusty slice of bread. The snails can be substituted with mussels or clams, if finding snails is difficult. This is comfort food and you will feel warm and satisfied after a nice big helping!

Ingredients:

1 lb Snails

1 lb potatoes, peeled and quartered

3 zucchini, cut in thirds

5 tomatoes, pulsed in food processor

2 onions, roughly chopped

1 green onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

3 tbs parsley, chopped

3 tbs salt (for cleaning snails)

1/4 cup vinegar, whichever you prefer

2 cups water

1/4 cup white wine

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Cleaning the Snails:

Let the snails soak for 20 minutes in cold water. Next, rinse thoroughly and scrape off any plant matter on the outside of the shell with a small knife. Then use the knife to scoop out the plant matter on the inside of the shell. Rinse again. Simmer the snails in water with 2 tbs of salt for 4 minutes, stirring a few times. Drain, and simmer again in only water this time for 1 minute. Drain again and simmer a 3^rd time but with the vinegar and 1 tbs of salt this time this time for 5 minutes. Drain the snails and one more time, scrape the plant matter off with a small knife. Rinse thoroughly and you are done cleaning the snails!

 

Cooking Process:

In a large pot, add 1 cup of olive oil and saute the garlic, onion, and green onion on medium high heat. Saute until onions are softened but not browned. Add the white wine, tomato puree, and zucchini, boil for 2 minutes. Next add the parsley, water, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover the pot and boil for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the potatoes and boil for another 10 minutes covered. Next add the cleaned snails and boil for 5 more minutes covered. Taste the sauce for salt and pepper and adjust the seasoning. Once finished cooking, let it sit for a few minutes to cool, then add dried oregano on top. Enjoy your traditional Cretan delicacy! 

The Cretan Diet

           The Cretan Diet

            The Cretan diet is considered one of the healthiest in the world. On the island of Crete, the unique climate allows everything to grow in abundance. Wherever you travel in Crete, you are surrounded by olive trees. Cretans consume the most olive oil in the world. This is one of the keys to their extremely healthy way of life.

            The Cretan diet consists of lots of olive oil, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and small amounts of meat and fish. They also consume moderate amounts of wine and Raki, the local aperitif. Everything in Crete is cooked in olive oil and they hardly use butter. Butter is used for certain dishes and special occasions like rice pilaf. Could this way of eating explain why Cretans have some of the lowest rate of heart disease in the world? This is certainly part of it.

            I am lucky enough to spend time in a small village in North Western Crete with my Aunt and Uncle who have lived on Crete their entire lives. They truly live the traditional Cretan way of life. They live almost completely off of the land. They grow hundreds of olive trees and produce some of the best olive oil I’ve ever tasted. They also grow any other fruit or vegetable you can think of. Going to the orange and nectarine trees with my Uncle for the first time was an experience to never forget. Picking the massive oranges off the trees and eating them right there doesn’t get any better. When you open the orange, the juice literally rains out of the orange. They taste like candy!

            My Aunt and Uncle also grow any other fruit and vegetable you can think of, because everything grows under the Aegean sun with the perfect climate of Crete. They have lemons, watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, green beans, zucchini, eggplant, potatoes, onions, garlic, spinach, and artichokes just to name some of their crops. They also grow all of the herbs they need for cooking. When they cook, they are cooking absolutely everything in their own olive oil, and with salt that they get from a friend who harvests it from the sea a few kilometers away from their house. It does not get fresher than this.

            Not only do they have their own vegetables, but they have their own animals that they give happy, carefree lives. The only eggs we eat are from their chickens. The cheese we eat every day is made weekly by my Aunt who milks “Lu Lu”, the goat. She then makes the creamiest goat cheese you’ve ever tasted. The goat is fed wild greens that grown in the olive vineyards. My Uncle goes in the vineyards every day to chop fresh greens for “Lu Lu” and her little lambs. The chickens eat feed and leftover vegetable scraps from preparing the salad. These animals live happy and healthy lives. This really makes a difference in the taste and quality of the food they produce.  

           

A typical meal happens at around 2 to 3 o clock in the afternoon. My aunt has been cooking all morning and tending to the animals, and my uncle working in the fields and gardens. When you sit down at the table, it’s always a feast. It’s like a Greek thanksgiving every day here in Crete. There is always a Greek salad, that can vary depending on what is fresh. If there is a certain herb or green in season, it will be in the salad.

