The Cretan diet has been studied by nutritionists and anthropologists since the 1950s, when the American physiologist Ancel Keys first identified the population of rural Crete as among the longest-lived and healthiest in the world. The famous Seven Countries Study found Cretan men had the lowest rates of heart disease and the highest life expectancy in the study — and attributed much of this to their diet. What they were eating then, and what you can still eat in a good Cretan taverna today, remains largely unchanged.
The Core Ingredients
Olive Oil — the Foundation
Crete produces more olive oil per capita than any other region in the world and consumes almost all of it domestically. The island has approximately 30 million olive trees — roughly 30 per inhabitant. The oil is predominantly made from the Koroneiki variety, one of the world's most prized olives for oil production: small, intensely flavoured, high in polyphenols (the compounds associated with health benefits).
In a traditional Cretan home, olive oil is not a condiment — it is a cooking medium, a dressing, a bread dip and a finishing drizzle. Rural Cretan families consume an estimated 25-30 litres of olive oil per person per year, far more than any other Mediterranean population. The oil is used cold on salads, raw on bread, cooked at high temperature for fried dishes and drizzled at the table on everything from cheese to soup.
What to buy: Look for single-estate, unfiltered extra virgin olive oil from the Kolymvari area (Chania) or the Mesara plain. The Kolymvari PDO is particularly prized. Many Cretan farms sell oil directly; markets in Chania and Heraklion have good selections.
Wild Greens (Horta) — Seasonal & Foraged
One of the most distinctive features of the Cretan diet is the quantity and variety of wild greens consumed. Older Cretan women can identify and prepare dozens of species of wild herbs and greens that grow on the hillsides — plants with names like stamnagathi (spiny chicory), vlita (amaranth), maratho (wild fennel), radikia (dandelion), and kritamo (sea fennel, growing on coastal rocks).
Wild greens are usually boiled briefly and served warm or at room temperature with olive oil and lemon — a dish called horta. They appear as side dishes, in pies, on toast and as fillings for the small pastries called kalitsounia. The seasonal variety is enormous: spring brings nettles and asparagus; autumn brings bitter greens and mushrooms.
You will find horta on the menu of every traditional taverna. In mountain villages, the grandmother's version (made with whatever she gathered that morning) is the best.
Dairy — Graviera, Mizithra & Staka
Crete produces some of Greece's most distinctive cheeses.
Graviera Kritis is a PDO hard cheese made from sheep's or goat's milk, aged 3-12 months. It has a buttery, slightly sweet flavour with a firm texture — closer to Gruyère than to Greek feta. Excellent eaten alone with honey, melted on pasta (like Crete's own pasta dish, gamopilafo), or fried as saganaki. The best Crete graviera comes from the Rethymno highlands.
Mizithra is a fresh, soft whey cheese (similar to Italian ricotta but richer), eaten fresh with honey and sesame (meli me sousami) for breakfast, or used in sweet pastries. Aged mizithra (xinomizithra or anthotiro) is firmer and tangier.
Staka is a uniquely Cretan product: the fat skimmed from slow-cooked sheep's milk, simmered with flour until it thickens into a rich, intensely flavoured paste. Served hot with eggs, bread or fried potatoes. Caloric and extraordinary. You will not find it outside Crete.
Legumes — The Everyday Protein
The traditional Cretan diet is built on legumes: chickpeas, butter beans, split peas and fava (yellow split pea puree). In rural households, meat was historically eaten only on feast days; legumes provided the daily protein. Loubia (black-eyed peas with olive oil and lemon), revithia (chickpea soup with rosemary and lemon) and fasolia (white bean stew) are Cretan staples you will find at every market-day lunch taverna.
Fava — the split-pea puree — is slightly different from the Santorini variety: thicker, more olive-oil enriched, often served with caramelised onions on top.
Honey — Among Europe's Best
Cretan thyme honey is widely considered the finest in Greece and among the best in Europe. The bees forage on the wild thyme, sage, oregano and herbs that cover the Cretan hillsides, and the resulting honey is intensely aromatic, dark amber and with a distinctively herbal edge. Cretan honey is used extensively in pastries, on cheese, stirred into tea and eaten with strained yoghurt.
Look for honey from the White Mountains (Chania region) or the Lasithi Plateau highlands. The best is sold in small local apiaries and market stalls rather than supermarkets.
