Small-scale, family-run farms are integral to the Mediterranean diet that Crete is so famous for. A local family will welcome you to their Mitato, a small farmhouse, where you'll be greeted with the genuine warmth of Cretan hospitality. Listen to the local farmer tell the intriguing tale of King Minoas who watched from his observatory, and alerted locals to incoming pirates. Greetings over, it's time for a hands-on bread-making lesson, learning the techniques for typical Cretan bread, made with wheat and barley flour.
Then, witness their cheese-making skills using goat's milk from the farm. Next, it's time to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in, helping out with daily farm tasks like feeding the goats, pigs, chickens, and rabbits, and tending to the gardens. The adventure continues with a snail hunt over the mountainside, exclusive to National Geographic travellers, peeking under rocks, and among shrubs and flowers. As the day unfolds, your collected treasures, including snails, eggs, fruit, and vegetables, become the ingredients for lunch.
Alongside the family, you'll prepare a feast of local delicacies, all made from the products of your day's work. Finish off the experience with a taste of Crete's spirit, Raki, and why not sing along to their traditional Cretan ‘Mantinades,' - traditional Cretan couplets that express sentiments about Cretan daily life.
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