There is always a loaf of crusty bread on the table, and if you don’t eat bread, they will ask you what’s wrong. In Greece, eating bread at every meal is a staple. There are 2 to 3 small dishes filled with their own olives of different colors, and sizes. There is also a dish filled with the fresh goat cheese made in the previous few days. There is always a bottle of red wine on the table, which is from the barrel down in the basement. The grapes are grown about a half a mile from the house. Cretans are very proud of their wine and my uncle likes to flaunt it every meal, of just how good his wine is. I agree with him, it really is amazing, especially with all of this delicious food!

            Most of the main course meals are vegetable based. Meat or fish is a once a week thing. Some delicious dishes that my aunt cooks are fresh artichokes, peas, carrots, and potatoes, stewed with lots of lemon, herbs, and olive oil. Another great example is the stuffed vegetables of all sorts, called “Yemista”, which literally means stuffed. The filling is a mixture of rice, tomatoes, onion, herbs, and olive oil. She stuffs tomatoes, zucchini, eggplants, peppers, grape leaves, and even the zucchini flowers. This just goes to show that nothing goes to waste.

            There is a dish called “Horta”, which Cretans love to eat. They are boiled wild greens that are picked in the wild, or grown in the garden. Depending on the time of the year, there is a different wild green to be picked, but they are all called “Horta”, when cooked. My uncle goes to pick the wild greens in the olive fields, and then my aunt washes them thoroughly. They are boiled along with some potatoes and zucchini. When they are served, she adds lots of olive oil, salt, and fresh lemon juice. This is an extremely healthy dish that is packed with nutrients and vitamins.

            When you are eating in Crete, and you think you’re full, you’re not actually full. You just think you are. There are two reasons for this. The first is that the food tastes so good that you have to keep eating until your bursting at the seams. The second is, if you try and stop eating, and tell the cook that you’re full, she will just spoon some more food on your plate. The same goes for the wine. If I try and say I’m done drinking the wine, my uncle just pours me another glass, it’s useless. After all of this eating and drinking, the Greek “siesta” is an alive and well tradition. Every day there is a nap from around 4 until 7 o’clock.

            When you wake up from the nap feeling refreshed, it’s customary to drink a greek coffee. In the summer, my aunt will cut up a fresh watermelon, or cantaloupe from the garden to eat with the coffee. It depends on what season it is, a different fruit will be eaten. Whatever fruit is fresh at that time. While sipping on the coffee, and eating the sweet melon, looking out at the rolling hills of olive trees, and the massive mountain range behind that, I can’t help but be amazed at the lifestyle here in Crete. This lifestyle also contains lots of hard work.

            After the coffee, it’s time for my aunt to tend to the animals and the small garden, while my uncle tends to the larger garden and gathers food for the animals. My aunt goes to the pen with the goat, Lu Lu, and throws a heaping pile of wild greens into the trough. When Lu Lu starts to chow down, my aunt gets behind her and milks her. You can tell she has been milking goats for years and years. She then goes to the chicken pen and gives them feed. She also throws a huge bucket of diced up zucchini from the garden, watermelon rinds, and other vegetable scraps from our daily Greek salad eaten at lunch.

            Next she makes her way to the garden and harvests a huge bounty of fresh vegetables. When she’s picking the massive cucumbers she keeps saying “Keeta Yiorgo!”, which means “look George!”. She knows I’ve never seen cucumbers grown like that before! Everything seems to grow much easier, and larger on this island than I’ve ever seen anywhere else.

            When my uncle wakes up from his nap he takes the jeep with a trailer to the olive groves. He fills the trailer with wild greens that are edible for the goats. They eat very well because it’s exactly what they would be eating if they were in the wild. This makes the goat’s milk, cheese, and meat, taste like it’s supposed to taste. It’s completely organic.

            After a full day of cooking, working in the fields, and tending to the animals, it’s time to relax with friends and family. There is a traditional Greek café down the street called a cafeneio where all the men in the village like to go. They sip coffee until late at night, drink raki (moonshine), eat meze (small plates of food), smoke cigarettes, and talk about politics and other things happening in the village. They like to watch the news, and of course, soccer!

