6 Cretan Foods You Must Try

6 Cretan Foods You Must Try

Cretan foods are some of the healthiest and most delicious in the world. The Cretan diet is based on fresh, locally-grown ingredients, including plenty of fruits, vegetables, olive oil, and seafood. Cretan cuisine is also known for its healthy lamb dishes and its wide variety of cheeses. In addition to being incredibly tasty, Cretan food is also incredibly good for you.

Food in Crete is some of the best food you will ever have in your life. The food here is a mix of Greek and Mediterranean food, and it is absolutely delicious. There are so many amazing things to eat in Crete, from starters to main courses to desserts.

Ntakos

Cretan cuisine is world-renowned for its healthy, delicious dishes. One of the most popular Cretan foods is ntakos. A super simple traditional dish (could be also described as a salad) that you can make it in a minute without any cooking skill, but still it will be super delicious. Dakos is a combination of a big rusk, tomatoes and feta or mizithra. In order to make dakos, you top up a big rusk with chopped tomatoes and crumbled cheese and you flavouring it with some oregano. Simple as that! Put some olive oil in the top of everything, so the rusk can absorb some of the oil and you are ready to go.

 

Hohlii Mpourmpouristoi

The word “hohlii” means snails. the word “mpourmpouristoi” comes from the Cretan word “ampoumpoura” that means with the face down. For this traditional Cretan food you will need to clean the snails first. Then put them face down in a pan that is covered with salt. When you start hearing the boiling sound, you add olive oil. Then the rosemary and in some minutes you will be ready to enjoy one of the most famous Cretan appetizers!

Read more: Best Crete Restaurants in Chania

Makarounia sioufixta

Again, two words that are describing the food that we have here. “Makaronia” is the word pasta in Greek. “Sioufixta” is again a Cretan word that comes from the word “skioufizo” that means twirling. To make this kind of pasta you need flour, water and olive oil and give them a twirled shape. You can find this kind of pasta served with “athotiro” cheese. You can also find different recipes with small pieces of meat inside.

 

Gamopilafo

This is one of the most popular and well-known Cretan foods that should also have a warning of “highly addictive”. For all the fellow foodies, please try this amazing dish and you will see how good it is. This is a dish that is normally served at feasts in Crete and especially weddings.

The name is a combination of two words. “Gamos” that means wedding in Greek and “pilafi” that means rice that is cooked in broth in order to be aromatized. So, the gamopilafo is rice as we explained, cooked in goat broth flavored with lemon a quite generous amount of butter. Serve it with cooked meat on the top and some lemon wedges on the side, if you want to add a sour taste.

Antikristo

We are moving on to the most famous cooking method of Crete. Antikristo is a cooking method. When you hear that in Crete most of the times, they mean cooked lamb meat with this method. We are going to explain the cooking method which is really simple by explaining the name of it. Antikristo means across the fire and it is widely used as a cooking method in the mountain villages of Crete because its super easy to prepare the meat and cook it.

So, in order to make antikristo, you need a fire, some lamb meat, salt and some foothold for the meat to stay across the fire. When you have the fire ready, just make sure that you add some salt in your meat, place it across the fire, wait some time while drinking some raki and voila!

 

 

Sfakiani pita

Last but not least is the famous desert that has its roots in Sfakia. One of the most famous places in Chania region in Crete. The name of it means pie of the area of Sfakia. To make it you combine flour, salt, olive oil and water for the dough. But it needs also a Cretan note! So for the dough you have to add also some raki, the Cretan water of fire! Then you add some mizithra cheese in between the dough and you fry it. In the end you add some thyme honey in the top and you have the most famous food in Crete as a dessert to make your day extra sweet!

If you want to learn more about food in Crete, I highly recommend read the Crete Food Guide blog.There you will find everything you need to know about food in Crete, and it will help you find the best places to eat while you are here. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!

And if your plans do not include Crete as a destination, but you are visiting Athens, no worries because you can find some of the best Cretan food in an amazing restaurant, called Rakopaignio in the area of Glyfada! Treat yourself with a proper Cretan meal, and enjoy a shot of raki! Cheers!