Crete is the largest and most populous island in Greece with a coastline of 650 miles and mountains climbing over 6000 feet.
It is also the birthplace of Europe’s first advanced civilization, which existed over 5000 years ago, the Minoans! Blessed with fertile land, an abundance of fresh produce and olive trees as far as the eye can see, the Mediterranean diet was born shortly thereafter. To the Minoans, their diet was their way of life, their love of life and all its joys.
Even today, the people of Crete love to eat, to eat together and to eat well. Perhaps this is why the city of Heraklion is a UNESCO City of Gastronomy, why Taste Atlas and the UN alike vote the Cretan diet as the best in the world, and why we definitely consider Crete to be the foodies island! So, let’s MUNCH, DRESS, GLAZE, SAUCE, MIST, AND READY TO EAT, love and enjoy like Creatans, with a mantinada or two!
“MANTINADA”
Oftentimes, Cretans express themselves through a mantinada, a spontaneous poem composed of a 15-syllable rhyming couplet in Cretan dialect. Taking inspiration from the mantinada’s spirit and form, we have written some mantinades for you (in English, of course) to hopefully make you chuckle while telling you a thing or two about each of our products!
MUNCH
dacos bites
If breakfast is indeed the most important meal of the day,
then start your day with dacos, that’s what Cretans do always say!
Taste Atlas voted the Cretan “dakos” the best salad in the world
conventional breakfast cereal = the definition of ultra-processed food
the Cretan bowl
so, we deconstructed the Cretan “dakos” salad and isolated its most essential ingredient: the barley rusks, a new yet very old breakfast cereal
made with wholegrain barley & rye, sourdough and extra virgin olive oil
changing the way we eat breakfast
dRESS, GLAZE, SAUCE
A salad is surely bland without a delicious dressing,
made with olive oil and fresh fruit, tastes like a Cretan blessing!
Crete’s fertile soil and unique terroir give us plenty of fresh and tasty fruits and vegetables
the 1st documented use of olive oil was in Crete and we honor the traditional use of olive oil to this day, with all our condiments being seed-oil free
only naturally occurring sugars and delicious flavors
no added sugars, artificial aromas, thickeners nor preservatives
dress, dip, drizzle, BBQ
MIST
EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL SPRAY
Oh, like an (extra) virgin embraced for the very first time,
made with very fresh olives, so your heart long beats next to mine.
extra virgin olive oil has been at the epicenter of the Cretan diet for the last 5000 years, and even today Cretans consume the most olive oil per capita in the world
Have you been searching for quality olive oil you can spray? Here are some that taste so much like a Cretan sun ray!
perfect for BBQs
honoring tradition with contemporary packaging
1 liter of olive oil = negative carbon footprint -6kg C02
ready to eat
PRECOOKED pies
The French might agree that its dough is delicate as a crepe,
but its filling is strong like a Cretan; it’s a pie in shape!
Crete’s most iconic pies:
1) sfakianopita = cheese pie topped with honey
2) marathopita = fennel pie with wild greens
precooked & individually portioned
2 minutes in the microwave,
7 minutes in a preheated oven,
no defrosting required
absolutely convenient with absolutely no compromise in flavor or quality
