Multi-day cooking workshop in Crete: cooking course in Crete & cooking workshop Greek cooking and Greek cooking holidays. Multi-day cooking holidays in Crete, enjoying the outdoors. Crete cooking workshop, olive oil cooking, Crete cooking class, food recognition, outdoor cooking. We give you an impression of our multi-day cooking workshop in Crete on this page.
The forecast for Crete (Zorbas Island - Kokkini Hani) until December 25, 2025: Wonderful winter weather, temperatures between 17-19 degrees Celsius. Northwesterly winds from the Aegean Sea. Locally, showers in the mountains.
Crete Holidays 2026 – Stay and fly in one price: May and Autumn holidays 2026. New to our offer are the all-inclusive holiday packages for the May and Autumn holidays. Email us for more information...
Delicious food on Crete
Cooking holiday in Crete: culinary holiday in Crete: Learn Greek cooking in several days, a fun holiday where we teach you many tricks of the Greek kitchen, culture and adventure on Crete Greece. The Greek cooking holiday is a 4-day programme. This includes 3 cooking workshops and we go on the excursion ‘Unknown Crete’ for a day.
Cooking class on Crete – Greece: during the cooking workshops you will get help and explanation on how to make Greek dishes. The idea is that you make everything yourself, we will help and give advice and instructions. In principle, cooking takes place outdoors, but if the weather is not so good, we will also cook indoors. In total, we cook 2 days in our own olive grove, where we learn to cook with olive oil and taste the quality of the olive oil, and once at Zorbas. Here we have different cooking facilities than in the olive grove and so different dishes can be made.
We organise several multi-day cooking workshops a year and almost weekly one-day cooking workshops. In our calendar you can find the dates for the multi-day cooking workshops. Should these not suit, feel free to email us with another proposal. We can always see if we can schedule other dates.
Cooking holiday – Cooking classes in Crete – Cooking in Greece
Cooking in combination with accommodation in Crete: The cooking workshop in Crete is organised in combination with accommodation. Breakfast and dinner are included. You can book the workshop individually or as a group. It is also possible to stay with us as a group, while for example only 1 person participates in the cooking course. We also have other options for your travel companions, such as hiking, beach, cycling, and many other excursions.
What to eat on Crete?
It is also possible to stay longer in Crete and then combine the cooking course with other activities. Our cooking workshop in Crete is also suitable for vegetarians, we can adapt our menu accordingly. Greek cuisine has a wide variety of vegetarian dishes.
Number of participants for the cooking course Crete Greece: We always try not to make the groups too big. The maximum number of people is between 6 and 10, but usually we assume around 8. The cooking course is taught in three languages: Dutch, German and English. We would like to add that we also try not to teach the workshops in too many languages, with a maximum of two languages per workshop.
Crete cooking workshop programme
It is best to arrive one or more days before the start of the multi-day cooking workshop so that the cooking workshop can start on the indicated day. The programme below is subject to change. The days may change due to weather or other logistical reasons.
The first day we will go to our olive grove to cook; we will cook in a lovely location, surrounded by olive trees and a beautiful landscape. We will have a long table here at which to cook and other tables where you can sit in between and enjoy the home-cooked dishes at the end. Around here you can pick unlimited sage. Sage is delicious with red meats, stuffings, sauces, sausages, cheese, tea, apple juice and large white beans. It is also used as a liquid to get rid of greying hair! You can also make a nice tea from it, which has a cleansing function for the liver.
Cooking in Zorbas Island’s olive grove
This location is a wonderful start to the cooking course in Crete. You will also find lots of capers in this area, very tasty for pasta, among other things. Oregano also grows a lot here, but you will find oregano everywhere on Crete. Delicious with meat and vegetable dishes or as stuffing for pasta.
We start cooking around 10.30 am. First, we will explain the olive oil that comes from this olive grove. You will be explained how to taste it and, of course, you can taste the oil pressed in November the previous year.
In between, we will also have a small wine tasting for the enthusiast. When all the dishes are ready, you can of course eat them yourself, over a glass of wine.
The workshop will last until around 2 pm. After cooking in nature, we will return to our accommodation.
Visit to the market
Day 2: After breakfast, we will go shopping at the market in Heraklion (capital of Crete). Here you will see many kinds of vegetables and herbs offered for sale here at bargain prices. Walking around this Greek market among the crowds here is an experience in itself. Around noon, we arrive back in Kokkini Hani, where we start preparing for the day. We will cook at our accommodation location today and can use the oven and grill.
Excursion Unknown Crete
On the 3rd day, we interrupt the cooking and go on the Unknown Crete excursion. We leave around 9.30 am. By car, we will explore the hinterland of Crete, where the average tourist does not go. We will visit villages, monasteries, churches, beautiful nature, different crafts etc. Along the way, we drink coffee (or something else) somewhere and we make many stops along the way. We also have lunch in a Greek taverna.
