The town of Hania is the urban centre of the prefecture of Hania, which is the westernmost province of Crete. In Hania, you'll find gaudy concrete apartment blocks, shops and traffic. You may be reminded of an urban nightmare, as some parts of it are truly aesthetically distasteful. If it weren't for the old Venetian port, Hania would not be the charming place it is considered to be by many tourists.
If you love the idea of living on a Mediterranean island but prefer an urban environment within it, then you would enjoy living in a place like Hania. You won't need transport to get around because it's a small town and everything is clustered close together. The Agora and the shops around it will supply you with everything you need in your daily life. Living in the town means that you will also have more creature comforts available to you than people in rural areas have. And that Venetian port will be a stone's throw away from your home...
One of those comforts is the range of products available to you. Outside the town, you can still find everything you need, but some things will cost more, many things will be available only through a supermarket, and not everything that is store-bought in a rural area will be fresh. This is only natural since most people living in the Cretan countryside often have some form of own production.
The disadvantages of being a foodie and living in the town are that you might have a small kitchen and limited space for storage. So you'll prefer to buy things that don't need much preparation time. That's where Yiannis the butcher comes in handy. His display is one of the most alluring in the whole area. One look, and you will be hooked. There's a great variety of processed fresh meat products to choose from.
You can also buy meat in its most basic form, which is also the chepaest way to buy it. Everything else is value-added, so it will cost a little more to buy. When we visited the shop, it was good to see a lot of people wandering in and out of the shop, all buying a great variety of things. We didn't buy any of the value-added stuff, mainly because I prefer to add value to our meaty meals in my own kitchen, but I got lots of ideas from here. We bought some French beef (10.50 euro a kilo, as opposed to 12 euro at supermarkets located near our home), and a village-style chicken, which means the skin and fat are yellow (they are free-range hens), not white (which resemble battery hens). Yellow-skinned chickens make good pilafi rice while white-skinned chickens cook more quickly.
Yiannis is situated just a few metres away from the Agora. You can't miss him, as you will immediately be struck by his mesmerising display of comestibles in the window.
©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.
The Fortezza cafe at the Venetian harbour is no longer operating...
Chicken is a (generally cheap) healthy meat - everything in this photo has been prepared with chicken.
Filled pork mini-rolls, seftalia, marinated souvlaki, plain souvlaki, pork kebabs, boli (stuffed meat and mince patties wrapped in fat), beef kebabs, meat pizza (the base is made of meat chunks)
Various breaded and marinated meat chunks
You can also buy meat in its most basic form, which is also the chepaest way to buy it. Everything else is value-added, so it will cost a little more to buy. When we visited the shop, it was good to see a lot of people wandering in and out of the shop, all buying a great variety of things. We didn't buy any of the value-added stuff, mainly because I prefer to add value to our meaty meals in my own kitchen, but I got lots of ideas from here. We bought some French beef (10.50 euro a kilo, as opposed to 12 euro at supermarkets located near our home), and a village-style chicken, which means the skin and fat are yellow (they are free-range hens), not white (which resemble battery hens). Yellow-skinned chickens make good pilafi rice while white-skinned chickens cook more quickly.
The traditional way to buy meat in Crete
©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.
I don't know who you think you are , but you don't know what your talking about. Crete is one of the worlds most beautiful island and rich in history. The city of chania and Crere in general is awesome to visit and live , from it's beaches , hospitality to it's architecter ect.....
ReplyDeleteNext time you insult a country learn about it's history and keep yourself up dated, 1 more thing did you know Crete was the reason Germany lost WW2 , yes it's true, Now take a look of your country and talk about that.
Are you serious? You have no clue what you're talking about , Crete is the most beautiful island in the world, as a matter of FACT THE MINONIAN EMPIR is where civilization started also Crete is the reason the Germans lost WW2 YES that's a fact do some reserch you'll see. Now let's talk about now Crete is still a beautiful island with gorgeous beaches breath taking landscapes. you'll never find better hospitality from it's people any where in the world. CRETE THE CRATTLE OF CIVILIZATION
ReplyDeleteYou have no clue what you're talking about , you said urban nightmare,lol,are you properly educated of the history of the infustructure? Next time you write something like that i just ask you do some research,
ReplyDeletea reader just commented (thrice):
ReplyDelete"I don't know who you think you are , but you don't know what your talking about. Crete is one of the worlds most beautiful island and rich in history. The city of chania and Crere in general is awesome to visit and live , from it's beaches , hospitality to it's architecter ect.....
Next time you insult a country learn about it's history and keep yourself up dated, 1 more thing did you know Crete was the reason Germany lost WW2 , yes it's true, Now take a look of your country and talk about that."
and
"Are you serious? You have no clue what you're talking about , Crete is the most beautiful island in the world, as a matter of FACT THE MINONIAN EMPIR is where civilization started also Crete is the reason the Germans lost WW2 YES that's a fact do some reserch you'll see. Now let's talk about now Crete is still a beautiful island with gorgeous beaches breath taking landscapes. you'll never find better hospitality from it's people any where in the world. CRETE THE CRATTLE OF CIVILIZATIΟΝ"
and
"You have no clue what you're talking about , you said urban nightmare,lol,are you properly educated of the history of the infustructure? Next time you write something like that i just ask you do some research,"
ντιαρ μαννυ, οπως συνιθηζουν οι συμπατριωτες σου ν' ανοιγουν επιστολες στο τοπο σου εκει δα στο μπρουκλην,
δε κατεω ποιος εισαι 'συ, αλλα εγω κατεω ποια ειμαι 'γω
μενω στο τοπο μου, στα χανια, στην κρητη
Den katexa oti isouna kphthkopoula , otan katebo kopiase na se filokseniso che na poume mia paki. Ti ine to onoma sou? Apo pio mepos tis crete menis?
ReplyDeleteHmmmmm....this guy must be Greek or a Crete? Hope you can calm him down, Maria.
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of MEAT, we do like our meat. I often suggest a vegetarian meal and hubby usually replies, what about the meat? It's become kind of a joke with us. But....because he raises chickens, a pig and hunts elk I guess we can have meat at almost every meal. We do share our home raised meat with our children, who are all adults, and also with some of the neighbors. It would be Heaven on Earth to have such a butcher shop but they just don't exist here where we live. It's also next to impossible to get any really good, fresh seafood, landlocked as we are.
@manny: my parents were from very different villages in hania - i now live close to the main town
ReplyDelete@caterina: i think eating meat is sometimes a man-thing; i dont feel the need to cook much meat at all, by my husband finds it difficult to make food go down his stomach without a bit of meat on the table, which there isnt always of course! (we havent started raising our own meat - i would love to do this, but we simply dont have the space)