Kalliopi's KitchenYIAYIA'S GREEK 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

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 wedges Greek Side DishesHorta Χόρτα βραστά · 35m · serves 4 A barley rusk topped with grated tomato, crumbled white cheese, olives and oregano Greek SaladsCretan Dakos Ντάκος · 12m · serves 4 Golden Greek courgette fritters piled on a plate with tzatziki and lemon Greek Meze and AppetisersKolokithokeftedes Κολοκυθοκεφτέδες · 55m · serves 6 Golden Cretan kalitsounia cheese hand pies drizzled with honey Greek DessertsKalitsounia Καλιτσούνια · 1h 10m · serves 8 Greek Main CoursesGamopilafo Γαμοπίλαφο · 2h 20m · serves 8 Cretan hochlioi boubouristi fried snails with rosemary and vinegar Greek Meze and AppetisersHochlioi Boubouristi Χοχλιοί μπουμπουριστοί · 35m · serves 4 Cretan eggs fried in staka, a rich clarified cream Greek Breakfast RecipesStaka me Avga Στάκα με αυγά · 15m · serves 2 Cretan antikristo lamb propped facing an open fire on skewers Greek Main CoursesAntikristo Αντικριστό · 4h 30m · serves 8 A pot of Greek rakomelo, warm spiced raki with honey Greek DrinksRakomelo Ρακόμελο · 13m · serves 4 A cup of Greek mountain tea with dried sideritis stems Greek DrinksTsai tou Vounou Τσάι του βουνού · 13m · serves 4 A slice of Greek hortopita wild greens pie Greek Breads and PiesHortopita Χορτόπιτα · 1h 25m · serves 8 A bowl of Cretan elies tsakistes cracked green olives with garlic and coriander Greek Dips and SaucesElies Tsakistes Kritis Ελιές τσακιστές Κρήτης · 30m · serves 10 Greek Main CoursesApaki Kritis Απάκι Κρήτης · 40m · serves 8 Greek Main CoursesKouneli Stifado Κουνέλι στιφάδο · 2h · serves 6 Greek DessertsSfakianopita Σφακιανόπιτα · 1h · serves 6 Greek Breakfast RecipesPaximadia me Meli kai Karydia Παξιμάδια με μέλι και καρύδια · 5m · serves 1 A cup of Greek faskomilo sage tea with dried sage leaves Greek DrinksFaskomilo Tsai Τσάι φασκόμηλο · 13m · serves 4 Greek Meze and AppetisersKalitsounia Almyra Καλιτσούνια αλμυρά · 1h 10m · serves 8 A roasted whole leg of Greek katsikaki goat with lemon and herbs Greek Main CoursesKatsikaki Lemonato Κατσικάκι λεμονάτο · 3h 40m · serves 6 Greek Main CoursesMakaronia me Mizithra Μακαρόνια με μυζήθρα · 20m · serves 4 Greek Breakfast RecipesXinohondros Ξινόχοντρος · 4h 20m · serves 8

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