Cretan Diet Store Cupboard

What Goes in a Cretan Diet Store Cupboard

A Cretan diet store cupboard holds 16 basic ingredients: olive oil, onions, tomatoes, olives, Greek yoghurt, honey, eggs, wine, garlic, chickpeas, dried beans, vinegar, lemons, bay leaves, cinnamon and cumin. With these in your fridge and cupboard, you only need fresh vegetables, greens, fish or meat to cook most Cretan dishes.

The Cretan diet is often called the original Mediterranean diet. It is built on olive oil, vegetables, wild greens, pulses and cereals, with less meat.

You don't need to live on Crete to stock a Cretan store cupboard. Most of these foods are sold in ordinary supermarkets, farmers' markets and farm shops. Organic versions are worth buying where you can, because we find they taste better.

Olive Oil

Olive oil is the most important ingredient in Cretan cooking. Cretans use it in nearly every dish, from salads to stews. Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats and antioxidants, which support heart health. Our guide to Cretan olive oil explains how it is made.

Olive oil is the base of these traditional dishes:

• Dakos: barley rusks topped with tomato, cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.
• Horta vrasta: boiled wild greens dressed with olive oil and lemon juice.
• Ladera: vegetable dishes slow-cooked in olive oil, such as green beans in tomato sauce.

Storage: Keep olive oil in a cool, dark place in a tightly sealed bottle, so that it does not oxidise.

Substitutes: Extra virgin olive oil is the one to use. Cold-pressed sunflower oil or avocado oil will do if you run out.

Onions

Onions add depth and flavour to Cretan stews, soups and salads. Onions also contain antioxidants and compounds that support the immune system.

Onions are central to these traditional dishes:

• Stifado: beef or rabbit slow-cooked with lots of small onions and spices.
• Fakes: lentil soup with onions and olive oil.

Storage: Keep onions in a cool, dry, airy place, away from potatoes.

Substitutes: Shallots or leeks can replace onions in most dishes.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes go into Cretan sauces, stews and salads. Tomatoes provide vitamin C, potassium and lycopene, an antioxidant.

Tomatoes are the main ingredient in these traditional dishes:

• Greek salad: fresh tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olives and feta. Our Greek salad recipe gives the method.
• Gemista: tomatoes stuffed with rice, herbs and olive oil.

Storage: Keep tomatoes at room temperature until ripe, then refrigerate them for a few days at most.

Substitutes: Tinned or sun-dried tomatoes work when fresh ones aren't available.

Olives

Olives are eaten every day in Crete, green or black. Cretans eat them as a snack with bread and raki, and add them to salads. Olives contain heart-healthy fats and polyphenols.

Olives appear in these traditional dishes:

• Tsakistes: green olives cracked and cured in brine with lemon and herbs.
• Horiatiki: Greek village salad, always served with olives.

Storage: Keep opened olives in their brine or covered in olive oil in the fridge.

Substitutes: Capers or pickled artichokes give a similar salty, sharp flavour.

Greek Yoghurt

Greek yoghurt is thick, smooth and rich in probiotics. Cretans use it in dips, desserts and dressings, and eat it for breakfast.

Yoghurt is the base of these traditional dishes:

• Tzatziki: yoghurt with grated cucumber, garlic and dill.
• Yoghurt with honey and walnuts: a simple, classic dessert.

Storage: Keep yoghurt in the fridge and use it within a week of opening.

Substitutes: Labneh or skyr can replace Greek yoghurt.

Honey

Cretan thyme honey is a natural sweetener with a deep flavour and antibacterial properties. Cretans drizzle it over yoghurt, stir it into herbal tea and use it in cakes. Our page on Cretan honey has more.

Honey sweetens these traditional dishes:

• Loukoumades: small fried doughnuts soaked in honey.
• Melomakarona: honey-soaked Christmas biscuits.

Storage: Keep honey in an airtight jar at room temperature.

Substitutes: Maple syrup or date syrup can replace honey.

Eggs

Eggs are a protein-rich staple of Cretan omelettes, pies, cakes and soups. Fresh free-range eggs taste noticeably better.

Eggs are essential in these traditional dishes:

• Strapatsada: scrambled eggs with tomatoes and feta.
• Avgolemono: egg-and-lemon soup, usually made with chicken stock.

