
Where to Find It and How to Prepare It
Give it a try for a taste of Cretan cuisine!
The Cretan 'drilos,' as it's known locally, is a charming plant belonging to the Asphodelaceae family. It's often spotted in rocky areas during early spring.
Its tender shoots become edible when cooked, as they can be bitter otherwise.
To prepare them, the shoots are cooked with olive oil and onions, while the sauce is thickened with flour and vinegar.
Alternatively, they can be incorporated into 'yachnera' (a special category of greens), cooked alongside omelette, fennel, and snails, or even fried in a manner similar to fish.
Cretan Cuisine Festival

Mizithropites: Authentic Cretan Pies

Meat cake

Chania Boureki or Courgette Boureki

Topia (Balls)

The Traditional 'Bread of the Year'

Snails with Broad Beans and Artichokes

Cretan Ospriada or Palikaria (A Legume Dish)

Chickpeas with Wild Leeks, Flour and Lemon Sauce

Pies with ‘Yachnera’ Greens

Fennel Pie
Sfakian Pie or Sfakianopita
Biscuits with Sesame Seeds
Sweet Rice Pie or 'Tzoulamas'

Apostoli White-Eyed Bean

Almond-Infused Goat Dish with Fennel: A Fresh Delight

Lazarosavato

The Holy Week Sourdough

Nerati Mizithropita

Easter Eggs

Kalikota

Stuffed Courgette Flowers

Stuffed Vine Leaves
Cracked Wheat and Snails

Chochli Boubouristi (Snails Face Down)

Mangiri

Symian Bean

Cretan Pilaf

Rethymno Water Pies

Xerotigana

Agnopites

Patoudo

Safidota

Kakavia (Fish Soup)

Cretan Greek salad

The Sweet Bounty of the Cretan Harvest

Okra and Unripe Grape

Kapriko

Moustokouloura

Pie with 'Yachnera' Greens: Baked to Perfection

Pumpkin Stifado

Sweet Pumpkin Pies with Raki Leaves (Oven)

Xinochondros: Sour Bulgur Pasta

Prickly Pear or Indian Fig

Black Bryony
Tahini Soup without Oil

Chylofta with Milk

Tyrozouli or Cretan Home Cheese

Pickled Tassel Hyacinth
Sourdough Dagoulakia

Quince Confection
Delicious Homemade Treat with Lemon Blossoms

Tiganopites: Greek Fried Pies
Dietary Practices in 17th Century Crete

Lychnarakia

Lazarakia

Kalitsounia from Chania

Apaki with Xinohondros and Vegetables

Chickpeas with Yachnera: A Delightful Dish

Gastrin

Fotokollyva

Dyeing Easter Eggs with Madder Root and Flower Blossoms

Biza or Manarolia Stew with Eggplants