Dairy Products
THE CONSUMPTION OF CHEESE IN CRETE IS THE HIGHEST IN THE WORLD!
Maybe the Cretans are right. The don’t regard food as a medicine, they know how to enjoy its taste. And the taste of the Cretan cheese (gruyere, kefalograviera, kefalotiri, sweet or sour mizithra) and the rest of the dairy products is unsurpassed!
An important source of proteins of high biological quality, cheese plays a central role in the Cretan diet. It is said to be a source of saturated fats but the Cretans who eat it do not have high levels of cholesterol, probably the combinations of the Cretan nutritional model provide the ideal balance… The Cretan diet is an impressively balanced diet of natural products that offer exactly what the human needs to remain healthy. Recent scientific studies associate dairy products with the prevention and treatment of breast and prostate cancer! In Crete and France extensive studies are being conducted to develop new methods of treatment of the disease based on these scientific findings!
Our cheeses contain a lot of vitamins (Α, Β1, Β2, Β3, Β6, folic acid), as well as basic minerals and aminoacids. Sheep and goat keeping in Crete dates back to the myths of the antiquity. It is said that the milk products of Crete were the food of the great God, Zeus, who was born in a cave. His company and nurse was a goat called Amalthea. Since then animal farming in Crete has not changed. It is based on small animals (goats, sheep) while cows are few.
It is also based on the free grazing. No animal farming business keeps its animals imprisoned for a long time, the animals of Crete are free throughout the year on the maintains or pastures and feed almost exclusively on wild plants, the incredible Cretan herbs and bushes. This traditional form of animal farming is based on centuries-long experience. The only essential difference to the past is the processing of the milk, that now takes place in modern factories, strictly following the safety of food regulations and the traditional methods of cheese-making. The Cretan graviera cheese offers a surprising taste, like the rest of the cheese varieties of the island (kefalotyri, kefalograviera, anthotyros…).
