Edible wild greens are sold by particular people in certain areas of the bazaars, the “greens bazaar;” and those who sell them are called “otçu” (ot – herb). These are people whose specialty is recognizing wild herbs, and most of them gather and sell the greens themselves. In the old days, in addition to the bazaars, they went through the neighborhoods, with a donkey loaded with herbs, crying “Otçu! Otçu”, sometimes advertising their wares by name. Wild greens are most plentiful in the spring. In the old days they used to say “The Cretans have come, and not a weed is left in the fields.” The Cretans also earned the nickname “goats” because of their fondness for greens. Some of them, when asked which greens they eat, say “any greens that goats will eat.”6 This is because goats are very careful eaters and know how to choose the greens by their flavors. There are various anecdotes about the Cretans’ fondness for greens.
A Cretan went into a field with a cow. The son of the field’s owner ran to his father, and said “Papa! A cow and a Cretan are in the field! What should I do?” His father answered: “don’t bother the cow, she’ll eat until she’s full and leave. But the Cretan will gather everything before he leaves. So chase the Cretan out!”2
Another Anecdote:
A long time ago, there was a king whose children were thin and scrawny. The king had everything possible brought to the palace, and had every different food made, but the children for some reason just didn’t grow. One day the king went out on a trip through the villages. In one village, he asked a woman what her children ate. The village woman said that they ate dishes of wild herbs. At this, the king made a proposal to the woman.
“You bring the foods you make to the castle, and I’ll have the food made in the castle sent to you.”
The woman accepted the king’s offer, and for forty days, took a clay vessel full of food to the palace each day. Eating the greens cooked in olive oil, the kings children grew big and strong. But the woman’s children, eating the palace food, grew think and scrawny. On the fortieth day, the pot also cracked because of all the energy in the olive oil and the greens.9
Yet Another Tale:
At the order of Sultan Abdülmahid II, a doctor was sent from Istanbul to Crete. Days, weeks passed, but not a single patient came to the doctor. He wondered about it, began investigating, and saw that people were gathering wild greens and eating them. He thought, “This is the reason there are no sick people here.” He sent a telegraph to the sultan:
- Your Highness, everyone here is his own doctor, take me away from here!5
The people of Istanbul learned of wild greens dishes from the Cretans. Before, they only knew about mallow and wild sorrel, but from the Cretans they learned about fennel, “garden weed” and other wild greens.8
Nowadays the wild greens that the Cretans gathered have become popular among everyone. These wild greens are more expensive in the markets than many cultivated vegetables.12
Olive Oil
Besides wild greens, the second mainstay of Cretan cooking is olive oil. Meat dishes, vegetables, pilafs, dolmas…they are all made with olive oil. It is put on both salads and boiled greens, along with lemon. There are always olives and olive oil at the breakfast table. Fresh olive oil is sprinkled with black pepper, salt, and if desired, oregano. Toasted or fresh bread dipped into it and eaten with tulum peyniri (a curd cheese aged/stored in an animal skin) is a special treat.11 Cretans have no use for refined olive oil; they use real virgin olive oil. Writer Cevat Şakır Kabaağaçlı, famous as the “Fisherman of Halikarnas,” characterized olive oil is “liquid sun,” for its energy and nutritious qualities.
Research shows that a diet rich in olive oil is the best prevention for ateriosclerotic heart and circulatory disease.13
Crete, where olive oil is the basic staff of life, has the lowest incidence of coronary heart disease in all of Greece. In research conducted in Crete and Corfu, Aravanis3 found that those who consumed olive oil had low blood sugar and overall cholesterol, and a high proportion of good (HDL) cholesterol.
Conclusion:
Along with the industrial revolution, people’s consumption of refined sugar and oil has increased, and intake of fiber has decreased. As a result, there has been an increase in dysmetabolic diseases, as well as in certain types of diet related cancers. For a healthy eating, the balanced diet known as the “Mediterranean diet” is recommended. This diet includes an medium amount of milk, cheese and other milk products, complex carbohydrates such as those in fresh fruits, vegetables and wild greens in place of simple carbohydrates (in addition to vitamins and minerals, these are also a source of fiber), plenty of fish (which contains n-3 unsaturated fatty acids) and olive oil as the preferred fat in cooked dishes. The diet of the Cretan Turks is a perfect example of this Mediterranean diet.
Sources:
1 Açkurt, Filiz- Birsen Okan; “Yenebilen Bazı Yabani Bitkilerin Besin Değerleri”, Gıda Sanayii, 1988, c. 2, nr. 2, s. 17-21
2 Akçiçek, Seval (informant), Born 1949, Kuşadası, head nurse.
3 Aravanis, Christos; “The Greek Island Heart Study”, Proceedings Of the III International Congress on the Biological Value of Olive Oil, Crete (Greece 12 Sept. 1980, pp. 77-83
4 Arısoy, Süleyman; “Yabansal Besin Bitkilerinin Ekonomik Coğrafi Önemi”, Ankara University Department of Language, History and Geography Magazine, Vol. XXVII, No. 1-2, Ankara 1969, pp. 43-127
5 Azak, Fatma (informant), Born 1903, Rethymnon, Crete, housewife.
6 Ertürk, Erol (source): Born 1939 Ayvalık, retired banker.
7 “Girit”, Türk Ansiklopedisi, C. 17, Milli Eğitim Basımevi, Ankara, 1969, pp. 378-386.
8 Gülen, Nejat, Catering Gourmet, MCMLXVJ, Rönesans Press, Istanbul, 1983, p. 68
9 Hasküp, Hamide (informant), Born 1904 Hania, Crete, housewife (died 2002).
10 Kalças, Evelyn Lyle; From the fields (Edible wild plants of Aegean Turkey), Birlik Pres, Bornova, Izmir, 1974.
11 Kasapoğlu, Türkan; “Girit Yemekleri”, Alacarte, No. 12, Oct. 1988, pp. 36- 38.
12 Kırtunç, Ayşe-Kırtunç, Erkan, “Ege Bölgesi Ot Yemekleri”, Folk Cultural Studies, Special Issue on Turkish Cuisine, 1990/1, Ministry of Culture HA-GEM Publications, Ankara
13 Mensink, Ronald P.; “Effects of Olive Oil on Cholesterol”, Olive and Olive Oil Seminar, Istanbul, October 9, 1990, Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, pp. 57-61
14 Özden, Hüseyin (informant), Born 1920, Hania, Crete, retired.
* M.D., Ph.D.; Ege University Hospital, Namık Kemal Menteş Gastroenterology Clinic, Bornova / Izmir.
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