Exhibition

Food

Gathering of natural food products

Crete is a land with a rich natural environment containing a great variety and quantity of wild plants and animals. This facilitated the survival of its first inhabitants 9,000 years ago, and during difficult historical periods when farming produce decreased dramatically.  The gathering of natural foods continues to this day, thanks to their flavor and the many available preparation and cooking methods.

Plants

Wild greens and mushrooms
Edible wild greens (over 50 species) are consumed raw or cooked in water or olive oil, on their own or with other plant or animal products. They are gathered from autumn to late spring.

Fruit and berries
Fruit and berries are also gathered to a lesser extent.

Animals And Animal Products

All sorts of edible wild animals have also been gathered through the ages. Shells and bones have been found in Neolithic settlements.

Honey, the natural product richest in sugar
The wide forests of mountainous Crete were full of wild swarms which formed colonies in cracks in the rocks. In prehistoric times, the Minoans exploited this much sought-after product for export and barter.

Snails and limpets
The five species of snail found in Crete are eaten boiled or, more usually, cooked with wild greens, potatoes, courgettes, tomatoes, thick-ground corn etc. They are also fried in olive oil or baked on hot stones. Cretans consume large amounts of snails annually. Limpets gathered from seashore rocks are eaten raw or boiled with wild greens.

Freshwater crabs
Crete had, until recently, many rivers and streams that flowed all year round. Freshwater crabs abounded in holes on their banks. Crabs are eaten boiled in salt water, fried, or baked on coals.

Eels
Eels abound in all the rivers and lakes of Crete, even at an altitude of 800 meters above sea level. They are trapped or hooked, chopped up, battered, and fried in olive oil.