Ebook: Cretan Cuisine: Traditional Mediterranean Recipes for Eating Healthy and Living Well

Mama Katerina has been cooking her amazing food at the Mistral Singles Hotel in Maleme, Crete, since it opened in 1991. Nowadays she is enjoying a well deserved retirement but is often present in the kitchen supervising the staff, helping with the preparation of meals and every now and then cooking some of her signature dishes.
Based on the most popular dishes served at the Mistral during summer the recipes in this book have been compiled with her help and also on what Cretans eat all year round as well as on special occasions.
This book offers a panoramic view of the Cretan culture through their most prized asset - their food - enabling the reader to gain a better perspective of the local customs as well as the culinary history of this blessed land.
Often described as the “soul of the Mediterranean”, the Cretan cuisine has ancient roots which can be traced back to the Minoan civilization more than 3,000 years ago. It has survived the influences of the many colonising forces over the millennia - the Romans, the Byzantine Empire, the Venetians and the Turks, preserving the islands culinary traditions to be enjoyed by modern lovers of fine, healthy cuisine.
The Cretan diet is regarded as one of the healthiest diets in the world. In the 1950s, American dieticians came to Crete to explore the reasons of longevity among the local population. Extra virgin olive oil, traditionally cold pressed, is the centrepiece of the Cretan cuisine and has been medically proven to be heart healthy as well as extremely efficient to combat numerous diseases.
We invite you to try these recipes, most of which are easy to make and require common ingredients. In no time at all, you will produce an authentic Cretan/Greek dish to impress your friends and relatives.