eating like the greeks
reflections & ravings from two weeks in greece
Sometimes, the more excited I get to try a certain food or cuisine, the more let down I feel when it doesn’t live up to all the expectation I built up in my head. With Greece, I was feeling incredibly excited: I love Greek food, and since I had already had some incredible food during a 2022 greek boat trip, my expectations were sky high. Which almost worried me a bit. Was nostalgia colouring my perception? Would it live up to the hype? Buuuut I am happy to report, that even with dangerously high expectations, Greece exeeded them!
The food was very tasty indeed, but more than that, being there got me excited about food in a way that wasn’t just about sampling street food and eating at great restaurants. I was impressed by the quality of ingredients, felt inspired to incorporate new things into my own cooking, and in general, just learned to really love things I didn’t realize I needed in my life. We spent our two weeks split between Athens and the massive island of Crete- where we were based in picturesque Chania. Crete, in particular, is where we ate some incredible food, including the best meal of my life. And as someone who has spent the last two months eating out more than in, that is saying something. So, before I break down all I consumed in each spot, I figure, why not let me share some of my learnings with you guys. A little intro, if you will!
Athens may be the capital of Greece, but Crete is the gastronomic one
Okay, Crete is a massive island with five cities and plenty of small towns and villages in between, so it’s a bit bold to claim that the whole island is a haven for food. But regardless of where we ate, whether it was within Chania, at a random pitstop from the beach, or in a small village the food was impeccable. The food is simple really, but you are getting it right at the source. The island produces 30% of the olive oil in Greece, and there were no shortage of locally produced honey, produce, cheeses and yoghurt. The food in general, is rather renowned. When were in Athens, half the restaurants we went to boasted Cretan cuisine or the fact that their ingredients were sourced in Crete.
So yeah, if you’re stuck deciding which of the greek islands is worth your time (a rather challenging debate we found ourselves in) move Crete to the top of your list if you love food. As a bonus, the island was also really easy to get to with more than one airport, aaaand may be one of the prettiest places I have ever seen!
Quality is everything
Yeah, this one is a little obvious, and prior to coming to Greece, I had come to this conclusion time and time again. But being in Crete really put this into an even greater perspective with this lesson being reinforced through olive oil. Oil in general is rather demonized in the west- which I get. Eating copious amounts of fried food and drowning stuff in oily concoctions usually never makes me feel good. And that’s what shocked me about Crete. Yeah, I knew the oil they produce on the island would be higher quality. But you guys, they were DROWNING dishes in olive oil, and every pastry we had would turn the papers they were wrapped in translucent- normally a turn off for me, as my brain goes “ew greasy”. However, not once during this trip did I ever feel sick, or greased out. In fact, despite the fact that the portions here are HUGE and I was eating way more than typical- I never felt bloated or full in that “I feel sick” kinda way. That simply would not happen back home, or even in other countries we have visited so far. Crete produces a lot of produce, oil, honey etc., so it really just comes down to the fact that we ate right from the source I think. Often, the restaurants we ate at had their own olive groves, gardens and even hives in some cases. While I’ll never be able to perfectly replicate this in Canada, it got me really thinking where I should source my food when I get home.
Sheep’s milk > cow’s
Or at least, in the context of yoghurt that is. Truly, this was revolutionary for me as I am a greek yoghurt (also a skyr <3) lover. Typically, we buy 0% high protein greek yog at home, because, gains. And I’ve always loved it, sweetening it with honey for lunches and using it to make dips and sauces for meals. Let me tell you though, the fattier sheep’s yoghurt we got in Athens/Chania? Truly a showstopper for me. I was eating it straight up with no honey or sweetener of any sort, I loved it so much. Now I did know that it being higher fat would make it tastier, but even compared to the high fat cow variety we tried, the sheep’s version was less sour and was so silky smooth.
We even got fancy varieties from dairy cafes but honestly… the grocery store variety was just as good (with one exception). I relished in eating the skin of fat on top of each container as well. I am not sure how I will go back to cow’s yoghurt after eating the sheep’s variety- I will just have to find some Greek import stores at home I suppose. As well, I loved how thick the yoghurt was- which again, is due to the higher fat content, but I do believe the yoghurt used to make beloved dishes like tzatziki were strained even further- so I’ll need to be doing this more often for dips.
