Cooking in Crete

PRICE PER PERSON: $ 580 / £ 383

BASED ON MINIMUM 2 PERSONS

  Join the Cretan hospitality! Cretans says that we have the finest gastronomical, tasty and healthy solutions proved and signed by the medical science society. Wild green pies, spinach pies, Raw veggies salads, Veggies in the pot or in oven Cretan traditional way, cooked a way only Cretans do, and much more. Enjoy food and cooking class that blend all the secrets particular of Crete and let you enjoy & learn about them first-hand alongside the locals. 

Vacation highlights

Cooking class

Food tasting, honey tasting, wine tasting

Vegetarian, vegan, Mediterranean cuisine

2 lunches, 1 dinner, 1 breakfast

1 night accommodation

Palace tour, village trip

2 day(s) with instructions

English

 

Porto Club Vegetarian Foodie Vacation Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival, cooking class

Arrival the airport or port of Heraklion. Reception at the airport or port.

Transportation to the villa Kerasia , 15 km south city of Heraklion.

Dinner at the villa  variety of Cretan Mediterranean vegetarian / vegan specialties. This evening’s hands-on class focuses on vegetables and George will teach you preparation techniques that transform basic ingredients into the stars of the table, full of richness colour and flavour
After the class sit down as a group and enjoy the meal you’ve learned to cook accompanied by local wine

Accommodation in villa Kerasia at village Kerasia.

 

Day 2: Excursion, honey tasting, food tasting, departure

The palace of Knossos, spend the day with locals, bee keeping, women cooperative work shop at Marathos

Breakfast, put the luggage at the car and the day start by visiting the palaceof Knossos. Is not comprehended somebody visits Crete and it does not see the Knossos. It is as food without salt.

Ending the visit of Knossos we drive south to the near village of Dafneswhere we meet a local lady. She is a living treasure. She prepares unique foods. We stay for lunch and taste her cooking.

After lunch we drive for a visit to a bee keeper and a women co-operative workshop.  The place is 20 km far from the city of Heraklion; Beautiful untouched nature is perfect pasture for bees. Old traditional bee-keeping methods ensure ecological, clean and free from any additives honey and other bee products. irst honey of the season is collected from spring thyme blossoms. This golden yellow honey is perfect source of nature’s ingredients.

We do a break at the small local café / restaurant run by the bee-keepers since 1949. The owners (two brothers) have been beekeepers since all their lifetime taking the business from their father. Therefore, we taste honeycombs straight from the beehive and learn everything about bees and beekeeping as well as having a kind of pancakes we call them “tiganites”, deep in honey and small cheese pies with honey in company with local wine and the Cretan snap, Raki. You will definitely feel the positive effect to your body and soul.

A visit to a women cooperative at the near village of Marathos where they make the very special (unique art pastry small and bigger round breads), we call them “Xompliasto Koulouri”.

And drive back the airport or port of Heraklion and our tour ends.

Porto Club Vegetarian & Vegan Vacations

 

We believe that the most authentic way to experience and understand the heritage of Cretan culture, nutrition, history, way of life and its people, is in the company of a local scholar, walking through streets which are alive with religion, art and history, immersing in the architecture, learning about the life, traditions, and customs of Cretan people, past and present.

You will sample some of the finest meals as well as fruit and vegetables in the world. You will drink selected spirits (ouzo, raki, liquors) and wines that will elevate your spirit and help you relax, and relish the excellent traditional cooking in some of the less obvious restaurants that we will point you out.

Follow Porto Club Vegetarian lead, come on a route of adventure, travel and wonder as you explore the mysteries, flavours and customs particular to various Cretan regions on our unique & authentic Cretan vegetarian food holiday. We can promise you we will not be part of any tourist trail or the sheep following mentality. Our aim has always been to offer quality not quantity, so Porto Club remains small but perfectly formed.

 

Porto Club Cooking Vacation

We offer a unique opportunity to experience at first hand authentic Cretan regional cooking techniques and recipes that have been developed and handed down over generations. All of the ingredients you will use are bought each morning from local open market and so you will be working with fresh fruit and vegetables in season.

 

Throughout our cooking you will learn about the ingredients and the traditions around the dishes. You will learn the passion of the Cretan kitchen and, importantly, have a lot of fun and enjoyment doing it.

 

Your week in Crete will be as much a hands on cooking experience as a cultural one. George will introduce you to the philosophy of local cooking and its traditions. You will learn about the history of Cretan cuisine and how it was influenced by its occupation for more than 2000 years.

 

You will learn the inspirations behind the Cretan dishes, the methods employed by local producers, how to make a variety of Cretan dishes from simple ingredients you can find back home, how very few ingredients can be the basis for 6 or 7 dishes.

 

You will learn how to prepare traditional Cretan dishes adapted to vegetarian requirements but never compromising on flavor as well as the cooking techniques and methods used to create the dishes.

 

 

Cretan cuisine sample menu

Cretan dishes

Casseroles

Dolmadakia – vine leaf wraps stuffed with sorrel, pumpkin flowers

Ladera

Mageirefta

Moussakas

Saganaki (fried cheese)

Sfakiani (stuffed pitta)

Soups

Stuffed peppers, tomatoes, courgettes and Aubergines (Papoutsakia)

 

Cretan bakery and desserts

Cookies: On Crete, these cookies are traditionally made and served over the Christmas and New Year's holiday season. They are enjoyed at other times of year as well, but in December and January, they come together to create a fabulous collection of tastes and textures.

Kalitsounia: These sweet cheese pastries are an Easter favourite on theisland of Crete.

Kouloura: These sweet breads are an Easter favourite as well on the islandof Crete.

