Food & wine

Taste of Crete

Honey, olive oil and lunch, tasted at the source

Taste of Crete is a 4-6 hour tasting day from Rethymno that visits small producers instead of restaurants. Pick-up from your accommodation is at 09:30, and the route heads out of the city and into the hills: a beekeeper's farm at Lampini for thyme, pine and carob honey served with local cheese, then a farm at the Potamon Dam for a cold-pressed koroneiki olive oil tasting, where you try dakos, black-eyed beans, fava and stuffed vegetables first without oil and then with it. The day ends with a traditional Cretan lunch of local dishes. It runs every day for up to eight guests, is rated easy, includes a professional photoshoot, and is quoted on request.

• Taste thyme, pine and carob honey straight from a Cretan beekeeper's farm
• The classic pairing of fresh local cheese with honey
• A cold-pressed koroneiki olive oil tasting at a farm by the Potamon Dam
• Dishes tasted twice, first without oil and then with it, to show the difference
• A traditional Cretan lunch of local dishes to finish
• Professional photoshoot included, edited gallery delivered within 48 hours

In Crete food is not just nourishment, it is culture, tradition and pleasure, and this tasting day is built around that idea. It is an invitation to slow down, leave the busy routes behind and get to know the island through its flavours, the small producers who make them and the places where those traditions are still working.

The day begins with honey. Thyme, pine and carob: each variety carries the scent of a different corner of Cretan nature and tells the story of a season, a flower and the bees that worked it. You taste them slowly, letting the aromas open up, and then honey is combined with fresh cheese. The creamy texture against the sweetness is the pairing most guests remember afterwards.

Then comes olive oil, the heart of Cretan cooking. Rather than being described, it is demonstrated: you taste traditional dishes first without oil and then with it. Dakos, black-eyed beans, fava and stuffed vegetables all change character with a spoonful of fresh, cold-pressed oil from the koroneiki variety, and the difference is remarkable - more depth, more richness, more harmony in every bite.

The experience finishes at the table, with a traditional Cretan lunch of local dishes. Throughout, the emphasis is on going to the source: family-run farms and village workshops that larger coaches cannot reach, and producers who show you their own work rather than a demonstration put on for visitors.

A longer write-up of this route, with maps and photo essays, is published by our sister brand Way to Crete. Read the full story — Way to Crete

You might also like

Authentic Cretan Cooking Class

Cretan Honey & Wine Experience

Rethymno Walk & Taste