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Mariana's Food Experiences

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Mariana

Mariana

Chania, Greece

English, Greek, ancient Greek

#I love the stories behind the food and I am deeply interested in eating experiences
#food experiments
#anthropology and sociology of food
#ethnoanthropology
#gastronomy
#art
#music. I enjoy traveling
#watching movies
#reading literature and poetry.

I am an experimental archaeologist-food historian, who recreates Greek historical recipes using ancient or modern techniques for spectacular food events. In 2009 I founded Studio 'Greek Culinary History & Cooking Adventures' to create interactive, edible experiences that bring historical Greek gastronomy to life through synesthesia (union of the senses) as well as explore the relationship between art and food. My work takes many forms, including pop-up dinners, experiments, lectures, historic cooking courses, edible installations, and food walking tours. On the walking tours, we do not only eat, we also explore the tales behind the foods and the preparation of each food item. I am the author of a Gourmand award-winning cookbook, The Language of Taste, which is a dictionary (in Gr.) of the history and culture of Greek food and the founder and organizer of the biennial Symposia of Greek Gastronomy (conference).

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My Food Experiences

Eating in Ancient Greece

Historical cooking class + lunch in a beautiful garden with 300 years old olive trees. A brief introduction to food, cooking methods and trade ...

Chania, Greece

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Food Odyssey. A historical, culinary walking tour of Chania

Our walking food tour combines tasty food tasting, food history, politics, and culture. It begins with a light breakfast and unforgettable Cretan ...

Chania, Greece

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Historic cheese making & bread baking class

The class explores the history of cheese making and learns how to make rennet, vinegar and plant juice based cheese curds and re-create an ancient ...

Chania, Greece

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Ancient Greek Dinner

We start the evening by exploring ancient Greek gastronomy and we continue with dinner inspired by foods of ancient Greece! The menu combines ...

Chania, Greece

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Wild Greens & Dough: historic, traditional Cretan baking & cooking

This lesson is for those who want to learn about the history, the healing powers of the most popular Cretan wild greens and herbs and how to use them ...

Chania, Greece

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Bites of Chania

Travel off the beaten tourist path on this 2 hour delicious culinary adventure. Get a glimpse of Chania society and satisfy your appetite for ...

Chania, Greece

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From Pythagorean to Cretan Diet

Discover step by step on how to make a vegetarian meal based on ancient Greek information and traditional Cretan recipes. It will be prepared ...

Chania, Greece

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PIE CLASS IN A 300 YEAR OLD OLIVE GROVE

Pie making is inseparably connected with Greek culinary tradition. This class centers around both savory and sweet pies- from ancient ones such as ...

Chania, Greece

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Latest Reviews

Yoshimi
Yoshimi

Fantastic experience! Mariana has a lot of knowledge of not only cooking but also history and culture. We really enjoyed lessons. I would like to come again to her beautiful garden near future.

Kathy
Kathy

Mariana Is a very knowledgeable host and I truly enjoyed the bread and wine making she demonstrated. I am so looking forward to her sending us the recipes The lunch she prepared was delicious and I am definitely going to make it for family. If you are a foodie you will enjoy her company and everything she offers.

Lori
Lori

Mariana was a wondeful host. I had the good fortune of having a private tour. I loved how she provided an insight into Cretan life/history while sampling a large variety of food. I would have enjoyed seeing the farmer's market with her but this occurred only on Saturdays and was not suitable for my schedule. She sent me additional inforrmation with recommendations on sites and restaurants that we visited and thoroughly enjoyed. Highly recommend!!!!

Dimitri Eliades
Dimitri Eliades

This was for me a very memorable experience. Mariana is not only a cook but a formally trained in Archaeologist and Sociologist with an emphasis on trends in food developed over many centuries. As Mariana made the cheeses and breads she outlined the trends through conquering nations, culinary explorers and their adaptation to Cretan cuisine. Her explanation of the historical introduction of certain foods and cooking techniques to Crete and beyond made this much more than a "here's the recipe" course. Sitting in the garden surrounded by olives trees, hanging the freshly made cheese on the tree to strain, whilst a variety of breads with and without toppings cooked in several open stone fires and an outside oven (fourno), made this, to me, a valuable and enjoyable learning experience. Before leaving Australia I was baking bread in a cast iron pot. Mariana explained the emphasis on clay pot cooking in Crete and a number of techniques, their historical roots and their uses today. Thank you Mariana and her husband John for being fine and accommodating hosts.

Douglas
Douglas

We had a wonderful time on our tour with Mariana. Not is her knowledge of food, best locals and local preparation techniques fascinating, but her background in the history and culture of the island provided an additional layer of understanding and interest to everything we were eating. Mariana is very knowledgeable and took us to some fantastic spots. We ate very well! She even gave us the best recommendation for a restaurant we tried on another island after leaving Crete. We would absolutely recommend this tour with Mariana. Thank you!!!