BonVivant

2 lesser known Greek dips: aubergine pulp and yogurt Yogurt and roasted sweet peppers Cold prawns A bit later in the afternoon... Turkish pistachio/walnut baklava. I dislike sweet things but there are a couple of things I like and eat in excess such as these and flans. Notice I'm partial to pistachios. In the background are kaki/persimmons from Andalucia, sweet grapes from Turkey. The briki/cezve (copper coffee pot) is also Turkish. Photos from my trip in September: a simple lunch at Knossos, close to the incredible ruins. This organic restaurant serves Minoan and typical Cretan dishes. Cretan salad is a bit more substantial than the typical "village salad", AKA "Greek salad. Cretan salad has hard-boiled eggs and chunks of barley rusk. Souvlaki with mixed grain In the open under big olive trees And hanging grapes

My favourite of all flatfish is brill. I scoff at turbot (in same family) and sole (Solea solea), much of both are now farm-raised . Simple pizzas/pizze with tomato sauce and mozz. Dinner picnic in my room on Santorini And speaking of Santorini, apparently it's not expensive enough and who cares about the views. Same food on both plates but the food and water remained untouched for a long time.

Creamed spinach. Ate with boiled potatoes (not pictured). Late lunches happen sometimes. Dinner is either beer or wine. Chilean surf clam with rice and pan-fried taukwa tofu Korean-made Udon and same taukwa tofu

Greek-inspired meal. This beetroot dish is common in Greece but almost no tourist orders it. Boiled beetroots, a generous amount of olive oil and raw garlic. Too healthful and too lowly for the tourists. Shoulder of lamb and wheat "berries". Chilean

Croatian coppa Iberico aged sheep's milk hard cheese and camembert Cod's liver in own oil (middle), fig spread, pumpkin bread, chocolate paste (Lindt 99% + macadamia nuts) First autumn photos this year. In one of the woods I go for walks.

Steamed eggs, with fresh roe sacs, mince and chopped salted mustard/turnips (the kind that's preserved whole in salt and turns brown, typical in Hakka cuisine). North Sea shrimp are added before eating. Earthen pots are Cretan yogurt pots, holds 500ml of yogurt each. The pots are glazed on the inside only. Squash simmered in kelp and dashi. In Okinawa they put spam in it but I don't like spam. The squash I used in photo below. Not sure what it's called. Dense flesh, very sweet. Only like dense fleshed and sweet with depth winter squashes. The kale that I portioned and vacuum sealed releases an intense smell when the bag is cut open. To me it's a sweet smell. Also Urbock, @Duvel Presents to myself had arrived yesterday. My love for Bamberg is deep and unconditional. Drinking the Schnapps now

Not sure. Probably not strong enough and I'm highly sensitive to smells. Just smelled the kale in the fridge. No smell. Also, the farmer says the variety he grows has a constant level of sugar regardless of the weather. His kale is sweet and tasty, unlike supermarket kale. The perspective makes the farm look big but it's quite small.

Found Moroccan fried flatbread in Turkish supermarket (made by a Moroccan, just a small stack). Moroccan-inspired breakfast for lunch. Green drinks are melon puree and matcha tea (separately). Savoury bread rolls with red kuri, Speck, grated goat's cheese and garlic. And some Turkish medlars

My favourite meals are usually the simplest ones. Home-made Riesling mustard Kale and squashes from a farm in the area Kale and squash every day

Garlic, fish sauce from Phu Quoc (I've been and won't use non Phu Quoc), chillies, lime juice, sugar etc. Simply steamed razors. I know everyone likes to eat their shellfish with pasta, chips, bread or whatever. I only need a beer and lime juice. One kilo of razor clams Some of the last things from the seas round these parts that are still wild-caught.

I like skate." Spicy sauce" is Sichuan broad bean paste. Greens

I shall describe how I made the "pretzels" and rolls: I didn't use a recipe, had some last bits of different types of flour to use up so I chucked them all in to make a dough. Standard flour, whole wheat and fine semolina. A tea spoon of yeast, some sugar, fat (rendered Speck). I used a lot of squash puree and was afraid the dough wouldn't rise so good but it turned out well. Next batch will contain Speck bits and garlic!

Not quite "pretzel" and certainly not Oktoberfest. Just home-made bread with loads of red kuri squash puree. And veal sausages Red kuri soup, chopped kale and garlicky sausage. Red kuri rolls to go with the soup

I rarely eat swordfish (here at home), but once in a blue moon I see a good looking chunk... I also have a HK poster! Bought it in 2008. Returned for the 4th time in 2018. Hope I can go back, even if it's going to be a different HK (unless I have to endure mainland Chinese style entry requirements.)

First tray of Bursa black figs. Quark on toast More figs Even more A little feast of figs Kale and squash every day... Farm (next to the woods where I go for walks every week) Have tried almost all the squashes the farm grows but this year I only want to eat red kuri, then I saw a new one, blue banana. 10km bikling from the farm.. Thanks. Immediately after posting I was informed by someone on another site it was indeed purslane. The cultivated purslane we have here shares the name but bears no resemblance.