Cooking in Greece
Fourth day of cooking in Crete: after breakfast (10.30 am), we go to the olive field again to conclude the multi-day cooking workshop with a final day of cooking. Here we will again make several, different dishes that you will of course get to eat again yourself.
Cooking holiday in Crete – Topics covered during the cooking workshop
Knowledge of the types of olive oil on Crete, Greece: cooking in olive oil, types of olives, what to think of when buying olive oil, oil dressings, making sauces with olive oil, frying and roasting with olive oil. Olive oil in pasta and basics of olives and oil
Herbs in Crete Greece: The use of herbs in Greek cuisine, picking herbs yourself, buying herbs, incorporating herbs into meals, meat and fish herbs, pasta herbs, soup herbs.
Greek wines: Which Greek wine goes with which dish and a Greek wine tasting session
Cooking in Crete
Fish and meat dishes from Crete Greece: Preparing, seasoning, grilling and dishes from the oven are all covered. The market is also visited.
Vegetables from Crete Greece: Buying vegetables for meals, processing and cleaning vegetables, recognising vegetables.
Cooking holiday Crete – What dishes are made?
We make the dishes below regularly with our guests, unfortunately some dishes are seasonal and we cannot prepare them all year round. We make sure you always come home with some new dishes and ideas. If you would like to learn how to prepare a particular dish, please let us know.
Dishes from Crete Greece: Preparing a Greek salad, making aubergine and courgette biscuits (kolokithakia). Making Greek cheese pies (tiropitakia with feta and mezithra). Preparing large white beans (Gigantes), making tzatziki, aubergine salad, skordalia, stuffed vine leaves (dolmadakia), spinach and feta patties (spanakotiropita), gorta (wild mountain vegetables), , meat, , artichokes with olive oil sauces, kritharaki from the oven with pork, meatballs (keftedes), moussaka, souzoukakia (minced meat in tomato sauce), stuffed courgettes, stuffed aubergine, stuffed tomatoes, okra with olive oil (bamies), pork in wine, olive oil sauces with garlic, lemon, santo, peppers, sage, chives, mint, rosemary and basil. Greek pastas, anchovy puree, Greek pesto, tapenade, spicy olives, coriander, stifado and Greek stews.
Our olive oil from our own grove
Our own Zorbas Island olive oil: The whole process from harvesting to bottling or canning is done by the Zorbas team and selected partners. In November (sometimes December), the olives are harvested manually and cold-pressed within 24 hours. This ensures a mild flavour and low acidity. After a period of a few weeks, to let the oil settle, the oil is bottled or canned and labelled. Ready for use or sale! On this website, you can order olive oil from Crete and read more about the whole process.
Crete is known for its high quality olive oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil. At Zorbas Island, we use olive oil for all our dishes, which we produce ourselves every year.
Zorbas Island’s Greek cookbook: Here you will find recipes from Zorbas Island’s Greek cuisine. You can now prepare these varied and healthy Greek dishes at home. Of course, you can also taste all the dishes yourself during your holiday on Zorbas Island. We always use fresh (organic) local products for all our Greek dishes. During our Greek cooking workshops, we explain more about the ingredients and preparation of Greek cuisine. In Crete, we have special dishes, so we would like to let you in on our secrets. Have fun cooking and kali oreksi.
More information
Photo book Greek cooking classes in Crete: This page gives you an overview of our more than 10 years of cooking experience in Crete. We do a number of multi-day cooking workshops every year. The photos were taken by us during our cooking workshops in Crete.
More information
Zorbas Island 2026 Crete Greece Newsletter: your holiday in Crete in 2026 – The new Zorbas Island programme: dear holidaymaker, we are delighted to present the first details of our brand new programme for 2026! At Zorbas Island, everything revolves around an unforgettable holiday on beautiful Crete.
Holiday Crete 2026 agenda – Agenda Zorbas Island, Crete – Season 2026: our new agenda is ready with the excursions for 2026, including many new excursions. You are probably curious about the activities we will be organising at Zorbas in the coming year, and this agenda provides an overview of all the activities that will interest you.
Holiday information Crete Zorbas Island: Apartment rentals and accommodation on Crete for most of the year. The right place for family apartments and holiday homes, all your excursions and cheap flights to Crete. A comprehensive overview of the latest holiday news from Crete, including lots of photos. Crete is the southernmost holiday island in Europe.
To give you an impression about your holiday at Zorbas Island on Crete, we created a short “Zorbas Island” Movie for you: If you got 5 minutes for holidays to Crete.
In case you like more information, please send an email to zorbasisland@gmail.com
Multi-day cooking workshop in Crete