Phyllo Factory

requisite old Greek lady

the gooey final product. topped with pistachios! 

Street Meat

totally random meat roasting station on the street

what appears to be shwarma wrapped in either stomach or intestine 

and a coupla chickens

the most adorable Greek butcher. he was smiling like crazy when he saw that I was talking photos of him

Impromptu Bakery Stop

We literally jumped out of the car to run inside and investigate this bakery. Such delights to behold!

I thought these were macarons but they were actually just macaron shaped butter cookies dipped in chocolate- with a thin layer of apricot jam in the middle... ain't nothin' to sniff at

crumbly cookies with sesame seeds

green pies! oh, green pies.

Outdoor Market in Rethymno

olives, olives, and grape leaves

dried favas, olives, eggs, cheese

snails!

some of the most beautiful squash blossoms I've ever seen

green and black figs

LOOK at those colors! fripping gorgeous

the old cretan lady that tried to converse with us in greek

prickly pear! it is literally all over Crete. they surprisingly only eat the fruit and not the cactus leaves

peeled prickly pear

some sheep's milk cheese

kzynohodros! the fermented milk and grain product we were researching 

cheery tomatoes and beans

mini pears!

the wild greens that grow all over the island. though they are actually weeds, the Cretans have harvested them for millenia. these are the cooked down greens that grace my favorite green pies! 

Mirogdies

Mirogdies! Or 'aromas' in Greek. This restuarant was recommended to us by the lovely ladies at The Cretan Diet. Located in the heart of old town Rethymno, the majority of patrons were actually Cretan, not tourists; this quelled my suspicions. 

The adorable outdoor dining area complete with 3 person band.

Their menu was quaintly rife with translation errors. Allow me to point out:

- "handmade homemade". I love that stuff

-" fried pluck in small bites". It turned out to be some kind of offal

Page 2 of hilarious mistranslations (sorry for the bad photo):

- "burger giant half-half"

- paste days!

yogurt and beet dip, olives, peeled cucumber sticks, whole wheat bread, white wine

a beautifully assembled Greek salad with 2 kinds of cheese, and green pies, possibly my favorite thing on the island. 

traditional smoked pork dish

chicken and sauteed bell peppers in an extremely light cream sauce

some sort of lemon custard for dessert

Traditional Taberna

the little cove where we ate

some of the fish on the menu, none of which are local or sustainably  fished, though they insist they are caught that day

left: arugula and mint salad with tomatoes and a cretan cheese similar to a pecorino.

right: melted sheep's milk cheese with tomatoes and peppers, very similar to queso fundido

lamb souvlaki and a calamari fritti plate

the obligatory watermelon and raki to finish the meal