Kourabiethes: Kourabiethes (also kourambiedes) are traditional celebration cookies, served at Christmas, New Year's, weddings, and baptisms. Toasted almond shortbread-type cookies topped with a generous coating of confectioner's sugar, they melt in the mouth.

Melomakarouna: Melomakarona are a Christmas tradition in Greece (but enjoyed at other times of the year). All over Greece, kitchens will be filled with the wonderful smell of these spice cookies that will adorn tables, be given as hostess gifts, and eaten in huge quantities.

Pastries: these cookies are traditionally made and served over the Easter holiday season.

Pies: Crete is famous for its cuisine and mostly of its traditional “Kalitsounia”, which are small pies that can be filled with different fillings, such as cheese (tyropitakia) or greens and wild herbs (Hortopitakia). These unique delicacies are served across the entire island and are a very tasteful and healthy snack you can enjoy any time of the day, as an appetizer or light meal.

Spoon Sweets: Spoon sweets are healthy confections, visually pleasing, distinctive, and extremely versatile. Offering them to guests is a wonderful tradition and a sign of "sweet" hospitality. Nowadays they are used as healthy spreads, in baked goods, and to top ice cream, cakes, and yogurt. Spoon sweets reflect the spirit of the Cretan and Greek hospitality. Spoon sweets are a traditional offering in Greek homes. Spoon sweets are fruits, preserved in syrup. They are commonly known as "spoon sweets" which translates to “sweet of the spoon.” due to the traditional way of serving the sweets on a well-filled teaspoon accompanied by cold water.

Porto Club

Porto Club is a family founded company that set out to share the wonders and mysteries of Cretan regional cuisine with the world. Founded on the principles of passion, sharing and learning we pride ourselves in enjoying with others the uniqueness, wonders and pleasure of Cretan Vegetarian regional cuisine while ensuring to intertwine these with an understanding of the production, pride and culture specific to each region.

In Crete, a meal is not only a celebration but also a culmination of various events. Enjoy culinary explorations that blend all the secrets particular of the region of Crete and let you enjoy and learn about them first-hand alongside the locals. Going from one region of Crete to another changes not only what you eat, but how you eat it, how it’s prepared and what accompanies it.  Each region is a mystery unto itself. Immerse yourself in the fantastic flavours and mouth-watering smells of regional Crete.

Food

Cretans eat an abundance of fruits and vegetables. The fat we use in our cooked food and salads is mainly olive oil. We eat pulses and vegetables in large amounts. They are the basis in our daily diet. No more than two or three days would go without pulses in a meal and not a day without  vegetables, wild greens, olives, uncooked fresh vegetables and greens as salad, Cretan rusks and fruits. We eat more fruit than most, in fact, 4 times more than the other inhabitants of the Mediterranean.

A traveller in Greece when goes for lunch or dinner can find a huge variety of vegetarian / vegan meals in Estiatorion (restaurant). In these restaurants they present their specialties in show tables so guests can view the meals and choose one of them. Estiatorion is restaurant that operates mostly for local people. They always supply a big number of free-meat dishes we call them Ladera. You can find them at taverns or other kind of restaurants but Estiatorion is the ones I always suggest.

I have no compunction in saying that Crete and Greece is an ideal destination for a vegan / vegetarian, at least nutritionally. There is still a long way to go to connect with the philosophy and spirit of the vegan way, but any vegan visitor will be surprised at how harmoniously local Cretan people live with animals, almost all of whom free range in the fields or mountains. I hope and believe respect is a good first step between Cretans and vegans / vegetarians worldwide.

For many Greeks (especially in the countryside and islands), five days a week their meal is vegetarian or vegan. Yes, Greeks are meat and dairy eaters, but because such a large percentage of our diet consists of pulses, vegetables, greens and fruits, a vegan or vegetarian visitor will not have any difficulty in finding a huge variety of vegetarian food all over Greece. You don’t have to apologize or explain why you don’t eat meat.

Taste the healthy Cretan and Greek Mediterranean meat-free delicacies and our fine wine. You shall feel strong humanity, away from the stress of our daily life. You shall feel the warmth of Greek and Cretan company. You shall be captured by the place, perhaps because you think that time has stood still or because they welcome you with a shot of Tsikoudia with Cretan rusks and fresh tomato or a tsipouro or an ouzo.

Know before you go

Check in: From 2 p.m.

Check out: Before 10.30 a.m.

Transportation: Chartered vehicle

Airport transfers: Transfer from and to Airport.

Itinerary information: Custom dates available for a minimum of 2 people or price for 2 people. Entrance fees are extra.

 

Course information

Vegetarian Food, Wine and Culture holidays are suitable for all. Non-vegetarians are welcome on the holiday but they must be aware no meat will be used during the food tours. Please specify what type of vegetarian diet you follow at the time of booking.

Accommodation request

Accommodation with similar quality may be substituted depending on availability and request. Room upgrades available on request.

 

Travel assistance

We provide travel services, please contact us.

 

Additional information

For more information ask your questions directly to Porto Club Travel Services who will be happy to assist you. Simply send a message toinfo@portoclub.gr

 

NOTICE:

SOLO TRAVELERS CAN BOOK THE TOUR ON PRIVATE - TAILOR MADE  BY PAYING THE COST OF TWO PERSONS.

When you book , reserve space for two persons.

 BASED ON MINIMUM 2 PERSONS

PORTO CLUB Travel services:

Contact: Tel: 0030 2815 002754 – 0030 2810 317358  Cell: 0030 6975 735774

Email: info@portoclub.gr

Valid Period:

ALL YEAR