Cretan Diet

Crete is famous for its dietary traditions, often hailed as one of the healthiest in the world. The term “Cretan diet” is frequently used interchangeably with the Mediterranean diet, thanks to a landmark study in the mid-20th century that found Cretans had remarkably low rates of heart disease and long lifespans. But the Cretan diet isn't just about health statistics – it's a delicious way of eating rooted in the island's agriculture, seasonality, and culture of sharing hearty meals with family and friends. Let's explore what makes the Cretan diet special, what foods are staples, and which dishes you must try for an authentic taste of Crete.

The Essence of the Cretan Diet

At its core, the traditional Cretan diet is plant-heavy, with modest amounts of meat, and abundant in olive oil. It grew from necessity and availability: Crete's terrain yields olives, grapes, grains, and hardy vegetables easily, larger livestock was less common historically, so meat was for special occasions or Sundays. Key features include:

• Olive Oil: Often called “liquid gold”, olive oil is the primary fat. Cretans consume a lot of extra-virgin olive oil – drizzled on salads, vegetables, cooked legumes, and even in some desserts. It's high in monounsaturated fat and antioxidants, contributing to heart health. Don't be shy about the generous pour on your village salad or those green beans, it's how locals do it, and it tastes wonderful.
• Vegetables and Greens: Crete's diet is bursting with vegetables. From common veggies like tomatoes, aubergines, courgettes, peppers, and potatoes to more unique wild greens (horta) that Cretans love to forage. These wild leafy greens (such as stamnagathi, chicory, purslane, amaranth, and dozens more) are boiled or steamed and served with olive oil and lemon – simple and extremely nutritious. Even wild herbs and weeds are eaten, Cretans traditionally know which wild plants are edible. A saying goes that in Crete, “the mountains are a natural pharmacy and market” for food and health. In spring, wild asparagus is collected, in winter, hearty weeds and greens.
• Legumes: Dried beans, lentils, chickpeas – these were a crucial protein source historically. Dishes like chickpea stew, fava split-pea puree, lentil soup, or giant baked beans in tomato sauce are staples. They're often cooked with veggies and ample olive oil.
• Cereals and Breads: Traditionally, whole grains like barley were more common than wheat on Crete's dry soils. Hence the famous barley rusk (dakos) – a hard twice-baked bread that can be stored long-term. Cretans invented ways to enjoy these rusks: the classic Dakos salad (also called koukouvagia, meaning owl) is a must-try – a large barley rusk topped with grated fresh tomato, crumbled feta or mizithra cheese, olive oil, and oregano. The rusk soaks up the juices and softens – it's hearty and incredibly flavorful for something so simple. Traditional bread in villages was often sourdough whole grain loaves, baked in wood ovens. Eating whole grain bread and paximadi (rusks) meant more fiber and nutrients. Another grain-based food is xinohondros – a traditional Cretan fermented pasta made from cracked wheat and sour milk (or yogurt), sun-dried in small chunks, it's used in soups or stews with vegetables.
• Fruits: The Cretan diet always included fresh fruits – grapes, figs, oranges, watermelon, etc. as snacks or dessert. Instead of sugary pastries daily, often a meal would end with a plate of seasonal fruit or perhaps a spoon sweet (a fruit preserved in syrup, served in a spoon – like candied quince or grape).
• Cheese and Dairy: Crete produces fantastic cheeses, mostly from sheep and goat milk (cows are rare here). Graviera (a hard golden cheese similar to Gruyère) is a flagship product – used in pies or eaten straight. Mizithra is a soft whey cheese, sometimes salted and dried into anthotyros. Staka is an interesting one: a clotted cream from goat's milk, used in cooking (staka is melted to produce stakovoutyro, used to flavor the wedding pilaf for example). Yoghurt is also traditional – thick and tangy, made from sheep or goat milk, often enjoyed with honey.
• Meat: While modern Cretans certainly eat meat regularly, traditionally it was rarer. Chicken, rabbit, or pork were more common than beef. Goat and lamb were eaten during festivals (Easter lamb, for instance). A unique Cretan method is antikristo lamb – where pieces of lamb are salted and then roasted facing the fire (antikrista means “opposite each other”) stuck on wooden stakes around a fire pit, it slow-cooks and gets crispy and tender (seek this out at a mountain taverna!). Pork was typically consumed around winter (many households slaughter a hog around Christmas – hoirolophagia – and make smoked meats, sausages, and preserved fat called “glykadi”). One traditional pork dish is tsamarella (dry-cured goat or pork) or apaki – delicious smoked lean pork marinated in vinegar and herbs, served in small pieces.
• Fish: Being an island, coastal communities ate fish and seafood often. Though Crete doesn't have a huge fishing industry compared to some islands, there's local catch: sardines, anchovies, bream, grouper, octopus, squid. Grilled fish simply drizzled with ladolemono (olive oil & lemon) is a treat. Octopus might be sun-dried and then grilled or made into a savory stew with wine.
• Herbs: Cretan cooking relies on herbs for flavor instead of heavy sauces. Oregano, thyme, rosemary, sage, bay leaves – these grow wild and are used liberally. One famous herb is dittany (diktamo), an endemic Cretan tea herb prized since antiquity (you can try Diktamo tea for its soothing properties).
• Moderation & Balance: The traditional diet had a natural balance – not by counting calories, but through variety and moderation. A typical day for an older generation Cretan might have been: paximadi with olive oil and cheese for breakfast, a lunch of say lentil soup with bread and olives, a light dinner of boiled greens or maybe a few meatballs and salad. Of course, hard farm work was the norm, so big physical activity complemented the diet, contributing to overall health.

