With Valentine’s day coming up…

A recipe for Lamb you might prepare for your love >
http://tinyurl.com/cc642g

A new theory on the birthplace of Zeus >
http://tinyurl.com/bma4zj

With the latter if you vote for Crete as being the birthplace of Zeus, then to stay in a great small hotel while exploring the signs of mythology in Crete see >
www.Crete-Hotels-Rooms.com
but
If you vote for Arcadia > www.SuperbGreece.com will help you find that ideal hotel (try Dimitsana )

Of course even better and highly recommended (!) – visit both !

Article in the International Herald Tribune about white wines in Greece:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/08/arts/trwine.php

Venturing beyond Chania’s harbour restaurants – dining in the hills, eating by the beach, restaurants with a view, tavernas on the sea front.

A new batch of inspiring suggestions adds to your chances of enjoying the food of Crete.

Venture outside Chania town and enjoy the scenery, authentic villages and mouth watering treats.

The CreteTravel article spills the beans and reveals the food-fanatic secrets that have been given to the travel consultancy’s own guests >

http://www.cretetravel.com/Chania/Chania.htm – ( scroll to near the bottom of the page for these secret places and look at the rest of the article for Chania town attractions as well )

Happy travels

The smart package design and the prime magic ingredient of the new ” Mastiha Shop ” products – just great for an original gift – at 145 Orchard Street in New York are a must-try, must-see.

Mastic (or Mastiha) is a gum-like substance that comes from Mastic trees growing on the island of Chios in Greece.

Mastic boasts legendary health benefits, amongst others it is soothing for intestinal irritations, has healing cosmetic and naturally soft antiseptic properties. It also adds a unique new flavour – clean and invigorating – to cooked food and candies.

The beautifully designed packages of shampoos, chewing gums, toothpaste, lotions and potions as well as actual nuggets of Mastic gum are all on show.

May become a worldwide retailing phenomenon, the shops are most enjoyable places to visit – try it !

Mastiha wesbsite > http://www.mastihashop.com/EN/home_en.htm

I must recommend a delicious yoghurt you can find at many (not all) supermarkets in Crete.

Goat’s yoghurt has tended to have a rather, well…”goaty” taste.
Goat’s yoghurt is recommended as just about the healthiest yoghurt you can consume.

The good thing about the Vero Kritiko brand of goat yoghurt ( ” Katsikisio Yiaourti ” ) is that it tastes good but hardly “goaty” at all – just creamy and good.

Just a tip – hope you enjoy it !

[Note: The packaging is almost identical to this same manufacturer's sheep yoghurt...also good and great tasting but...it's not goat ! ]

The lamb, still hot and straight off the hand-cranked spit, cooked by the heat and glowing embers of charcoal, tasted…like lamb should !

It is traditional and it is done. A few people still fast in the 40 days leading up to Easter. For most of those who do this, it is an easy “fast” that allows the eating of shrimp and fish and many other foods that are both healthy and much-desired by those living in many parts of the world outside Greece. Then presto! Lamb is being roasted outdoors everywhere you go and everyone wants to enjoy the – for some – highlight of Easter, which in effect ends the fast, bite into that !

Here in Crete, as the water at sea’s edge gave emeralds a run for their money in the colour stakes, the eggplant salad, the Horiatiki salad with its welcome chunk of Feta cheese, the warm sun challenged by a cooling breeze, all allowed for that taverna-with-a-view to deliver “the experience”. The experience is a blend of food, aromas, people, views, laughter, bright conversation and the spending of time, as chosen, for moments which become the building blocks of cherished memories.

Vegetarians do not despair ! Greece is a country with salads. The salad lives beyond your fresh-produce inspired dreams….and if fried in olive oil, the occasional fired zucchini, mushrooms and vegetables just waiting to be eaten bolster the platter even without relying on fish or meat or poultry.

Happy spring – enjoy the wildflowers – and let the sound of the waves and the fresh-started birds chatter and sing.

A Cretan restaurant we hope to try – Alatsi in Athens.
Using ingredients and recipes from Crete – sounds authentic and tasty – try it and enjoy at Vrasida no.13 near the Hilton hotel (phone 210 721 0501)

Snow fell “all at once” as it always seems to do….much of the country was snow-covered to some degree – including a late-to-work-because-of-the-snow Athens on Tuesday.
Mountains and hilltops over 300 metres were snow covered even in Crete. Crete received months of rain in a night and a day, causing temporary lakes to appear in some parts of Chania while some south and eastern areas saw little of the wet stuff.

Crete has had few rather cold days with daytime temperatures sometimes straining to exceed 6 degrees centigrade. Things, the meteorological soothsayers tell us, will start warming up on Thursday
Perhaps integrity will descend across the land on Friday….! Ho Hum.

The restaurants, to qualify must:
-Only use Virgin olive oil from Crete
-Have the correct ingredients for a Greek salad
-Offer at least 2 Cretan cheeses
-Fresh potatoes must be used and fired in olive oil for fried potatos
-Offer real Greek coffee, made in the traditional way
-Must offer olives or olive paste, or local tapa-like appetizer and cretan rusk or local black bread included in the cover charge
-”Taste” must be acceptable as “Cretan” cuisine (read more about Cretan Cuisine http://www.cretetravel.com/Cretan_Diet/Cretan_Diet_1.htm )
- Must offer Cretan wines
- Acceptable standards of cleanliness in kitchens, dining areas and bathroom/toilet

OK – enough of the tedious list here is a more interesting one, the names of the restaurants:

AVLI – Rethymno; VILLA ARCHANES (a place to stay
http://www.crete-hotels-rooms.com/Reservations/Villa_Arhanes.htm )
- Arhanes village; ENAGRON – Axos; KYRIAKOS – Heraklion; BALCONY – Sitia; PANORAMA – Spili; PITHOS – Hersonisos; SYMBOSIO – Rethymno; CHRISTOS TAVERNA – Rehtymno.

I know there are many, really many, other restaurants in Crete that fulfill and dramatically exceed these terms and specifications and offer the true Cretan dining experience – but more tend to cater to foreign cuisine-influenced expectations with chicken nuggets for children and packaged dinner plates. So it is a worthwhile addition to have this new reference point for all it might do to encourage both those certified and other who may understand the appeal to both visitors and local residents.

I’m getting hungry at the thought….