The Cretan diet, the base of the miraculous Mediterranean diet, is famous for the abundance of its exquisite products! The olive oil, the cheese, the honey, the wild aromatic plants and herbs, are all natural products, rich in nutritional values, particularly beneficial for human health and longevity.
The area of Amari, where Villa Angelika lies, has been producing for centuries pure products coming from the Cretan land, and its untouched nature that keeps them full of flavour. Depending on the season, the tavernas and the coffee shops of Meronas Village prepare dishes with seasonal products, authentic recipes of the Cretan cuisine. At Meronas there are 5 tavernas that are open all year round from morning till late evening. They are run by villagers and most of the products come from their own fields or animals, but also from other small suppliers of the area.

The taste of cretan cheese and dairy products is beyond imagination; graviera (gruyere), or kefalograviera (harder and more piquant than graviera), kefalotyri (sort of parmesan) or the sweet or sour myzithra (a fresh whey cheese) – you name it. Cheese, which is an important source of calcium and protein of high biological value, plays a key role in the Cretan diet. It is said that the dairy products of Crete nurtured the great god, Zeus, who was born in a cave and raised by a goat, called Amalthea. Since then, livestock farming in Crete has not changed. It is mostly based on small animals (like goats, sheep), while cows are very few.

Crete is world famous for its aromatic plants and herbs that grow everywhere on the mountains, the growing areas as well as the coastal ones. Most of them are endemic and are famous since antiquity for their therapeutic- healing properties. Today, people use them less but during wintertime it is common to drink malotira (Cretan Mountain Tea), stomachochorto ( herb for the stomach) or sage.
It is not by change that the distinctive taste of Cretan food is thanks to the use of an aromatic herb.