The famous Seven Countries Study in the 1960s found that Cretan men had the lowest rates of heart disease among the studied populations, attributing this to the local diet rich in olive oil, whole foods, and low in saturated fat. It's quite remarkable that despite a relatively high intake of fat (olive oil), the type of fat (monounsaturated) and the plethora of vegetables yielded positive health outcomes.

Must-Try Foods and Dishes

Visiting Crete, you’ll want to indulge in its culinary offerings. Here are some quintessential Cretan foods and dishes:

• Dakos: As described, the barley rusk salad. It's refreshing and filling – a perfect lunch or starter. Often sprinkled with kapari (capers) and maybe some kalamata olives on top.
• Cretan Salad: Similar to Greek salad but often with local touches like mizithra cheese instead of feta, and maybe rusks broken in, plus purslane leaves.
• Boureki: A specialty of Chania region – it's an oven-baked dish of layered courgette and potatoes with mint, and myzithra or feta cheese, in a thin pastry or just layered. It's like a summer veggie gratin, absolutely delicious.
• Horta (Boiled Greens): Don't underestimate a plate of simple boiled wild greens. Drizzled with lemon and olive oil, these are slightly bitter, very nutritious, and oddly satisfying. Cretans will often have horta as a side dish to meat or even as a light meal with some bread and cheese.
• Kalitsounia: Little pies that come in many forms. You'll find cheese kalitsounia (made with mizithra cheese and lightly sweetened, often served as dessert with honey and cinnamon) or horta kalitsounia (savoury: filled with wild greens and herbs, like mini spinach pies, sometimes with cheese). They can be either baked or pan-fried and are typically eaten around Easter time but also year-round as appetizers or snacks.
• Gemista: Crete has its version of stuffed vegetables – tomatoes, peppers, courgette, even vine leaves (dolmades). They're usually stuffed with rice, herbs, sometimes minced meat, and baked in a tomato sauce base. Lots of mint and parsley in the stuffing is common, giving a very aromatic profile.
• Snails (Chochlioi): A beloved dish in Crete! Known as “Chochlioi Boubouristi”, snails are collected after rains, then purged and fried in olive oil with rosemary and vinegar. They pop and sizzle in the pan (hence boubouristi, meaning sizzling). If you're adventurous, try them – they're chewy and pick up the lovely flavour of rosemary and vinegar. Cretans consider snails both a delicacy and a fasting food (since they're not meat, they're allowed in Lent).
• Cretan Cheese Platter: Sample the variety – graviera (a slice of aged, nutty and firm cheese), mizithra (soft, creamy, slightly tangy), kefalotyri or kefalograviera (a sharper hard cheese), and maybe some staka on bread (rich and buttery). Often served with a drizzle of Cretan thyme honey on the side, as the salty-sweet combo is divine.
• Antikristo Lamb: If you find a restaurant that offers lamb antikristo, don't miss it. It's usually only in traditional tavernas (often in mountain villages or at specific agritourism places). The lamb is cooked without direct flame, opposite the fire, for hours, resulting in succulent meat with crispy edges. It encapsulates the pastoral tradition of Crete.
• Stifado: A stew typically made of rabbit or beef with pearl onions, cooked slowly in wine, tomato, cinnamon, and herbs. While not uniquely Cretan, the local version often uses rabbit (which is common on the island) and local wine.
• Gamopilafo: Often encountered at celebrations or in traditional restaurants, this “wedding pilaf” is rice boiled in a rich goat or lamb broth, finished with stakovoutyro (clotted cream butter). The rice comes out almost risotto-like and very savoury, with a squeeze of lemon on top when serving. Historically served at weddings, many tavernas now offer it for everyone to enjoy.
