Come to south central Crete for a holiday among gorges and rivers, valleys and hillsides full of olive groves, and beaches bordered by cliffs, hills, or a palm forest, with striking views of islands and hills across bays in the Libyan Sea—plus restaurants featuring fresh, traditional Cretan food in the birthplace of the Mediterranean diet.
This easy, economical, healthy vegetarian (and vegan) chickpea recipe is a Greek classic commonly eaten by just about anyone. It’s even better if you squeeze fresh lemon juice onto your bowl of chickpeas before eating. Start with dry chickpeas rather than using canned, and soak them overnight; it’s healthier, cheaper, and not at all difficult.
Most Greek olive producers expect less olive oil from Greece in the crop year that runs from October 1 to September 30 of next year. Here are some predictions from several of the major olive-oil producing regions for the olive harvest that has just begun in Halkidiki and will start in the next month or two in other parts of Greece.
The world’s first independent English-language website about Greek olive oil celebrated its birthday in August 2017. It features the stories of a Greek ship captain turned olive farmer, an Italian computer programmer producing olive oil in Greece, an ancient Greek teacher selling olive oil with edible gold flakes, and many other Greeks in the olive oil world.
While most observers agree that it is too early to accurately estimate prices for the Greek extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) to be produced during the upcoming olive harvest, some producers offer predictions, while business development consultant Stamatis Alamaniotis discusses the influences on olive oil pricing at both micro and macroeconomic levels.
This may not be a traditional Greek recipe, but it is very popular with children and families here. It’s almost the only way my kids will eat chicken, and when fried with extra virgin olive oil it is fine for our health, so I don’t object. To save yourself trouble, ask your butcher to prepare your chicken breast fillets for schnitzel for you.
The Greek name for this recipe translates awkwardly as “oily peas,” emphasizing the substantial amount of olive oil in it. Extra virgin olive oil is crucial to this common, quick and easy Greek dish, making it tasty, filling, and healthy. It can also be made with green beans, but my family and I prefer the sweetness of the peas with onion and carrots.
This zucchini burger recipe comes from a grandmother (yaya) in a Cretan village. It differs slightly from the courgette patties recipe already linked on this site. Originally, this version called for pumpkin rather than zucchini, but it is so good with zucchini that I recommend it that way. You can also try it with pumpkin—the rest is the same.
Surrounded by olive groves in the foothills of the White Mountains, the Botanical Park and Gardens of Crete offers natural beauty, exercise, information, and healthy, tasty food. Overflowing with tropical and Mediterranean flowers, herbs, and fruits, the park surrounds an acclaimed restaurant featuring its own organically grown produce and olive oil.
Trivago claims Chania, Crete is Greek tourists’ favorite domestic vacation spot this summer, while Trip Advisor ranks Crete as the 2nd most popular Greek island overall, with 1215 things to do here. Remember that this includes far more than the island’s scenic beaches and fascinating archaeological sites and museums. Don’t forget the olive groves!
Terra Creta in Kolymvari, Crete, Greece offers a 4 hour seminar on olive oil quality and organoleptic evaluation (olive oil tasting) for visitors, chefs, and other related professionals. The seminar is led by international olive oil competition judge Eleftheria Germanaki and olive oil expert Emmanouil Karpadakis. Shorter tours and talks are also available.
This is a revision of a traditional Greek olive oil and orange juice cookie with less sugar, more whole wheat flour, more orange zest, and more spices than the original. Very tasty, it is appropriate for certain types of fasting as well as for vegans, those seeking to lower their cholesterol, and health-conscious eaters who enjoy a slightly sweet treat.
The Tunisian National Office for Olive Oil organized a conference in Hammamet, Tunisia on July 13, alongside the International Olive Council’s (IOC) extraordinary session. At the conference, the representatives of associations from olive oil producing countries presented their views on the olive oil sector’s opportunities, challenges, and threats.
This June in Ancient Olympia, Greece, the Oleocanthal International Society (OIS) held its third conference to discuss research on the health benefits of oleocanthal and other phenols in extra virgin olive oil, a key component of the Mediterranean diet. It attracted over 400 participants, including an unusual mix of scientists and olive oil producers.
This Olympic year, the Oleocanthal International Society (OIS) inaugurated a new type of international olive oil competition at Ancient Olympia, Greece: an objective competition based on a chemical analysis of the amount of health-protective polyphenols in 565 extra virgin olive oils from Greece, Spain, Italy, USA, Cyprus, Morocco and Uruguay.
When he led the famous Seven Countries Study that inspired worldwide interest in the Mediterranean diet, Ancel Keys was astonished to see Cretans’ food swimming in olive oil. He decided that was a good idea, and eventually much of the rest of the world caught on, although most countries still lag behind Greece in their olive oil consumption.
Archaeologist Anaya Sarpaki explains in On the Olive Routes that olive trees have existed longer than modern humans. For example, wild olive leaf fossils from the Greek island of Evia date back 23 million years. At Santorini, 37,000 to 50,000 year old leaf fossils from the olive species Olea europaea have been discovered in the volcanic crater.
Born in Greece to Italian parents, Giovanni Bianchi is the creator of Argali Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which has been winning numerous awards at major international olive oil competitions since 2016. Proud to produce one of the best Greek organic olive oils, Giovanni reveals that his “dream would be to return to Greece and make this great passion my job.”
Since 1860, the Katsetos family has owned an estate in the sun drenched hills of Greece’s Mani peninsula. That estate now provides the fruit for a superlative quality olive oil that is luscious and soft with a full, round body and a strong fruity aroma. With hints of papaya and distinct floral notes, it evokes fields of buttercups and long summer days.
Kyriakos Makratzis traveled the world as a ship captain for fifteen years. He took a break each autumn to help with the olive harvest on his family’s farm in Kontomari, Platanias, Crete, since the olives seemed to call to him across the seas. Then, after his first son was born, he gave up his seafaring and his respected position to return to his roots.
