Thursday, 23-04-26

Morning, everyone.  Do you like the new banner.  It is one of the views from the Astrikas Estate olive groves, run by the same family for over five generations.  The current owner founded the Biolea company in 1994, which specialises in stone milled and cold pressed organic olive oil.
More about that later.

First things first.  Breakfast was great - I went for yogurt and fruit and then some of Maria's chocolate banana bread which was to die for.

We set off in the coach to see possibly the oldest living olive tree in the world.  We were told between 2000 and 4000 years old - elsewhere it said between 3000 and 5000 - but what's an odd thousand years between friend, eh?

It's impossible to date it accurately because none of the heartwood remains and the actual fruiting part of the tree is a graft.

The trunk was very impressive though!

There's a small museum attached with historical olive production tools, old wooden machinery, etc.

If you enlarge this, most of the print can be read - I is in English.

A mock up but a very interesting one.

Pretty much twice my height, used for olive oil making.

Then we all piled on the coach and headed off and up higher, along twisty narrow lanes when I think we all wondered how the heck we were going to go further without going over the edge.
We didn't, of course.

At the small factory, a very pleasant lady with a clear voice that meant I could hear every word talked us through the method they use, modern equipment but a centuries old method, to produce some of the finest extra virgin olive oil in the world.

We had a good old tasting session and a look round the little shop

We watched a short video . . . this is the cold pressing.

Some of their olive groves.

And what I bought.  I also got a few things for Beth but I won't show them here, in case . . .

Yes, I found my first fridge magnet!  Woo hoo!  and I love the wee olive bowl.  I'll definitely be using that regularly.

Here's some links. 
The estate and what they offer

About the oil.  

Finally we drove to the coast and had an amazing lunch - like Tuesday's dinner, the food just kept on coming.  Plates are small and you don't have loads of anything.  It's very good, fresh cooked, easily digestible, non-ultra-processed and really doesn't sit heavy.

We had bread and evoo (of course), dips and dressings with a salad, some sliced aubergine in a light batter rather like a tempura, chicken strips and rice, mushroom risotto (or maybe a version of pilafi, see lower down) . . . it just kept coming.
I had a glass of rose that tasted like strawberries.  Delicious.

And while on the subject, all the wines we are having are very light and have little impact on the head!!!  Just as well really!

I can see that I will be mentioning food quite a lot - this holiday is called A Taste of Crete, after all, so I will make collages of the food photos I take rather than posting separate photos.  Posts will be photo heavy anyway!

Back at the hotel and we had a few hours to chill and freshen up before the cocktail demo.  The

bar staff did really well to make five different cocktails, share them out in shot glasses, a clean glass each time, to around forty appreciative elderlies (we are pretty much a retired group and mostly female).  
They were only tasters, of course, minimum alcohol, so we all trooped into dinner with pretty clear heads.

And the food was, again, sublime.  

I can't remember if I said yesterday and I'm too lazy to check, but we have all been given a cookbook, from the hotel and One Traveller, called Cretan Cuisine, with 'traditional Mediterranean recipes for eating healthy and living well'.  I will definitely be having a go at many of them once home again.  The flavours are just amazing!

After a good night's sleep, on to today and it's a more gentle day.
We're having a morning in the hotel when some are having spa treatments.  Then we head off to Taverna Maleme (the hotel is in Maleme) for a cookery demo of a traditional Pilafi followed by lunch with lamb on the spit.
Pilafi is in the book and I think it will one to make again, either with lamb or, maybe, with chicken thighs.
Then it's back to the hotel for more chilling before dinner.
Oh, this is the life.

Have a lovely day, everyone!  xx