Enjoy Greek hospitality at its best
What to expect
Hands-on cooking lesson
Cold welcome herbal tea, 6 dishes both hot and cold, various local cheeses, local cured meat called “louza”, dessert, bottled wine, filtered water, coffee or tea
More information on tripadvisor and on the web page of Traveling spoon as I am a traveling spoon host for Syros island.
I am Maria Krina an experienced chef specialising in traditional Greek cuisine. The lesson is an introduction to Cycladic cuisine. Cycladic cuisine is based on the products of the land, their seasonality and the simplicity of the dishes. We discover the complexity of taste in simplicity. We cook vegetarian dishes because the rural cuisine of the islands was never based on meat, we try some of the great cheeses of Syros and other areas and use them in our dishes. All of our vegetables are organically grown, and the herbs are wild. We forage them ourselves or we buy them from local producers and collectors.
We start with a walk, if the weather is not too hot, to collect thyme, helichrysum and sage. During summer we forage wild fennel and wild carrot seeds, chaste berries, hypericum and sea fennel. We talk about the culinary and healing uses of herbs, smell and taste them. Walking takes about 40 to 50 minutes in very beautiful scenery by the sea. We return home to cook. We rest for a while cooling down drinking herbal tea made from local herbs, and talking about the dishes we are about to cook and the cuisine of Syros.
The main point of the lesson is how we keep the culinary tradition alive today by using healing herbs in cooking. This means that we adopt the ways and techniques of traditional cuisine to today’s dietary habits while maintaining the culinary philosophy intact. We also talk about healthy eating and how the Mediterranean diet can help achieve that.
Duration : Appr 5 hours
Group : 1 – 8 persons
Start : at 10.30 or 17.00
The lesson is in English and if necessary in French or other languages on request. Prices on request at cookingtales24@gmail.com and via SMS on Viber / what’s up / telegram +306940108628
In all recipes, we use herbs, fresh or infused. We usually prepare 6 dishes and a dessert.
The last part is sharing the food we cooked all together. We get to know each other better and enjoy flavours and aromas. We drink wine or tsipouro with our lunch and coffee or tea with the dessert.