• Apaki: Smoked marinated pork, usually served as a meze (appetizer) in thin slices. Very flavourful – you taste notes of smoke, vinegar, and coriander seeds commonly used in the marinade. It pairs perfectly with a glass of raki.
• Raki and Wine: A critical part of the diet (for enjoyment) is raki (also called tsikoudia). This clear grape spirit is offered everywhere – after meals, at welcomes, during toasts. It's strong (around 40% alcohol) but when made right, quite smooth with a delicate grape aroma. Cretan wine, especially from wineries around Peza or Dafnes (from the Heraklion area), has improved vastly in recent decades. Try local varieties like Vilana (white) or Kotsifali and Mandilari (reds), or the famed sweet wine Malvasia that has been revived from Venetian times.
• Honey and Dessert: Crete's honey, especially thyme honey from the wilderness, is exceptional – aromatic and flavourful. It's used in desserts like yoghurt with honey and walnuts or poured over cheese pies. Typical sweets include kalitsounia, loukoumades (fried dough balls drizzled with honey and cinnamon), and xerotigana – spiral fried dough ribbons soaked in honey syrup and sprinkled with sesame, traditional wedding sweets. Spoon sweets (gliko tou koutaliou) made from grape, orange peel, fig, etc. are also common and often served with coffee.

'Gemista' - Attribution: sipes23

Health and Lifestyle

What makes the Cretan diet truly work (in terms of health) is also the lifestyle around it. Meals in Crete, especially in villages, are leisurely social affairs – stress-relieving and joy-inducing. People tend to eat together, converse, and laugh, which certainly aids digestion and well-being. They also traditionally ate according to season – what was abundant was eaten fresh, while what was scarce was preserved through sun-drying, pickling, or fermenting. This meant lots of variety throughout the year and a diet naturally low in processed foods.

Even today, many Cretans follow the tradition of “nistia” (fasting periods) in the Orthodox calendar – nearly half the days of the year are designated as fasting days (no meat, dairy, eggs, sometimes fish is allowed). Though not everyone strictly adheres to every fast, major periods like Lent before Easter are widely observed, essentially building a kind of intermittent vegetarianism into the culture. This practice aligns beautifully with the Cretan philosophy of moderation and allowing the body a break from rich foods.

When you visit Crete, try to immerse yourself in the local way of dining by stopping by a traditional taverna in a small town or village. Often these places don't have a formal menu – the owner may simply tell you what fresh dishes have been prepared that day. You might hear: “We have some braised goat with greens, fresh boiled vlita, stuffed courgette flowers, and yesterday we slaughtered a pig so we have grilled pork.” Go with the flow, sample these home-cooked delights, and enjoy the friendly hospitality that often ends your meal with a complimentary plate of fruit or a slice of cake along with a little cold raki. Your taste buds – and your heart – will thank you.

In summary, the Cretan diet is more than just food, it's a cultural heritage of healthy, whole-food cooking, seasoned with love and tradition. It's about savouring sun-kissed ingredients from the fertile Cretan land and bountiful sea – all in balance – and enjoying them in good company. No wonder it's associated not only with longevity but with a vibrant, enjoyable life. So indulge guilt-free in those Cretan dishes, your taste buds and your heart (literally) will thank you.