            Greek people are very family oriented. Greek families are huge, and if our cousins and aunts and uncles aren’t busy, we spend time with them at night. We eat more food, Greek desserts, fresh fruit. We drink coffee, beer, and wine. We converse for hours and enjoy each others company until 1 or 2 in the morning. It’s always a loud occasion. We’re not yelling however, this is how we talk! Everything is based around food. If Greeks are somewhere, you can count on there being lots of food!

Greek Coffee Culture

Drinking coffee in Greece is a whole different experience than in other places of the world. Here, people like to sip on their coffee for hours, conversing with their friends, enjoying each other's company. You can see Greeks sitting outside the cafés all day long into the night. The most popular coffee here in Greece is the Nescafé Frappe. It is a powdered coffee frothed and with ice. You can have it with sugar and milk or water, however you like. The other coffees are fredo espresso, fredo cappuccino, Greek coffee, and cappuccino. All of these coffees have either a layer of froth or steamed/ frothed milk on top. I think this makes the coffee much more enjoyable because it adds a whole element of texture to the coffee instead of just having a liquid consistency. The coffee here is strong and flavorful. There's nothing better in the summer than to sip on a frappe and enjoy the beautiful view of the Aegean Sea while talking to your friends and enjoying life.

Three Brothers

My first week in Thessaloniki I was eating lots of gyros and other street foods. I realized I hadnt been out to a taverna for a traditional meal yet. I walked down a small street and went into a small taverna. I sat for 10 minutes but nobody was serving me. I went up to a lady and asked if I could have a menu. She explained that there was a company dinner there that night and I couldn't eat there that night. She then took me outside and told me about a small taverna run by three brothers with delicious cheap Greek food. She was extremely nice and I have to thank her for showing me this place because I am hooked. The place is right off of Aristotle square, one of the most expensive and famous spots in thessaloniki. Since this was a tiny street though it was like stepping out of a tourist area and going to a local place even though it was about 100 meters away from the square. This taverna is very tiny, about 4 tables outside and 3 inside. From the outside looking in you can see the charcoal grill with all different kinds of meat being grilled right there. The kitchen and grill are always on display. I sat down and ordered bread, horiatiki salata, and pork chops. One of the brothers manned the grill while the other waited on me. The barrel wine i got is from the island of Limnos and it is the best white wine I've ever had. He grilled the bread on the charcoal grill giving it amazing char flavour. Dipping that in the olive oil and tomatoe juices from the salad is heaven. As I sipped my wine and ate my salad and bread, I watched my pork being grilled right in front of me. The hand motions and skill of the brother manning the grill looks like he's been doing it for years. The portion of food was ridiculously large for the price. They gave me French fries with the pork which I didn't expect, and this amazing mayonnaise and mustard sauce. I thought it would be gross but it was the most flavourful sauce , and dipping the French fries deep fried in extra virgin olive oil, in this sauce, is an explosion of salty, fatty, fried, deliciousness. I'm addicted to this sauce now and I think it would make anything taste good. I sat for hours and just slowly ate, enjoying every bite. Everyone that came in were locals and I knew I found a great place. I have been there three times already and I enjoy it more every time. This food is extremely fresh, cooked to perfection, right In front of you , and the hospitality is amazing. Going to a place like this you will be stuffed for ten euros and you will have a great buzz from the delicious barrel wine. I would take someone here who has never had real Greek food to get a taste of Greece. It amazed me how close this place was to the square where the same meal would be double the price. I will continue to go back here, and eat and drink like a king, and just enjoy life. 

Street Food 1

Since I have been in Thessaloniki for a few days, I'm realizing that this city is amazing for street food. There are so many little bakeries and cafés where you can get a quick pie. The spanakopita and tiro pita are better than your yia yia makes, (don't tell yia yia I said this). Everything is 1-2 euros and with the dollar getting stronger in Greece this is very very cheap. The best street food to get is pita gyros of course. Here you can get anything you like in your gyro. They are huge and will only set you back 2-3 euros. The fat on the pork is so rendered down that it's almost like eating bacon. The garlicky tzatziki is addicting . The last bite of a gyro is a magical thing. The meat juices, tzatziki, and tomato juices all soak into the French fries and the pita bread. It's a bite of salty, fatty deliciousness and you have to come to Greece for this experience. And hell, get one at 3 am after a night of drinking and you couldn't be more satisfied.