The life stages of feta and how to take advantage of this
Feta at home is stored in sour brine, and is usually on the harder, crumbly side of things. I love this; there is nothing wrong with this. But… after buying feta in stores and getting it on top of our greek salads in restaurants, I came to learn that this isn’t the only form feta takes. We had it in varying degrees of softness and mildness during our time, and in Crete, it tended to be verging on cream cheese texture when served in salad! Now, I don’t know all the science behind the life stages of feta, and I assumed the softer was just aged less? Regardless, while I am a lover of classic feta, the softer stuff works so well in salads. When mixed in, it still maintains form, but adds a creaminess that contrasts nicely with crisp veg. We also purchased PDO (protected designation of origin) feta from the store, and wow it was the best feta I have ever had!
Order all things mizithra
Anytime I go to a destination that enlightens me to a new favourite cheese- you’d better know that destination will be an immediate favourite. I love cheese. And being in Athens enlightened to me of the glory that is mizithra cheese. It’s softer, and a bit crumbly- kind of a mix between feta and ricotta and made of sheep’s milk. It is fairly mild in flavour with a just a touch of sourness. It tasted good straight up- but that wasn’t how I usually consumed it. In Athens and Crete, at least, it felt like mizithra was even more beloved than feta. It was in numerous pastries, topped salads and I even ate loukoumades (fried donut balls) stuffed with them. One pastry in particular was so simple (a hand pie looking thing full of mizithra) and I still dream of eating it today. All of this is to say, yes, of course eat your weight in feta in Greece… but also consider eating double your weight in mizithra. I hope to find some back home and engage in more savoury baking, because wow the Greeks do savoury baking so well.
Never underestimate the power of a simple salad
It’s funny, I actually love salad, but these two weeks really increased my appreciation for it. At home, salads were more of a meal situation rather than a side. One of my favourite takeout options used to be these massive 32 ounce salads packed with falafel, hummus and loads of greens. Divine. But I rarely put effort into whipping up a side salad with meals at home. Honestly, we hardly ever even ordered salads at restaurants… which is funny, considering every time we did we’ve always loved it. Anyways when in Greece, you must order a Greek salad! Whenever it was served it was always massive, and we LOVED it. To have a salad of crisp, fresh vegetables with a simple dressing of olive oil and salt was such a refreshing element when eating dense meats and oily foods. It got to a point where those massive salads would excite me more than the main dishes we’d order.
I feel like in Canada, I’d get too caught up in all these fancy salads with a million kinds of lettuce and veg I didn’t have, all sorts of emulsions and 10 ingredient dressings that would drive up the grocery bill, so I tended not to bother. Now as good as those salads always were, they were not necessary for simple every day dinners, and I will be giving more love to the delicious simplicity of crisp veg, good olive oil & plenty of salt moving forward.
Hospitality supremacy in Greece
Okay this isn’t so much a “learning” that I’ll take home with me, or even really advice for Greece. This is more just a reflection, and something I wish I saw more often at home. But in Crete, we were truly taken aback by the hospitality and generosity of the tavernas we ate in. As a general rule- we always got free raki and free dessert- not just any dessert, but GREAT dessert. More than that though, the people there seemed genuinely happy you were there, and not in a I’m-paid-to-be-here-and-smile sort of way. Which is fine I do not judge at all, by the way. But every place felt local and family run where the owner, or server would passionately talk about their food and make helpful recommendations a long the way. We never once felt like an inconvenience asking questions or taking up their time- they just got more excited the more you inquired. Also, for the most part, there was just genuine pride in what they served. At one Taverna (Leventis) the owner was thrilled to brag about the fresh caught fish, and seemed genuinely proud of how good their dish, the “stalos pie” was (he was right!!). Yeah, one could argue perhaps they were trying to upsell us tourists, but in one taverna the server brought us a local cretan dish he wanted us to try for no extra charge, as, as he put it “you can get greek salads anywhere, let me give you this too.” Either way, we just really enjoyed each restaurant experience, for more reasons than just food, and this makes a HUGE difference.
Admittedly writing this has made me really miss Greece. It is home to our favourite destination of the trip thus far, and the food really blew us away. I’m excited to share more, but I’ll leave you in a bit of suspense for now. Talk to ya Sunday (or on Notes lol).
Your Cretan food adventure echos our trip almost exactly. It was a revelation. And it's definitely changed what we cook at home too. Crete is at the top of our places to return to.
I went to Greece twice this summer and this was so fun to read! Love sheep’s cheese also!