Historic Greek Cuisine with Mariana
Take a culinary journey through the history of Greek cuisine and learn to re-create the remarkable Greek food of the past. Learn among the olive groves of Mariana’s Cretan estate, where you’ll cook with ancient pots and local ingredients. When not in studio, journey into town for visits to the market and local wineries.
- Lunch, Breakfast, Snacks, Coffee, & Tea
Pricing
- One Guest
- USD $1160
- Additional guest(s) (max 4)
- USD $540
Meet the Artist
Mariana is an experimental archaeologist-food historian who uses antique technology, vintage cookbooks and archaeological data to re-create the remarkable Greek food of the past. She brings the historical Greek gastronomy to life by exploring the relationship between art and food through edible installations, pop-up dinners, lectures and more on her Cretan estate full of olive groves and orchards. Besides, she is an author of an award winning cookbook and organizer of a biennial conference on Greek Gastronomy. After your VAWAA, you will walk away feeling encouraged to rethink the history of food by using it as a deeply insightful lens on human history.
VAWAA Includes:
- Recreate Greek prehistoric and historic cooking methods and historical recipes.
- Learn how to make bread and cheese based on ancient Greek and Byzantine information.
- Cook with herbs, wild greens, and homemade olive oil and their role in Cretan cuisine, folk medicine, and culture.
- Work with replicas of ancient pots and ovens, and bake on hot stones and in ash.
- Depending on the season, participate in a traditional harvest activity or visit a local winery or microbrewery.
- Go on a historical food walking tour in Chania.
- Visit central and farmer's market for ingredients.
- Breakfast, light meals that you prepare, and an ancient Greek lunch or dinner are included.
- Public transport tickets to and from winery or microbrewery, tickets to the archaeological museum, food tastings during the tour are also included.
Explore Crete
A town on the northwest coast of Crete, Chania is known for its Venetian harbor, which differs from the traditional blue-and-white palettes you’ll find on islands across Greece. It’s steeped in Minoan, Venetian, Ottoman and Greek history, so cultural legacies abound in its architecture, historical sites, and cuisine - there’s even a Turkish mosque in the harbor. Beyond the twisting streets of the old city are stunning hikes and ruins, including the legendary Samaria Gorge.
Additional Details
Kids under 10 are welcome to join for free. This VAWAA is available for a longer duration, up to 6 days. If interested in extending your time, let us know by how many days and we will do our best to accommodate you.
Guest Reviews
Liz E., United States
Wow...just wow. What an amazing life experience to spend 4 days with Mariana learning, exploring, cooking and eating. The depth of her knowledge is amazing and she shares it in such an interesting, fun and accessible way. We explored Crete, cooked over open fires using reproduction tools and vessels and just had a wonderful time being together. We are taking back so much information, recipes and n Read more
Cristina R., United States
I did the Historic Greek Cuisine cooking class with Mariana for four days in late June 2025. It was a wonderful experience. Mariana is very knowledgeable about Greek food-making processes and culinary traditions. I had not been to Crete before, but it was a lovely island that I definitely want to return to. The experience was a mix of cooking and tours. Two days were spent cooking in her front yar Read more
Sarah A., United States
We had an absolutely magical time with Mariana at her home and all around Crete. She is very knowledgeable about the local culture and customs. She took us to museums, galleries and showed us all around, including a day trip to Reythymno. The best part though, was the time spent with her at her lovely home. We cooked (and ate) so much great food! We learned Angie to cook on coals and wood and in h Read more
Sheila C., United States
Wonderful experience, despite the overwhelming heat. Mariana was adept at moving activities around to maximize our time despite the impossible weather conditions. Highly recommended, though it would be helpful not to be expected to eat as much food as was offered. For me, this was a learning, not a foodie experience.
Sherry P., Hong Kong
Dear Mariana and VAWAA,
We have arrived HK safely last night. Those fours days with you for Greek Culiary History and Cooking Adventure Program offered us a precious opportunity to experience Greek’s rich food related culture.
Thank you for touring us in Chania and Rethymno, warming us up with MALOTIRA (Greek Mountain Tea), dining us at one of the authentic, mouth watering Crete Restaurant Read more
