Discovering and Cooking Asphodelaceae: A Taste of Local Cuisine
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
Lazarakia
Kalitsounia from Chania
Chickpeas with Yachnera: A Delightful Dish
Gastrin