JOIN US FOR AN UNFORGETTABLE WEEK ON THE BLUE ZONE ISLAND OF IKARIA.

Savor the warm embrace of an undiscovered Greek island in summer. Learn the secrets of great, healthful, simple dishes in a timeless Greek village. Delight in the treats of a flourishing organic garden. Wine, dine and unwind for an unforgettable week of convivial and cultural pleasures with me and Vassili on the lush, undiscoverd, “Blue Zone” island of Ikaria.

The Glorious Greek Kitchen Cooking School is situated in the mountain village of Agios Dimitris, Raches, Ikaria, about 5 km from the beach, in a stone house surrounded by a dense forest and flourishing organic garden. Guests stay in first-class accommodations on the beach.

The week begins with an introduction to Greek Food and Wine and a sunset Welcome Dinner at a local restaurant on Sunday evening. Date and group permitting, we sometimes begin by taking students to a local festival in a remote village, exactly the kind of experience typical tourists are never privy to.

Classes are hands-on and each session is organized around a full meal and menu, with wines and other Greek spirits. Guests dine with Diane and Vassilis in the garden, either at lunch or at dinner, depending on the time of the individual class. Diane holds five hands-on classes during the week and also takes guests to dine in local tavernas, where they savor island specialties, such as fresh-caught fish and just-picked vegetables. The week also includes visits to wineries, cheese makers, beekeepers, and farmers. We cross the island to visit and dip in Ikaria’s completely untrammeled mineral springs, where guests can enjoy the therapeutic waters heralded by the Father of Medicine, Hippocrates.

The philosophy behind each of the classes is to promote the healthful, flavorful, simple foods of Greece and to give guests plenty of ideas and recipes they can use in their own kitchens back home. I also believe that part of the experience is an immersion in local ways, into to the timeless, stress-free atmosphere of real village life. Ikaria is a Blue Zone, one of the handful of places on earth where longevity rates are so high they are a statistical anomaly. We strive to give our guests a delicious, but healthy repertoire of dishes. The menus are geared toward home cooks, and the ingredients are accessible in kitchens far away from this glorious Greek-island retreat. Every class is taught in English.

What the classes include:

•Daily 3 – 4 hour hands-on cooking session and meal with internationally acknowledged Greek cooking expert Diane Kochilas in her traditional Greek-island villa kitchen; in each class students will prepare a full menu, including mezethes (small plates or appetizers), phyllo specialties, both with homemade pastry and commercial phyllo, savory pies, a whole range of wonderful, healthful, light vegetable- and bean-based dishes, meat and fish specialties, and desserts. Many classes taker place in her outdoor kitchen, and pies and other specialties are baked in a traditional wood-burning oven.

•A visit and class with a local, artisin cheese maker for a glimpse of age-old island cheese-making techniques. We sometimes make out own cheese in Diane’s kitchen.

•Several cheese tastings and discussions of regional Greek goat’s milk, sheep’s milk and cow’s milk cheeses

•A session with a local beekeeper and a tasting of regional Greek honeys

•An introduction and tasting of local and regional Greek wines

•An introduction and tasting of Greek olive oil.

•A dip in the therapeutic waters of Ikaria’s mineral springs

•Excursions (dates permitting) to one of the unforgettable local village feasts to dance, wine, dine and more

•Dancing lesson with a local teacher (on the premises of the school)

Costs and Booking Information 

The weeklong session costs $2,200 and includes all meals, lodging, excursions and transportation on the island. It does not include travel expenses to and from Greece and Ikaria.

2012 Class Schedule

April 17 – 23

July 8-14

July 24 – 30

August 26 – Sept. 1

COST: $2200

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO BOOK A CLASS, CONTACT ME

SAMPLE PROGRAM / GLORIOUS GREEK KITCHEN IN IKARIA 

Program is subject to slight changes, in menus and times of activities, from session to session.

DAY ONE 

WELCOME TO IKARIA!

7.30 PM PICK UP

SUNSET WELCOME DINNER

DAY TWO

11.OO AM -PICK UP AT HOTEL

3ish PM

COOKING SESSION

INTRODUCTION TO GREEK ISLAND CUISINE

Menu: Roasted Eggplant Salad with Capers and  Tomatoes; Puree of yellow split peas with two garnishes; Cretan barley rusk meze with grated tomatoes; fried zucchini/Eggplant  fingers; Baked Summer Vegetables with Feta and Herbs; Galaktoboureko

Return to hotel—afternoon free

9 pm pickup—dinner at a local taverna

DAY THREE

10 AM PICK UP AT HOTEL /  VISIT TO LOCAL BEEKEEPER/ TO THE BEEHIVES AND WORKSHOP FOR A HONEY TASTING

13.30-14.00RETURN TO HOTEL  AFTERNOON FREE

5.30 PICK UP AT HOTEL

COOKING SESSION

FEARLESS PHYLLO

MENU:  Basic homemade phyllo pastry; Zucchini & herb pie; multilayered northern Greek cheese pie; small phyllo triangles and cylinders with pastourma, tomatoes and kasseri cheese (baked and fried); fried phyllo with ice cream and honey;

DINNER IN OUR GARDEN

LATE EVENING RETURN TO HOTEL

DAY FOUR 

9.30 AM PICK UP FROM HOTEL

10.00 AMCOOKING SESSION: RECIPES FROM A GREEK COUNTRY GARDEN

MENU: Stuffed grape leaves; Vegetarian-Stuffed eggplants; Ikarian vegetable medley “Soufico”; herbed zucchini fritters; Ikarian potato salad with tomatoes and herbs; yogurt and sour cherry mousse

2-2.30 PMDEPART FOR HOTEL

AFTERNOON FREE

5.15 PMPICK UP FROM HOTEL

EXCURSION TO THEOKTISTI MONASTERY AND WINE TASTING AT KARIMANLIS

ESTATE IN PIGI

9.-9.30 PMDINNER AT POPI’S TAVERNA IN FYTEMA

11.30-MIDNIGHTRETURN TO HOTEL

DAY FIVE 

8.30 AMDEPART FOR MINERAL SPRINGS IN LEFKADA/AGIOS KYRIKOS; LUNCH IN AGIOS

3 PMRETURN

6.30 PMPICK UP FROM HOTEL

COOKING SESSION:

FISH FROM THE WINE-DARK SEA

MENU: Island fish soup; shrimp with creamy ouzo sauce; Cretan octopus with fennel, orange and  olives; squid—u/a;  fresh fruit

DAY SIX 

8 AM PICK UP FROM HOTEL

EXCURSION TO SHEPHERD’S PLACE; GRAZING THE GOATS, MILKING, AND CHEESEMAKING SESSION.

BACK TO VILLA THANASSI FOR CHEESEMAKING SESSION AND LIGHT LUNCH.

NOONISH RETURN TO HOTEL  / AFTERNOON FREE

5.30 PM PICK UP AT HOTEL

6.OO PM

FINAL COOKING SESSION

A MEZE FEAST

MENU: A not-so-classic skordalia with octopus broth; roasted  spicy feta; green peppers sautéed in olive oil with tomatoes; grilled octopus; light ground-meat keftedes; kid roasted in the wood-burning oven with potatoes; loukoumades (fritters) with honey and cinnamon

DAY 7/ DEPART