The short version: Crete has its own celebrated cuisine — the original “Mediterranean diet” of wild greens, rusks, olive oil, cheese and slow-cooked lamb. Eat dakos (the Cretan rusk salad), gamopilafo (wedding rice), lamb with stamnagathi greens, snails, and graviera cheese, and drink raki. Here is what to order.
At a glance
| Dish | What it is |
|---|---|
| Dakos | Barley rusk topped with grated tomato, mizithra and oil |
| Gamopilafo | “Wedding rice” cooked in rich meat stock |
| Antikristo / lamb | Lamb slow-roasted around an open fire, or with greens |
| Kalitsounia | Little cheese or herb pastries, sweet or savoury |
| Raki (tsikoudia) | The Cretan grape spirit, poured generously |
The Cretan table
Crete’s food is famous as the heart of the Mediterranean diet — heavy on olive oil, wild greens (horta), pulses, cheese and bread, lighter on meat. The everyday classic is dakos: a hard barley rusk softened with grated tomato, crumbled mizithra cheese, oregano and a flood of olive oil. Look for boureki (courgette and cheese bake), chochlioi boubouristi (fried snails with rosemary), and apaki (smoked cured pork). The island’s cheeses — graviera, mizithra, anthotyro — are exceptional.
Feast dishes and sweets
For a feast, Crete slow-cooks lamb and goat: antikristo (lamb roasted upright around an open fire) and ofto, and the celebratory gamopilafo (“wedding rice”) simmered in rich meat stock until creamy. Little pastries called kalitsounia come both savoury (cheese or greens) and sweet (with honey and cinnamon). Finish with Greek yogurt and thyme honey, or fresh fruit, and the ever-present pour of raki (tsikoudia), the local grape spirit that ends every Cretan meal.
What to drink, and where to eat
Drink raki with meze and Crete’s own wines from indigenous grapes — Vidiano and Vilana whites, Liatiko and Kotsifali reds (browse Crete wine tours). Eat in the mountain villages and the old-town tavernas of Chania and Rethymno, and at the markets of Heraklion. A Crete food tour or a farm cooking class — many on working farms — is the best way into the real thing. For the wider country, see Greek dishes explained.
Wash it down with a cold Cretan white or a mineral Santorini Assyrtiko, the benchmark Greek white.
Frequently asked questions
What food is Crete known for?
Dakos (barley rusk with tomato and mizithra), wild greens and olive oil, slow-roasted lamb (antikristo), gamopilafo wedding rice, snails, kalitsounia pastries and graviera cheese — the heart of the Mediterranean diet, with raki to drink.
What is dakos?
A Cretan classic: a hard barley rusk softened with grated fresh tomato, crumbled mizithra cheese, oregano and olive oil — like a Cretan bruschetta, and eaten everywhere on the island.
What do you drink in Crete?
Raki (tsikoudia), the local grape spirit poured at the end of every meal, and Crete’s own wines from indigenous grapes such as Vidiano and Vilana (white) and Liatiko and Kotsifali (red).
Taste Crete
Book a Crete food tour, a farm cooking class or a wine tour, or plan the trip from the Greece hub.
