The Cretan Traditional Diet

In international scientific circles much debate and research has been carried out over the years with regard to determining the ideal diet for the promotion of good health and the prevention of disease.

The Cretan traditional diet, which takes its roots from ancient times, brings together several elements which render it possibly the best diet in the world as proven by the so-called Seven Countries study conducted by Ancel Keys, the American physiologist. Ancel Keys was the first scientist to put saturated fat on the map as the major cause of heart disease. The Seven Countries study began in 1958 and lasted several decades. It was an ambitious study of 12,000 healthy middle-aged men living in Italy, the Greek Islands, Yugoslavia, the Netherlands, Finland, Japan and the United States which lent convincing population support to the studies that had pointed to saturated fats as the cause of the arterial blockages known to result in heart attacks.

The long term study of a group of about 700 men from rural areas of Crete showed that the population of Crete had the lowest number of deaths due to heart attacks and various forms of cancer compared to other developed countries in the study. Moreover the population of Crete enjoyed a generally longer life span compared to the other populations in the research groups. Characteristic of this is the fact that in 1991, when the Department of Social Health of the University of Crete undertook the reexamination of the elderly men in the 31st year of the study the survivors in Crete were about 50% of the original study group while in Finland there were no survivors at all! In Finland, Keys noticed that the farmers and woodcutters, many of whom were lean and muscular yet suffered from heart disease, actually put butter on their cheese.

It was concluded that the excellent health and longevity of the Cretans was a result of their traditional diet. Their simple diet was based on mainly olive oil which supplied about one third of the daily energy of each person, while the greater part of the energy intake came from cereals, mostly bread, as well as pulses, vegetables, fruit and to a lesser extent from eggs, cheese, milk, meat, fish and a little red wine with each meal.

Unfortunately this simple Cretan diet has been greatly corrupted in recent decades with the increased affluence of the general population of the island of Crete and a change in their eating habits. The very unpleasant result of this is a decrease in the general health of the population and an increase in the number of premature deaths from heart attacks and various forms of cancer. This is why every attempt to preserve the traditional heritage of the true Cretan diet has great importance not just from a cultural point of view but is also a public health issue.

Today many of the Cretan traditional recipes can be used as part of our modern way of life. One of the most characteristic points of the Cretan diet was the very small amount of meat that was consumed. Consumption of meat products and animal fat was reserved for special occasions such as Christmas and Easter and generally followed a period of religious fasting. Since ancient times the consumption of meat was strongly linked with religious ritualism and was not a part of the everyday diet. That is not to say that Cretans had a low fat intake. On the contrary they actually had the highest intake of fat compared to many other countries! However it is important to realize that this fat intake originated mainly from pure virgin olive oil. Ancel Keys was particularly shocked by the phenomenal amount of olive oil consumed on the island! Importantly however, hardly any of their fat consumption came from animal fat and they never ate corn oil. Virgin olive oil was eaten often in its raw state as a dressing on salads and plates of wild vegetables and poured over Cretan rusk breads, practices that are still carried out today.

Cretans also ate large quantities of bread, about three times as much as the average American for example, but quite a lot less than that consumed in other Mediterranean countries. Of course Cretans traditionally make bread and rusks using whole meal flour adding important dietary value to their bread.

Fruits and vegetables made up the largest portion of their daily intake. The seven country study showed that fruit in Crete was consumed at much greater levels than even other Mediterranean countries. Many Cretan fruits such as grapes and oranges were a part of the rural Cretans’ daily diet and of course the particular fruit consumed depended on the season in question. Cretans also devised ingenious ways to preserve the seasonal fruits and vegetables for the months when they were no longer available, especially in the winter. Fruits were preserved and made into marmalade and a special syrup called Petimezi was produced from grapes which was then used as a topping on pancakes and pies as well as a tasty sweetener for home made cookies and other sweet dishes. In years gone by the Cretans also made sure that they preserved some of their favourite summer vegetables so that they were available to them even during the winter months. In those days there were no freezers and there weren’t the many other methods of preservation that are available today. The Cretans relied on the heat and light of the sun during the hot summer months in order to dry out their produce. In a good year the beans during the summer months were more than could be eaten but of course the local farmers couldn’t throw these beans away so they cut them, podded them, put salt on them to stop them rotting and spread them out on clean cloths in the sun to dry out. In some areas of Crete the bean pods were threaded onto a piece of string and hung up in the sun to dry. If a clean dust free place was available to them they left them hanging until the winter when they would be used. Courgettes were also dried in a similar way. They were cut into thin slices, salted and then passed onto a thread and hung up in the sun to dry. Once the courgette slices had been dried out they were stored in a cloth bag and used in the winter months when they were soaked in water to rehydrate them before use. Aubergines and lady’s fingers (okra) were dried out in a similar way. Tomatoes were also sun dried as well as being made into concentrated puree which was stored in jars with salt and a layer of olive oil on the top which prevented it from oxidizing and going off. The Cretan olive, another very important element in their traditional diet was also preserved in many ways using vinegar, lemon juice or coarse salt.

The winter months meant a decrease in the vegetables available to the typical Cretan household in their cultivated gardens and it was at this time that the collection of wild vegetables took place. The women of the household generally, would spend much time and energy in the search for wild vegetables such as stamnagathi (Cichorium Spinosum), agalatsitha (Reichardia Picroides) and rathiki (Cichorium Intibus) to name but a few. Some of these would be eaten raw as a salad with olive oil and lemon or vinegar or boiled first and then dressed in the same way depending on the vegetable itself. Research has shown that these tasty wild vegetables are exceptionally rich in vitamins, dietary fibre, proteins and antioxidant substances which are essential to a healthy balanced diet. So once again it was the natural Cretan countryside which provided the population with the solution to their dietary needs in a particularly valuable way. These wild vegetables were eaten by Cretans on a near daily basis and made up the main part of the meal instead of the meat and animal based products eaten in many other countries such as Northern Europe.

Pulses also made up a large part of the Cretans daily diet. They didn’t generally go for more than two or three days without some sort of pulse on the menu such as lentils, chickpeas or black-eyed beans!

Fish however was eaten less often especially by those living inland on Crete. Fish was eaten more often as a Sunday meal and during periods of religious fasting and the fish wasn’t always fresh as dried and salted fish were often more widely available to the general population of the island.

One of the great secrets of the healthy Cretan diet is also the glass or two of wine that was generally drunk with each meal and perhaps the fact that Cretans enjoyed their food and wine in the company of friends and relatives as much as possible. Mealtimes were often seen as an opportunity for discussion, laughter and social gatherings!

Many thanks go to Maria and Nickos Psilakis, authors of a fantastic book about the Cretan traditional diet including 265 recipes! You can get the book here http://www.amazon.com/Cretan-Cooking-Miracle-Wholesome-Mediterranean/dp/9607448111/ref=si3_rdr_bb_product