Storage: Refrigerate eggs and use them within 3 weeks.

Substitutes: A flax egg (1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed and 3 tablespoons of water) works in baking.

Wine

Wine is not an essential Cretan diet ingredient, but most Cretan kitchens have a bottle for cooking and for the table. We recommend you keep some to hand, unless you are teetotal. Our page on Cretan wine covers local wine.

Red wine goes into these traditional dishes:

• Stifado: beef or rabbit stewed with onions, red wine and spices.
• Kokkinisto: meat stewed in tomato sauce with red wine.

Storage: Keep wine in a cool, dark place and use opened bottles within a week.

Substitutes: Grape juice or a little balsamic vinegar can replace wine in recipes.

Garlic

Garlic flavours Cretan stews, dips, dressings and sauces, and no Cretan kitchen is without it. Garlic is also an antioxidant.

Garlic is the main flavour in these traditional dishes:

• Skordalia: a garlic dip made with potato or bread and olive oil.
• Tzatziki: yoghurt, cucumber and garlic dip.

Storage: Keep garlic in a cool, dry place away from moisture.

Substitutes: Garlic powder or shallots.

Chickpeas

Chickpeas are a cheap source of plant protein and fibre in Cretan cooking. Cretans use them in soups, stews and salads.

Chickpeas are the base of these traditional dishes:

• Revithada: chickpeas slow-baked with onion and olive oil.
• Revithia soupa: chickpea soup with lemon and olive oil.

Storage: Keep dried chickpeas in an airtight container and soak them overnight before cooking.

Substitutes: White beans or lentils.

Dried Beans

Dried beans are high in protein and fibre, and they are the backbone of Greek winter soups and stews.

Dried beans are the base of these traditional dishes:

• Fasolada: Greek white bean soup with tomato, carrot and celery.
• Gigantes plaki: giant beans baked in tomato sauce.

Storage: Keep dried beans in an airtight container and soak them before use.

Substitutes: Lentils or tinned beans.

Vinegar

Vinegar adds sharpness to Cretan dressings and marinades.

Vinegar is used in these traditional dishes:

• Gavros marinatos: anchovies marinated in vinegar and olive oil.
• Ladoxido: a dressing of olive oil and vinegar.

Storage: Keep vinegar in a cool, dark place.

Substitutes: Lemon juice or cider vinegar.

Lemons

Lemons brighten Cretan fish, salads, soups and grilled meat, and they add vitamin C.

Lemon is essential in these traditional dishes:

• Ladolemono: a dressing of lemon juice and olive oil, served with fish and greens.
• Avgolemono: egg-and-lemon soup.

Storage: Keep fresh lemons in the fridge and keep bottled juice sealed.

Substitutes: Vinegar or lime juice.

Bay Leaves

Bay leaves flavour slow-cooked Cretan meat and pulse dishes.

Bay leaves go into these traditional dishes:

• Stifado: slow-cooked meat stew with onions.
• Fakes: lentil soup.

Storage: Keep dried bay leaves in an airtight container.

Substitutes: Thyme or oregano.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon goes into Cretan meat stews and tomato sauces as well as cakes and puddings.

Cinnamon flavours these traditional dishes:

• Moussaka: layered aubergine and minced meat, with cinnamon in the meat sauce.
• Rizogalo: Greek rice pudding dusted with cinnamon.

Storage: Keep cinnamon sticks or ground cinnamon in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.

Substitutes: A pinch of allspice or nutmeg.

Cumin

Cumin is warm and slightly peppery, and it is the key spice in Greek meatballs from the Smyrna tradition.

Cumin is essential in this traditional dish:

• Soutzoukakia: oval meatballs flavoured with cumin, cooked in tomato sauce.

Storage: Keep cumin in a sealed container away from heat.

Substitutes: Coriander or caraway seed.

Cooking With Your Cretan Store Cupboard

A stocked Cretan store cupboard means most Cretan meals need only 1 or 2 fresh ingredients. Our Cretan diet recipes use these staples, and you will soon be eating like a Cretan, with a long and healthy life to look forward to!

(Don't forget to drive carefully and give up smoking too, though!)

Many of the dishes above are meat-free by tradition. Our guide to vegetarian food in Crete lists the ones to look for on taverna menus.