Greek cooking offers an incredibly rich and diverse array of foods and beverages that are the culmination of Greece and Cyprus’s interesting history. The names of foods, cooking methods, and basic ingredients have remained consistent through time, with bread, olives, olive oil, and wine constituting the core ingredients for centuries.

As you probably know, the traditional Mediterranean diet can lower you risk for heart disease while also adding up to six years to your life expectancy? We know it doesn’t feel this way when we travel through Greece on holiday, and we inhale our Yiro and chilled ouzo or tsipouro, followed by the minimum quota of one scoop of ice-cream or piece of baklava.

But the key to this diet’s reputation in improving vitality and longevity, is around meals that include lots of vegetables and olive oil, some fish, smaller amounts of dairy and meat products, and sensible amounts of alcohol…the way locals still eat in the mountainous villages – simple clean food, often grown in their gardens, cooked in local olive oil and spices, no sauces, nothing out of tins or packets. Fasting the key days like the 50 days before Easter, before Christmas, ThekapentAvyousto, and Wednesdays and Fridays,  means clean basic meals, giving the gut and body breaks through the week and through the year.

Greece's climate is perfect for growing olive and lemon trees, producing two of the most important elements of Greek cuisine. Greece is a nation of small farmers who produce an incredible array of mainly organically produced cheeses, oils, fruits, nuts, grains, legumes, and vegetables such as eggplant and zucchini,, supplemented by an array of herbs and spices that grow in the wild, such as oregano, basil, mint, garlic and thyme are widely used. These are the foods that form the base of the traditional Greek regimen, providing variety and nutrition.