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Kalliopi's KitchenGreek food recipes

Region

Cretan Recipes

Cretan cooking is the archetype the Mediterranean diet was actually modelled on. Enormous quantities of olive oil, wild greens, barley rusk, snails, and a soft fresh cheese in almost everything.

Map of the Greek world with Cretan Recipes highlighted
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Greek food is regional to a degree that surprises people who know it only through taverna menus. Mountain villages cook nothing like island ports. Areas under Venetian rule for four hundred years ended up with a completely different pantry from those under Ottoman rule. Refugee populations arriving in the 1920s brought spicing that had never existed on the mainland.

Dishes on this page include Horta vrasta, Dakos, Kolokithokeftedes, Kalitsounia, Gamopilafo and Hochlioi boubouristi. Where a recipe belongs clearly to one place I have said so, and where a dish is claimed by several regions at once I have said that too.

Regional labels in Greek cooking are honest approximations rather than strict boundaries. Recipes travelled with people, and most dishes have a version in every part of the country.

Every recipe on Kalliopi's Kitchen carries the dish's Greek name and a pronunciation, its region where that is meaningful, ingredient quantities in both metric and imperial, and an honest note on what commonly goes wrong. Nutrition figures are calculated estimates and are labelled as such.

Cretan Recipes

21 recipes on the site so far.

A plate of dark boiled greens dressed with olive oil and lemon wedgesHortaHorta vrasta Χόρτα βραστάSide Dishes · 35m · serves 4A barley rusk topped with grated tomato, crumbled white cheese, olives and oreganoCretan DakosDakos ΝτάκοςSalads · 12m · serves 4Golden Greek courgette fritters piled on a plate with tzatziki and lemonCourgette Fritters with FetaKolokithokeftedes ΚολοκυθοκεφτέδεςMeze and Appetisers · 55m · serves 6Golden Cretan kalitsounia cheese hand pies drizzled with honeyCretan Sweet Cheese Hand PiesKalitsounia ΚαλιτσούνιαDesserts · 1h 10m · serves 8Cretan Wedding PilafGamopilafo ΓαμοπίλαφοMain Courses · 2h 20m · serves 8Cretan hochlioi boubouristi fried snails with rosemary and vinegarCretan Fried SnailsHochlioi boubouristi Χοχλιοί μπουμπουριστοίMeze and Appetisers · 35m · serves 4Cretan eggs fried in staka, a rich clarified creamCretan Clarified Cream with EggsStaka me avga Στάκα με αυγάBreakfast Recipes · 15m · serves 2Cretan antikristo lamb propped facing an open fire on skewersCretan Spit-Roasted Lamb Facing the FireAntikristo ΑντικριστόMain Courses · 4h 30m · serves 8A pot of Greek rakomelo, warm spiced raki with honeyWarm Raki with Honey and SpicesRakomelo ΡακόμελοDrinks · 13m · serves 4A cup of Greek mountain tea with dried sideritis stemsMountain TeaTsai tou vounou Τσάι του βουνούDrinks · 13m · serves 4A slice of Greek hortopita wild greens pieWild Greens PieHortopita ΧορτόπιταBreads and Pies · 1h 25m · serves 8A bowl of Cretan elies tsakistes cracked green olives with garlic and corianderCretan Cracked Green OlivesElies tsakistes Kritis Ελιές τσακιστές ΚρήτηςDips and Sauces · 30m · serves 10Sliced Cretan apaki smoked pork, pan-fried and served with lemonCretan Smoked Marinated PorkApaki Kritis Απάκι ΚρήτηςMain Courses · 40m · serves 8Cretan Rabbit Stew with OnionsKouneli stifado Κουνέλι στιφάδοMain Courses · 2h · serves 6Cretan Thin Cheese Pie with HoneySfakianopita ΣφακιανόπιταDesserts · 1h · serves 6Rusk with Honey and WalnutsPaximadia me meli kai karydia Παξιμάδια με μέλι και καρύδιαBreakfast Recipes · 5m · serves 1A cup of Greek faskomilo sage tea with dried sage leavesSage TeaTsai faskomilo Τσάι φασκόμηλοDrinks · 13m · serves 4Cretan Savoury Cheese Hand PiesKalitsounia almyra Καλιτσούνια αλμυράMeze and Appetisers · 1h 10m · serves 8A roasted whole leg of Greek katsikaki goat with lemon and herbsRoast Goat with LemonKatsikaki lemonato Κατσικάκι λεμονάτοMain Courses · 3h 40m · serves 6A plate of Greek makaronia me mizithra pasta with fresh cheesePasta with Fresh Mizithra CheeseMakaronia me mizithra Μακαρόνια με μυζήθραMain Courses · 20m · serves 4A bowl of Cretan xinohondros sour trahanas porridgeCretan Sour TrahanasXinohondros ΞινόχοντροςBreakfast Recipes · 4h 20m · serves 8
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