When food is a passion

Food was one of the first things that helped me understand Crete.

When I first moved to the island, I quickly realized that food means something different here. People talk about ingredients, seasons and family recipes with genuine passion.

Many of the older women I met could identify dozens of edible plants growing in the countryside. They knew where to find them, when to collect them and how to prepare them.

I was fascinated.

Slowly, I began learning about wild horta, mountain herbs and traditional Cretan cooking.

I discovered that some of the most important ingredients in the local diet are not bought in supermarkets. They are gathered from fields, mountains and family gardens.

The more I learned, the more I understood that food in Crete is closely connected to nature.

Learning about greek food in restaurant "Sto Scholeio" in Anidri village.

The seasons matter.

The weather matters.

The land matters.

Many meals begin with ingredients grown by family members, picked from a garden or collected in the countryside.

What impressed me most was not only the food itself, but the willingness of people to share their knowledge. A conversation over coffee could turn into a lesson about herbs.

A village walk could become a lesson about edible greens.A family lunch could reveal a recipe that had been passed down through generations.

Over the years, I came to realize that food is much more than something we eat.

It tells the story of a place.

And in Crete, every herb, every olive tree and every family recipe carries part of that story.

That is why food remains one of my favourite ways to discover the island.