Crete Food and Drink
Simplicity and Taste

Crete food and drink is built on a few local staples: olive oil, thyme honey, wild herbs and greens, seasonal vegetables and fruit, fish, meat, barrel wine and raki. Cretan food is our favourite food anywhere, and the traditional Cretan diet is widely studied as one of the healthiest in the world.

On the Greek island of Crete, as in all of Greece, eating is a way of life, and a meal can take all afternoon or all night. Good wine, good conversation and a little raki matter as much at a Cretan table as the fresh produce and the cook's experience.

Cretan cooking is simple. No heavy spices or complicated methods hide the flavour of the fresh, local produce.

No other single product is more important to Cretan food, the famous Cretan Diet and Greek cooking generally than the olive. From this small fruit, olive oil is produced.

"Elixir of Life", "Liquid gold" and "Gift from the Gods" are all terms that have been applied to olive oil. Ask a Cretan farmer in his 80’s if he agrees with the exalted praise given to the humble oil he produces and he will smile widely, moustache turning up at the sides, eyes twinkling with merriment, pat his bottom lip with his finger and say:

"Einai poli kala." (It is very good!)

Olive oil shapes Cretan cooking, the Cretan diet and village life. Our guide to Cretan olive oil explains how it is made and used.

Thyme honey is the honey Crete is famous for. Bees make it from the wild thyme that covers the hillsides. A walk on those hillsides often leads you to a row of brightly painted beehives, and the buzzing warns you before you see them.

Cretan honey is sold everywhere, and the shops in the main resorts stock a wide choice. Look for honey that is not in fancy gift jars. If you can find a local beekeeper, he or she will sell it to you at a fair price.

Honey is a key part of the Cretan diet. Our page on Cretan honey explains where it comes from and how Cretans use it.

One of the things that will hit you as you walk around Crete away from the towns is the smell of herbs in the air.

The mountains and hillsides are literally covered in thyme and their purple flowers, as well as decent smatterings of pungent sage and fragrant rosemary. You'll also find plenty of oregano and marjoram growing wild too.

Crete is also the home of dittany, or diktamos. Dittany grows wild only on Crete and has a long reputation as a medicinal herb. Cretans drink it as a herbal tea, and it tastes delicious. Our page on dittany of Crete tells its story.

Horta are wild mixed greens of many varieties, picked from the fields and hillsides, and even roadsides, often by the women of the village.

Horta is usually blanched or steamed in most of Greece. In Crete some greens are also served raw as a salad, drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil.

You can also find the mixed greens as a filling for Greens Pies and in omelettes.

Horta is healthy, cheap and very tasty. Our guide to horta (wild greens) names the main greens and how Cretans pick and cook them.

Fruit and vegetables in Crete are local and fresh. Markets and shops sell mostly what is in season on the island, with a limited choice of imported food.

Shops in the resorts stock more imported produce for tourists, but village shops and markets still sell mainly locally grown fruit and vegetables.

Most towns and many larger villages hold a weekly street market. The Saturday market in Chania is our favourite, and our Chania market shopping guide explains what to find there.

Crete is an island and fish is freely available especially in the restaurants on the coast and in fishing villages. Unfortunately, the seas around the Island are over-fished, which makes fresh fish expensive.

Fishing boats can be seen at almost all the coastal villages, and you'll see the fisherman swap his boat for a flat-bed truck to ply his wares in the tiny streets of the villages and towns near his port. You can catch a fish by flagging him down. You'll know he's coming because he announces it over his truck's loudspeaker. Listen out for the word psária (fish).

Most towns and large villages have a fresh fish shop. The indoor market in Chania was a good place to buy fish for many years; it has been closed for restoration, and the city plans to reopen it on 4 December 2026, according to the Greek travel news site Argophilia. These shops are usually open-fronted, with huge marble slabs sloping down to the street, filled with fish of all sizes in the morning.

You can also catch a fish using a rod, and you'll be joining a large contingent of sea fishermen who cast rods from the shore. Watch out if you see someone who's just caught a squid. The subsequent ritual involves bashing it violently against a large rock. This serves two purposes: it renders the poor cephalopod senseless, and also tenderises it for later cooking!

Squid is worth trying if you haven't already. It is a very popular dish and cheaper than most fresh fish dishes.

Be prepared to see animals with all their body parts dangling in the glass cabinets – heads, feet, etc. Whole rabbits are common at the butchers too. Rabbit is a common and popular Cretan Diet dish.

Usually (in our experience) the butcher is a friendly and accommodating person, and will help you if you explain what you want and how you want it. Don’t be afraid to use all your sign language and animal imitation skills!

"Steak", "chops", "mince" and "chicken" are familiar English words to most Cretan butchers, and many staff speak good English. When we lived in Kalyves, all the butchers were women!

Meat production in Crete appears to have escaped the commercialization that has blighted animal husbandry in more "developed" parts of the world. Free range animals can be seen all over the Island. You won't have to go far to see a flock of chickens scampering freely in an open space near a farm.

One thing struck us as soon as we came to Crete: the meat was very tasty.

On Crete, the common name for Mountain Tea is malotira (pronounced mah-loh-TEER-rah), but many English speakers might know it as "Shepherd's Tea," because Greek shepherds would use the plants to make a brewed tea while tending their flocks high in the hills.

Greek Mountain Tea is very popular in Crete, and is enjoyed all year round, but especially in the winter months, when a nice hot brew is most appreciated!

Winter is a good time of the year to drink it to take advantage of its positive health benefits. Many villagers will tell you of its almost miraculous properties. It is said to have a positive effect on most common ailments but it is especially used for colds, breathing problems, digestion, bolstering the immune system, calming mild anxiety, and as an anti-oxidant. It can also help to reduce fevers. You can buy the tea in markets and most grocery shops. Even pharmacies sell it!

Our page on Greek mountain tea has more on the plant and its uses.

This is the local "hard stuff" and is made from what is left over after pressing the grapes - it's an important element of the Cretan food Experience.

Raki looks like water, and village shops often sell it in plastic water bottles, so check what you are buying. A bottle of raki costs several times the price of a bottle of water.

You'll see old men gathered at kafeneions drinking Raki from small shot glasses. Raki is usually served in small shapely bottles holding about 4 to 6 shots, although nobody measures it out! It's freely available and often given as a complimentary drink before, after and/or during your meal!

Ouzo is the other clear spirit you will find everywhere. Ouzo is the famous Greek drink flavoured with aniseed, usually served with water, which turns it cloudy. Ouzo is not a Cretan drink.

Raki is strong, and it has its own customs. Our guide to Cretan raki (tsikoudia) explains how it is made and drunk.

The same gentlemen you'll see sitting in the kafeneions drinking Raki in the early to late evening, will be sitting there in the morning drinking Greek Coffee.

Greek coffee is made from fine grounds heated in a small pot until frothy. It is served sketo (without sugar), metrio (medium sweet) or glyko (very sweet). The sugar goes in at the start, so the waiter asks which you want when you order. You don't get a sugar bowl and spoon with Greek coffee!

When it arrives you get a small cup of dark brown coffee. Wait for it to settle, because the grounds are in the cup. If you drink down to the bottom, you'll get a mouthful of grounds. Everyone gets a glass of water with their coffee in Crete.