A holiday in Crete is a constant series of questions: Poolside with a book? A swim in the clear blue waters? Lunch by the harbour or up in the hills? A snooze in the Mediterranean sunshine?But for one week out of 52, everything changes.
Crete is closed to everything other than 'the harvest'.
The harvest.
Every single person on Crete has a stake in the olive harvest. Through ownership of a handful of trees on a parched hillside, to family connections with commercial growers, everyone takes to the hills. In a twist on Churchill's words recognising the stoic bravery of the Greek people ... 'henceforth, we will not say that Greeks harvest [fight] like heroes, but that heroes harvest [fight] like Greeks'.
Usually, there is one week between November and February when the olives are ready, just three quarters ripe, and the weather is perfect, no wind or rain, so the harvest begins.
Click the image above for a brief video
Nets are spread out below the crop, people stand back and the harvesting machinery moves in. Tractors back up though the trees, a mechanical grip takes hold of the trunk and vibrates, shaking the tree with such force it releases its verdant fruit.Hillier groves prevent mechanical access and more traditional methods have to be used. From hand combing to a series of generators to power hand held 'T' shaped rods spinning plastic flails to release resistant nuggets of essential oil to the nets below.
The noise is incredible, both the machinery and the excited chatter of families and friends as they gather the olives to be loaded and taken to the mill.
Policemen, bank clerks, waitresses, hotel receptionists - moms and sons, aunties and nephews all turn their hands to the harvest.
Each day ends with a simple feast and a good night's sleep before the same hard work and thrill of the following day's efforts and so on until the harvest is complete.
At the mill, the olives are washed to remove any dirt, then pass through a series of hoppers to remove the leaves and stems. The shimmering pearls of goodness are now ready for pulping and cold pressing to release their exquisite dark green liquid gold.
Get more from your mayo
Bloody Mary Rose Sauce - a delicious alternative to Marie Rose sauce.
The North Atlantic Prawn is a truly delicious thing. A pealed pile of the little beauties on crispy iceberg lettuce with this wonderful sauce is pure heaven. Simply use three parts Stokes Real Mayonnaise to one part Stokes Bloody Mary Ketchup and enjoy.
Tuna baskets
Try these Tuna Baskets for a fun teatime snack. To make the tart base
'nests', cut slices of bread into circles and press them into the buttered moulds
of a tart tray and bake at gas 7, 200°C for about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.Use your own ideas for the fillings, but I like this - tinned tuna, chopped spring onions, diced cucumber and corn mixed in a bowl with Stokes Real Mayonnaise. Delicious.
The classic egg mayonnaise - made better
A firm favourite is egg mayonnaise. Free range eggs boiled (just), peeled whilst warm and coarsely broken up with Stokes Real Mayonnaise and some freshly snipped peppery cress. Try adding a teaspoon (or more) of Stokes Chilli Jam for a grown up kick.
Mixing and matching
Take Stokes Real Mayonnaise as your base and add a spoonful of this and a dollop of that to create a dip or a dressing to liven a lunch or a tastier tea. Mixing sauces and relishes is not only good fun, it opens the door to all sorts of new taste experiences.
Go on, try it, get them all out and let your imagination run riot. The exercise, pictured above, led to the making of 3 parts mayonnaise to 1 part chilli jam for a delicious accompaniment in a chicken and avocado sandwich.
The taller bottle at the back (left) is one of Stokes truly scrumptious salad dressings, it's the Mango & Orange Dressing. Add this to the mayo chilli jam combination to coat lukewarm new potatoes with it in a salad.
Some other tasty tips - Halve hard boiled eggs and scoop out the yolk. Mash the yokes with mayo, mustard and parsley until smooth. Pipe into egg white half’s and sprinkle with paprika for delicious ‘Devilled Eggs’.
- Mix together grated cheese, onion, garlic and mayonnaise and spread generously over a halved loaf of bread. Grill for a cheesy bread that's great for dipping and perfect to accompany salads.
- Mix together equal measures of mayonnaise and apricot chutney, then add curry powder to taste for a curried mayo dip.
- Add mayo to your crab cake recipe for a creamy centre!
- Easy peasy mayo biscuits! Mix together 2 cups of self-raising flour, 1 cup of milk and 6 table spoons of mayonnaise. Spoon the mixture onto a baking tray and bake for 12 minutes.
Next time...
We'll return to Crete for dome 'to see and do' ideas - in case you are the lucky competition winner and return to the harvest as the island parties to celebrate 'first pressing'. And of course we'll share some more tasty tips.
In the meantime, if you haven't already entered the competition ... follow in Rick's footsteps:
... andi'o sas ...
'goodbye'
If good food makes you happy
...adding Stokes will make you smile ;)
...adding Stokes will make you smile ;)
FOOD MADE BETTER
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