A taste for adventure

Clockwise from top left: Sweet cheese cake is a favorite of many visitors to Crete; Olive trees here depend on natural rainfall and produce relatively small olives; A 3,000-year-old olive tree has been named a Monument of Nature by the Region of Crete. Photos by Ye Jun / China Daily

A tour of Crete was a revelation for our fine dining reporter Ye Jun, who fell in love with the island and its most famous product.

A recent survey indicated that Greece is the most desirable destination for Chinese tourists; while Crete is the country's biggest island.

I was lucky enough to get a close look at this island and get a taste of its famous olive oil with a group of international journalists on a tour organized by International Olive Council, Institute for Olive Tree and Subtropical Plants of Chania and Cretan Quality Agreement.

During our three-day stay, we visited olive mills and factories, museums and restaurants.

As early as in the 4th century BC people considered the olive tree of high economic and nutritional value. According to legend, Cretans planted the first olive trees on the legendary Mount Olympus.

As we rode on a bus to travel between cities and olive mills, we found the mountains along the way covered by olive trees.

On the first day of the tour we went to the Olive Tree Museum of Vouves, where a 3,000-year-old olive tree stands, acclaimed as a Monument of Nature by the Region of Crete.

People try to recognize human and animal shapes in the lower part of the tree, which looks like it has been carved. A branch from the tree was cut and used in the wreath that crowned the winner of the men's marathon race at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

The Olive Museum of Kapsaliana shows how olive oil was made a few hundred years ago in the area. A stone mill, wooden press and stone sinks used to contain oil are well preserved.

The olive mill was built by the Venetians during the 16th century and used to belong to Arkadi monastery. The production of olive oil led to the foundation and existence of the beautiful and peaceful Cretan village.

If modern olive factories look more or less the same, then the stone mill and cold pressing through straw mattresses at Astrikas Estate is quite different.

The olive farm still uses traditional methods and is located within the protected denomination of origin Kolymbari area of northwestern Crete. It was acquired by the Dimitriadis family in the mid-18th century, and is farmed today by fifth-generation descendant George Dimitriadis, who founded Biolea in 1994.

When we visited the farm, workers were collecting olives on a mountain slope with vibrating rods. The trees depend on natural rainfall, and the olives looked relatively small. But the olive oil produced from the stone grind looks as dense as kiwi juice, and tastes fresh and fruity.

The tour took us to olive mills and factories in Chania, Heraklion and Krista, where different pressing methods are used. But, according to our host, olive oil from the stone press is relatively mild, while those mashed with steel hammers usually taste stronger, more bitter and pungent.

Olive oil consumption in Greece is the highest in the world, an estimated average of 70 grams a day per person. "Our dogma is less medicine, more olive oil," says Greek cardiologist M. Bonatakis.

Studies show that olive oil might have helped the people of Crete to achieve the lowest level of coronary problems, and general morbidity in the world.

Nikos Psilakis, author of Cretan Cooking, said Cretans grew up playing with olives, and climbing olive trees. He told us that in Crete, "Being poor is not having olive oil".

The visit changed my impression of Cretan food. I found traditional Cretan foods taste so much better than foods I tried back in China a few years ago. Cretan cuisine has a clean taste, no spiciness, no overlapping flavors, always pure flavors, and always a large amount of greens.

Our host told us meat is considered a ritual food - Cretans eat less meat than most other Western countries.

Along the way, our group tried restaurants offering typical Cretan foods, and a cooking class showed how to cook with olive oil. Most of the restaurants we visited served simply presented, but tasty food.

I immediately fell in love with soft goat cheese, mild and milky. The traditional Cretan wine has a home-brewed style. And there is also the omnipresent raki, Cretan white liquor.

The other thing I loved about the food is the amount of boiling that meat undergoes. Lamb and chicken seemed to be a bit over-cooked, but tasted soft and flavorful. Fried snails were fantastic.

Local greens include broad beans and artichokes, while chestnuts and herbs such as mint, fennel and rosemary are used to enhance flavors. Finally, I loved the sweet cheese pastries prepared by some old ladies at a village store.

Dounias is a hard-to-find restaurant by the main road half way up a mountain. It is a certified Cretan cuisine restaurant serving traditional slow-cooked meats and greens.

The owners don't mind if you go in the kitchen for a look at the traditional furnace to bake the bread, and porcelain pots simmering meats. It was simple but great tasting food, reminding me of home.

A few days after I returned from my tour in Crete, I took a few bottles of Cretan olive oil to my office, along with a bread toaster, and did an olive tasting for my colleagues.

A few of my female colleagues liked Biolea's orange flavored olive oil. But a colleague from Scotland and myself preferred Terra Creta, which has a clean, fruity taste, and natural, floral aroma.

You can contact the writer at yejun@chinadaily.com.cn.