A guide to the traditions and way of life in Crete

Food is a way of life in Crete, notable for its simplicity and subtle use of spices, often limited to salt and pepper and yet tasting delicious. The No.1 ingredient is imagination. For instance, Cretans may eat greens every day but they still make them taste different every time through simple yet inspired combinations. With such a wonderful climate, Crete is also famous for its delicious local ingredients and produce such as wine and extra-virgin olive oil. Goat is often cooked at celebrations like Christmas, Easter, weddings and festivals and cheeses can be eaten at any time of day, for breakfast, an appetiser, with a main meal or as a dessert, drizzled with thyme honey.

Perhaps the most popular Cretan dish is the Dakos salad, with rusk bread topped with tomatoes, creamy myzithra cheese, herbs, spices and plenty of olive oil. But there are many other famous dishes, such as lamb fricassee (try it cooked with askolymbros, a fleshy and tasty root growing near the sea) and antikristo – lamb cooked opposite, never over the fire – a style of cooking that goes back to Minoan times. Other highlights include kolokythanthi (stuffed zucchini flowers), chochlii bουmbouristi (fried snails with sea salt and rosemary) and skioufichta (a traditional, distinctively shaped handmade pasta) with plenty grated kefalotiri or anthorito cheese. A final treat is kalitsounia (small, sweet pies stuffed with whey cheese, honey and cinnamon), traditionally eaten at Easter after the fasting period.

You’ll still find men and women wearing traditional Cretan clothing, especially in villages. Many aspects of the costume are symbolic, such as the knitted sarikia worn on their head by men, with little hanging knots representing the ‘tears of Crete’. Traditional outfits for men include a black shirt and a sleeveless waistcoat, a red silk sash called zounari, wrapped around the waist and holding a silver knife (basalis), and black or white stivania boots. There are various versions of traditional Cretan women’s dress, including the Sfakiani and Anoghiani (referring to regions in Crete). The red kerchief covering women’s heads is called a skoufoma and if you see a woman with a knife tucked into a red sash wrapped around her waist, it means she’s engaged to be married. Finally, there’s the walking stick (Katsouna), traditionally used by shepherds climbing mountain paths and village elders. They’d double as weapons in times of conflict, which is why they also symbolise Cretan pride.

The most commonly heard folk songs in Cretan villages are called Mantinades, a 15-syllable rhyming couplet (similar to a limerick) in a Cretan dialect. They are often performed with an accompanying lyra or laouta (a traditional stringed instrument) and tiskoudia (Cretan tsipouro or raki) and have lyrics that speak of every emotion and value (love, birth, death, friendship etc). What makes them even more special is that the performer often improvises mid-song. Another type of Cretan music is the Rizitika songs (the oldest type of music in Crete), which are similar to epic poems.

Daggers are prized possessions of Cretans, symbolising everything they value most: honour, gallantry, loyalty and an undying desire to protect their homeland. They are beautifully crafted and ornately decorated, making treasured souvenirs.