The Essential Cretan Dishes
Dakos (Ntakos)
The most emblematic Cretan dish: a thick barley rusk (paximadi) soaked briefly in water to soften it, topped with fresh grated tomato, crumbled mizithra or feta, dried oregano and a generous pour of olive oil. Simple, perfectly balanced and deeply delicious. Every taverna has it; the best versions are made with hand-made rusks from a village bakery.
Kalitsounia
Small fried or baked pastries filled with mizithra cheese (sweet version) or wild greens and herbs (savoury). The sweet kalitsounia are a traditional Easter pastry; the savoury versions are eaten year-round. In Sfakia they are called sfakiani pita and are made larger, pan-fried and drizzled with honey.
Gamopilafo
The rice dish of Cretan weddings (gamos = wedding): short-grain rice cooked in rich lamb or goat broth (often the cooking liquid from the whole roasted feast animal), enriched with staka and finished with lemon juice. Deeply flavoured, creamy and substantial. You will rarely find it in tourist restaurants — ask at a village taverna about whether they make it, especially in September-October (wedding season).
Snails (Chochlioi)
Cretan snails are a beloved delicacy, gathered wild from the hillsides after rain. The most traditional preparation is chochlioi boubouristi — snails fried in olive oil in a hot pan until crispy, then doused with a splash of rosemary-infused vinegar or wine and served in the shell. The sound of the snails hitting the hot oil gives the dish its name (boubouristi = the sizzling sound). Available in traditional tavernas, especially in the mountains.
Lamb & Goat
Crete's terrain — steep, rocky, herb-covered hills — is ideal for grazing sheep and goats. The animals eat wild thyme, oregano and aromatic shrubs, which flavour the meat. Slow-roasted leg of lamb (arnaki sti souvla) and goat stew (katsiki stifado) are the most common preparations. In mountain villages, the traditional feast-day method is antikristo — a whole animal slowly rotated next to (not over) an open fire for 3-4 hours.
Raki (Tsikoudia)
The Cretan firewater. Distilled from grape marc (the skins and seeds left after pressing), raki is produced in October-November at village stills (kazanemata) by hundreds of licensed small producers. It is served without ceremony — a small glass brought automatically with the dessert, the bill or at the start of a meal in more traditional tavernas. The quality varies enormously (village raki can be extraordinary; mass-produced raki is rough). If a Cretan grandmother offers you a glass of her homemade raki, drink it.
Where to Experience Cretan Food
For a full traditional meal: Seek out a village taverna (taverna or mezedopoleio) rather than a tourist restaurant on the waterfront. The fixed-menu lunch at a working-farm taverna — a selection of small plates (olives, graviera, dakos, horta, legumes, small meat dishes) — is the quintessential Cretan eating experience.
For the Chania market experience: The Chania food guide covers the Agora market, the best old-town restaurants and what to order in detail.
For cheese and honey: Markets in Heraklion (1866 Street) and Rethymno (the old town market lane) have the best selections of regional products at fair prices. See the Heraklion guide and Rethymno guide.
For wine: See the Cretan wine guide for wineries to visit and which varieties to taste.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Cretan diet, exactly?
The Cretan diet is a variant of the Mediterranean diet characterised by very high olive oil consumption, abundant wild greens and vegetables, legumes (chickpeas, beans, split peas), moderate fish and dairy (especially cheese), seasonal fruit and honey, and moderate wine. Meat is eaten in smaller quantities than in most European diets. It became globally famous after a 1950s-70s study identified Cretan men as having the lowest rates of cardiovascular disease in the world.
What should I try if I only have one meal in Crete?
Order dakos (barley rusk with tomato, mizithra and olive oil), a plate of graviera cheese with thyme honey, whatever horta (wild greens) are in season, and a glass of local Vidiano white wine. That combination — simple, ingredients-led, olive-oil forward — is the Cretan diet in miniature.
Is Cretan food suitable for vegetarians?
Very much so. The traditional Cretan diet is naturally plant-heavy. Dakos, horta, legume stews, kalitsounia pastries, cheese and honey, and fresh seasonal vegetables are all vegetarian. Most tavernas have substantial vegetarian options even if not explicitly labelled. The Lenten tradition in Orthodox Christianity also means that oil-free and meat-free cooking is a centuries-old skill in Cretan kitchens.
Where can I buy Cretan food products to take home?
Olive oil, honey, graviera cheese (vacuum-packed), dried herbs, barley rusks (paximadia), and raki are all good souvenirs that travel well. The best quality comes from producers at village markets and the Agora market in Chania. The 1866 Street market in Heraklion is the largest. Heraklion and Chania airports have reasonable selections of vacuum-packed cheese and bottled oil in the duty-free shops.
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