Honey
The biodiversity of Crete lends itself to the production of a wide variety of honeys. Apiaries can be found throughout the island. Some honey comes from flowers, such as thyme honey, orange honey, sunflower honey, briar honey, chestnut honey, cotton Honey, polikombos honey, etc. and some come from the juices of trees, like pine and fir. See thyme honey, orange honey, sunflower honey, briar honey, chestnut honey, cotton Honey, polikombos honey, etc. and some come from the juices of trees, like pine and fir. See Anna Li’s article in this issue on honey in all its myriad forms.

Bread and Pasta Products
The most famous bread product of Crete is the Paximadi, or dried rusk. A sort of twice-baked bread with the consistency of a very crispy cracker, these are made from wheat, barley, rye and sometimes even chickpea flour. Considered very healthy, Paximadi is often eaten for breakfast or throughout the day as a snack. It is also the star component of the classic Cretan bread salad. This salad is composed of these rusks (which have been dipped in warm water), olives, capers, tomatoes and Feta. Crete is also known for its biscuits, both sweet and savory, and often made with olive oil.

Crete produces several pasta products.
One, Trahanas, is also made in other areas in Greece. This pasta is made from coarsely ground semolina or wheat flour and milk. Traditionally goats’ milk is used, though cows’ milk may be substituted. Trahanas can be sweet or sour: the sour version, which is created using sour milk, is more typical. Trahanas is most often used as an ingredient in a hearty soup – sort of a Cretan answer to Minestrone.Hilopites, or egg noodles, are another traditional pasta. Cut either long or short (but usually short) it is an essential component of yiouvetsi, which are dishes cooked in a fired clay or earthenware pot originally designed for an indoor or outdoor wood-fired oven.

Wine and Drinks
Vineyards abound in Crete and many wines are made from indigenous grapes. Nick Cobb covers Cretan wine elsewhere in this issue. As far as hard liquor, the "national" drink of Crete is a powerful distilled spirit called Tsikoudia. This drink, produced using the must residue of the wine press, is similar to the drink Tsipouro produced elsewhere in Greece, though its aroma is far stronger. The Cretans also refer to this drink as raki; however Cretan raki should not be confused with the Turkish drink of the same name, which uses aniseed. The name confusion probably arises from the Ottoman’s long occupation of Crete, during which the name was used both for Tsikoudia and Turkish raki. The Cretans also drink something called rakomelo, which is Tsikoudia mixed with honey and then warmed.

Cheeses
Many of the traditional cheeses of Crete have been awarded Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. These include Pichtogalo Chanion, Graviera Kritis, and Xynomyzithra Kritis. Xynomyzithra is arguably the most typically Cretan. A soft whey cheese with a sharp to sweetish taste and a granular to creamy texture, this cheese is traditionally produced from sheep’s milk or goats’ milk or from a mixture of the two. Pichtogalo Chanion is a soft goats’ cheese often baked in pies. Graviera Kritis is probably the best known of the Greek Gravieras. A hard table cheese with a firm, elastic texture, it has a rich and mellow taste. Produced traditionally from sheep’s milk or from a mixture of sheep’s milk and goats’ milk, it is ripened for at least three months.

Another, fairly unusual cheese from Crete is called Ladotiri. Ladotiri literally translates as "oil cheese"; lado meaning "oil" and tiri meaning "cheese". This is a smooth, semi-hard cheese, half sheep’s milk half goats’ milk, which is made during the spring season when the wild grasses on which the livestock feed are young and green. The cheese is aged for two months after which it is soaked in olive oil for a month. This gives the cheese a delicate flavor of olives.

Dictamus – also known as Erontas, it grows on the steep slopes of Crete’s mountains. It relieves headaches, cramps and liver problems.

Malotira or Mountain Tea – an all-purpose remedy. Invigorating and refreshing, it is claimed to be a detoxing agent as well as a good way to treat colds and coughs (especially if you add honey to it). This stuff works.

Maratho– a flavorful herb that fights indigestion, colic and urinary problems.
Mollowbloom – a favorite of the Roman natural philosopher Pliny the Elder, who believed this plant offered immunity against just about all diseases. It does
clear congestion.

Exploring Crete
The best way to experience all that Crete has to offer is to explore it yourself. Nikki Rose is an ideal guide. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Rose the founder and director of Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries (http://www.cookingincrete.com/), which offers food-minded tours of this magical island. Rose is considered an expert on Crete, writing about such things as culture, agriculture and environmental issues for magazines such as Slow Food, among many other publications. Her tours hit the classic high spots while also giving an inside glimpse of beekeeping, olive oil production (especially organic), cheesemaking and winemaking.

Luckily, if you can’t visit Crete in person, you can still experience much that the island has to offer by way of its exceptional products.