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Tsikoudia or raki (like Italian grappa) is a colourless spirit distilled from the skins and stems left after grape pressing. You may see market traders starting the day with a shot of tsikoudia and a strong coffee. It is also drunk after meals.

Retsina is a white wine flavoured with pine resin. The flavour was originally imparted by the pine storage barrels, but today the resin is added before bottling. It is often served chilled, though locally made retsina may be available from the barrel (apo to bareli ), traditionally being served in copper jugs.

Cretan wines are becoming more sophisticated as makers introduce techniques pioneered by New World producers. The Boutari company’s Fantaxometocho vineyard at Archanes (see Boutari Winery and Audio-Visual Show), where award-winning white wines are made, offers a guided tour, tasting opportunities and a shop.

Olives and Greece are inseparable. Indeed, without the olive – which has provided not only food but also oil for lamps, wood for fuel and timber for building ships and homes – Crete might not have become the cradle of Minoan civilization. Olives are sold in a bewildering array of sizes and flavours, with as many as 40 different types available from all over Greece.

Far more delicious than the ubiquitous feta are Crete’s own cheeses, such as mizithra , made from fresh sheep’s milk, and staka , made from whey.

Loukanika – small spicy pork sausages – are found all over Greece, but those from Crete are reckoned to be among the best. They may be served fried (tiganita ) or smoked (kapnista ), and are a regular feature of a lavish meze (dish of appetizers).

Finely ground coffee and sugar are boiled together in small metal pots to make a thick, black drink, which is served in a tiny cup along with a tall glass of water. To order a sweet coffee, ask for glykou ; for mediumsweet, ask for metriou ; and for coffee without sugar order skieto .

Once a valuable source of protein in hard times, snails are now regarded as a delicacy. Saligkaria stifado (snail casserole) is a uniquely Cretan dish, and is unlikely to be found on the menu in tourist restaurants.

Cretan peasant cooking makes full use of any animal slaughtered. Kreatosoupa (meat soup) is made from the bones and leftover scraps of goat, mutton or beef, while patsa is a rich soup made with tripe. Both are often served at festivals, when a goat is traditionally slaughtered and spit-roasted as a family meal.

Octopus (oktapodi) are caught by spear fishing, tenderized by pounding on a rock, then hung to dry in the sun before being grilled over charcoal or cooked in a casserole (stifado) with onions and cumin.