Before roasting First meal with red kuri ("Hokkaido") "sauce" and pasta. Grated cheese is Sicilian double-smoked ricotta. Finally, a Gewürztraminer I can drink. I have an unpleasant reaction to Alsatian Gewürztraminer, which tastes strongly of soap ("perfume" to everyone else. But I also have a violent reaction to perfumes...). Had to stop drinking it for a long time.

Last Cretan lunch. Red wine-olive oil braised cuttlefish Whilst waiting for the next earthquake... last Assyrtikco, brought with me from Santorini. Lastsunset in the Cretan capital. My flight was at 1pm the next day, there was another earthquake at 2pm. I'm just so relieved the walls I'm looking at right now are not moving. Lunch at home, in peace. Fresh Turkish dates. Dip with pistachios Another one with walnuts, roasted peppers, tomatoes and pom molasses. "Muhammara" without following a recipe. I just blitzed a few things in a blender. Other bits are salad, roasted aubergine pulp, beetroot puree, and a type of air-dried sausage.

Last Cretan meal, at a meze place in the neighbourhood. Not sure if I could specify some non meat dishes, owner-cook brought me these, which she made herself. Now back at home, where the walls and all surfaces are not moving.

Fast forward to the last meals, between the earthquakes. First time trying donkey milk yogurt. Super creamy and rich but no distinct "donkey" taste, surprisingly. Cretan white grapes (and other fruits) are sweet like honey. The white grapes we get from S.Africa are tooth enamel destroying super sour water bombs. Deep-fried dough balls, drenched in honey.

I eat one warm meal a day so it seems like a lot here. The most popular snack in Crete, dakos. Have to try it at least once at the source. At home I use toasted sourdough bread. In Crete they use Cretan Mizithra cheese, elsewhere feta will have to do. ''Greek'' salad with (seasonal) greens. Pretty sure they are not purslane. These greens are a bit sour and moist. The taste is refreshing. Grilled lamb chops Day's special is braised pork (and to my horror) with leeks. Thankfully the pork tasted great (although I couldn't stand the sight of the leeks). The afters. I had a beer tasting appointment directly after the meal and had to declined the raki. Being the first to arrive I got to choose a table. Greeks start coming from 1:30 or 2pm. Mum is the main cook, dad grills everything, grown children and grandchildren do the rest. Restaurant is across the street from my lodging, where they tourists don't make a detour. Sunset at the harbour with Venetian fortress on left Key is in the lock and I have shoes on, ready to run downstairs and out on the street when the terrifying rumbling and shakes come (which are at random and there's no sign of it stopping any time soon. Happened again last night, twice.).

Thanks, all. I'm fine now, until the rumbling starts again. Now any kind of rumbling freaks me out a little. Earthquakes are a fact of life in Greece. Everyone goes right back to their normal lives. Although a little "shaken" but I must do the same. @heidih, they are barley rusks. Cretans and Cycladians love rusks. They put them in salads, spread fava and dips on them, pile grated tomatoes on them and other uses. They come in little squares and rounds looking like half a burger bun but twice as big, and also other shapes and have their own uses. Being baked twice the rusks can be kept for longer. They have been eaten since antiquity. Cretan Dakos is so popular it's found in many other places in Greece, too. The beauty of Greece. Everybody is mad about Santorini sunset, but I rather like the afterglow. The beauty of tragedy: Btw, all businesses with views of the caldera (collapsed crater) come with an extraordinarily hefty price tag in high season. Santorini has a high concentration of luxury hotels. Santorini before and after the catastrophic explosion that wiped out a civilisation

Unfortunately, good food and extraordinary natural beauty are not the only things Greece has. I freaked out a little this morning whilst drinking coffee in my room. Suddenly my chair, walls, ceiling, window panes, furniture, floor were shaking violently. Quite scary for someone who does not live in a highly seismically active region. It's still rumbling since this morning but very briefly. Still makes me feel in the stomach when it does. Previous lunch in lovely Pyrgos village, Santorini. A platter of Santorinian products. The tomatoes, which are especially prized, have PDO status, just like the fava. Caper bushes are a common sight on the island and most people pickle the leaves, too. The double-concentrated paste is so good. The elusive Santorini white aubergines, pickled here. They remind me a bit of Sicilian pickled aubergines that I couldn't stop eating, but this one is not exactly the same. Santorini version is much softer. Mild smoked pork, quickly pan-fried. Also in the Cretan repertoire. And of course more fava Whilst waiting for my food to arrive Thank you, @shain

Huge pastries. Same Turkish ones we get at home are 1/10 the size. The beach in this coastal village A tiny, hidden coffee spot. I walked right past it. Time seems to stand still here

Cretans are proud of their various types of honey, olive oils and cheeses. Strawberries are deep red inside and out Where I got my fruits and vegs on the first morning in Crete This morning and every single day since I got here Your Cycladic charms already worked on me before we met... You can say that again!

Finally, the real Santorini "fava" (Lathyrus clymenum), it has PDO status. Elsewhere it's yellow lentils. The top meze dish on the island. Mix well with more olive oil when ready to eat. Spread on bread. Can also be eaten as a side with grilled squid/octopus. The brief moment when nobody was in my sight to ruin the photo Some places in Greece where time stands still. Hand-made sign.