Crete: Minoan Cooking Class with Meal
About This Experience
Everything else on this site teaches you Cretan cooking as it is done now. This one goes back roughly four thousand years, to the Minoan kitchen the modern Cretan diet descends from, and cooks in replicas of the utensils archaeologists dug up.
The setting is a purpose-built estate east of Heraklion, and the class opens with a short guided tour of it. The teaching argument is a genuinely interesting one: oil, wine, honey, cereals, herbs, legumes and meat were the staples of the Minoan table and they are the staples of the Cretan table today, a continuity almost nowhere else in Europe can claim.
You cook over a wood fire in clay vessels - copies of real finds - and the menu is built to make the point: Minoan pie-bread baked in the clay ware with olives, olive oil and oregano; dakos; panspermia, a salad of five different legumes with nuts, parsley and dill; briam, the slow olive-oil vegetable bake; and dessert pies with cheese and honey, with raki, local wine, spring water and a herbal iced tea alongside.
At two hours it is the shortest and the cheapest experience on this site, and it pairs naturally with a morning at Knossos - same civilisation, and this is the half of it you can eat.
Highlights
- Cook a Minoan menu using clay vessels copied from archaeological finds
- Trace the roots of the modern Cretan diet back 4,000 years
- Prepare ancient legume dishes with honey and herbs
- Bake pie-bread over a wood fire in Minoan ware
- Take a short guided tour of the estate first
What's Included
- ✓ Guided tour of the estate
- ✓ Cooking class using ancient recipes and clay ware
- ✓ Homemade iced tea with local herbs
- ✓ Minoan pie-bread baked in clay, with Cretan olives, olive oil and oregano
- ✓ Dakos — Cretan rusk with fresh tomato and feta
- ✓ Panspermia — a Minoan salad of five legumes with nuts, parsley and dill
- ✓ Briam — the traditional Cretan ladero, baked in olive oil in the Minoan oven
- ✓ Dessert pies with cheese and honey, served with raki
- ✓ Local wine and spring water
Not Included
- Transport to the estate
What to Bring
- Comfortable shoes
- Hat
Good to Know & Caveats
- Not suitable for children under 12 or for pregnant women - the operator states this explicitly.
- Transport to the estate is not included; the entrance is next to the AVIN petrol station east of Heraklion.
- All the cooking vessels are clay replicas of archaeological finds, used over a wood fire.
- At two hours this is the shortest experience on the site - plan it around a morning at Knossos rather than as a full day.
Not Suitable For
- Children under 12 years
- Pregnant women
Meeting Point
Amnisiades Park, east of Heraklion - the park entrance is next to the AVIN petrol station. Transport to the estate is not included.
What Travelers Say
Rated 5.0/5 by 4 verified GetYourGuide travelers.
An incredible experience that lived up to our expectations. We were welcomed like family members. We visited the place, which is magnificent, and then learned about the history of Minoan cuisine. We were then able to prepare our own lunch with the guidance of the owner! Starter, main course, dessert. Baking in a clay oven and making bread as it was done in the past. The tour ends with traditional raki and a visit to the theater! We really loved it. A moment of authentic sharing. There were only 2 couples taking part in the experience, so it was all the more intimate. I recommend it ++++
— Christelle, August
What an interesting location steeped in Minoan history, culture & cuisine. It was wonderful getting instruction from such a knowledgeable woman + being able to participate hands-on to produce our lunch: simple yet brilliant idea and much more fun than just watching someone create dishes. Stella was wonderful in giving the origins to Amnisiades Park + translating at key stages. Everything was well-timed and coordinated.
— Trish, August
We loved every part of the event. The cooking together, the histories and the taste of foods we made and they provided. Stella and Miss Anna were very kind, lovely and welcoming. The experience was unique, and everyone should go there who is on a vacation on Crete. Thank you for the great experience ❤️
— János, July 13
Frequently Asked Questions
Can children join this one?
No. The operator states that it is not suitable for children under 12, and also not suitable for pregnant women. For a class that suits families, the Stylos farm near Chania is the one to book.
How is this different from a normal Cretan cooking class?
The recipes and the equipment are Minoan rather than modern. You cook in clay vessels that are copies of archaeological finds, over a wood fire, and the menu is built around the staples - oil, wine, honey, cereals, herbs, legumes - that the Minoan and modern Cretan diets share.
Does it combine well with Knossos?
It does. It is two hours, it sits east of Heraklion, and it covers the food half of the same civilisation, so it works well as an afternoon after a morning at the palace.
What is panspermia?
A salad of five different legumes with nuts, parsley and dill - one of the dishes that connects the modern Cretan table directly back to the Minoan one, and something you are unlikely to be served in a taverna.
Is transport included?
No. You make your own way to Amnisiades Park; the entrance is beside the AVIN petrol station. It is a straightforward drive east from Heraklion.
