Women's Health - Greece

If the recipe for a great holiday includes sun, sea and delicious food, then Greece is undoubtedly still the best place to book your table. Choose the right time of year and reap all the health benefits of their super-healthy Mediterranean diet

By Lori Cohen

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50 Shades Of White

Every evening on a small island off the coast of Greece, thousands of people jostle their way through the narrow, cobbled alleyways with one goal in mind: to get the ultimate selfie.

Santorini, with its dramatic cliffs and black and red beaches, is one of a small group of islands that encircle a giant, central water-filled crater – the caldera – left behind like a giant puddle after a series of volcanic eruptions. And everyone, from your hotel porter to your taxi driver, will claim to have discovered the best spot from which to view the achingly beautiful sunset over the water.

It’s in the village of Oia, perched precariously on the cliffs overlooking the caldera, that I join other tourists on this daily pilgrimage. With the first hint of sunset, we form a hurried ant trail past the traditional whitewashed houses and blue-domed churches. As the sky fractures into sulphur and saffron, smiles are smiled, cameras and smartphones are snapped and, inevitably, engagement rings are offered – after all, this is possibly the most romantic place on earth.

But it wasn’t romance that brought me to Santorini; it was another of life’s great joys – food. To be more precise, it was a cherry tomato.

The combination of the mineral-rich soil birthed by volcanic activity, the humid evening air and that muchphotographed sun has given rise to the island’s magical fruit. This is according to native Greek chef Melina Homata, who’s been executive chef at Santorini’s Vedema Resort for over a decade. Melina tells me she’s tried to grow the seeds of the same tomatoes back in Athens, but conditions there fail to produce the same luminous, deep-flavoured fruit.

Melina prepares her Mediterranean fare in the 400-year-old converted wine cellar of Alati Restaurant, where caper plants grow wild between the cracks of the June 2014

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From left: Kivotos Resort’s private beach in Ornos, Mykonos ; Costas explains the menu and traditional ways of feasting at his parents’ restaurant in Ano Mera, Mykonos; below: the Santorini cherry tomato is renowned for its flavour.

Pillow Talk

because it offers a winning combination of local wines, seafood and fresh produce fed by the rich soil. It has the kind of A-list restaurants you’ll want to add to your bucket list (Angelina Jolie has dined at Alati), but locals also sell jars of homemade delicacies on the side of winding roads.

We encounter one of these on the way to an ancient Minoan settlement and can’t bear to drive past. In broken English, the mother-and-daughter team guide us over to a bench and copious samples of food and wine are placed in front of us.

After their best sunset view recommendation (from Santo Wines, which towers above Athinios Port where the ferries land), we leave with bags of dried origanum, pickled caper leaves and jars of tomato sauce – or lathera – which will form the basis of memory-chasing meals back home.

The slow life

Planning your holiday around your meals comes with a little less guilt when you’re visiting Greece. As long as you don’t overdo it on the moussaka and giros (meat-filled pitas), your holiday diet promises to be as good for you as the break itself.

For example, the famous lathera – the tomato, olive oil, onion

It wasn’t romance that brought me to Santorini; it was another of life’s

great joys – food. To be more precise, it was a cherry tomato 128

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New Hotel Athens Conveniently located close to the Pláka, this quirky hotel is the love child of A-list architects who invited local students and craftsmen to bring elements of Greek culture into the design. (So don’t be surprised if your room’s walls are decorated with giant glass “evil eyes”.)

Don’t miss the panoramic view over Athens from the seventh floor New Art Lounge. From R2 000 per night per room, www.yeshotels.gr Kivitos Ornos Beach, Mykonos Located in one of the island’s most beautiful bays, this family-run hotel will win your heart not only for its views, but for the small private beach where you can relax on plush daybeds and order cocktails from the Del Mar Cocktail Swim Up Bar (complete with submerged bar stools so you never have to leave the pool).

From R3 000 per night (early booking discounts), www.kivotosmykonos.com Vedema Resort Megalochori, Santorini (Pictured above) Basing yourself in a traditional Greek village will give you a different experience of the islands. Think private suites built in a 400-yearold winery, surrounded by village-owned vineyards.

From R6 000 per night, www.vedema.gr

How To Eat Greek

Previous page: footpaths leading to blue domes, Oia, Santorini; olives at the Athens food market, Varvakios Agora; Agios Sostis Bay, Mykonos; this page, from left: the Parthenon at the Acropolis; Vedema; the view across “Little Venice”, Mykonos.

and garlic sauce that Melina creates – is laced with over 40 antioxidants. Dietician and nutritionist Elena ParavantesHargitt, who specialises in the Mediterranean diet, confirms this. “Add beans or okra, which have their own antioxidants, and you have a superfood on your plate,” she says.

There’s truckloads of research to support the benefits of “eating Greek”, much of it linking the diet with a reduced risk of heart disease and cancer, as well as fewer incidences of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. A 2008 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine also showed that, compared to low-carb or low-fat, the Mediterranean diet resulted in the greatest weight loss. Put that in your pipe, Paleo.

But it’s Paravantes-Hargitt’s belief that it’s not just what you eat, but how and when. This hits home at an unassuming eatery in the village of Ano Mera on the island of Mykonos, where we’ve gone to rest our satiated bodies on stretches of white sand. Mykonos has a bit of a rep as a party island, but we’ve booked our stay in the twilight of summer, the end of September, when the air is cooler, the atmosphere less frantic and the water turns from lukewarm to amazing-once-you’re-in.

lori cohen; gallo images/get t yimages.com

stone steps. It is here that she dreams up dishes using her three favourite ingredients: fava (broad) beans, sweet white aubergine and the famed Santorini tomato.

Melina’s food is all about creating layers of flavour, so she grows her aubergines among basil bushes to ensure they are steeped in its flavour before they’re even picked. At Charisma, the sister restaurant she runs from the cliffs of Oia’s Mystique Resort, she reimagines seafood such as lobster and sea bass by introducing the local flavours of trahana (a cracked wheat paste) and ouzo.

The promise of Melina’s modern Greek fare swayed us away from the heady and popular resorts that line the beaches of Perissa and Perivolos in the south-east of the island.

Instead, we’ve chosen to stay at beautiful Vedema, with its bright white walls and black stone walkways. Our room overlooks a small vineyard and we spend our evenings wandering the streets of the surrounding village of Megalochori.

This traditional Greek village has become a bit of a foodie destination, as has Santorini.

This is partly due to the fact that Santorini marked 2013 as the “Year of Gastronomy”, but also

Visiting Greece at the end of season means you can get great deals on accommodation.

Check which hotels are offering specials. Here are three stylish spots you’ll love…

Whether you’re a celeb or a mother-of-two, the way to see Mykonos is on a quad bike.

It’s after a sweaty ride along the hilly coast that we arrive in Ano Mera – parched. The town square is hemmed in with eye-wateringly white villas and a traditional Greek Orthodox Church. We settle on a restaurant that offers the cheapest beer – Mythos is our local brew of choice – and soon our table is piled with calamari, grilled lamb and pita breads.

Costas, the 16-year-old son of the restaurant owner, takes it upon himself to educate us about the subtleties of Greek eating. It’s all about taking it slow, he explains, and to demonstrate, he barks at his mother to serve us Greek coffee and yoghurt with “spoon sweet” – his mother’s variation is julienned carrot caramelised in sugar and rose water.

Two hours later, Costas is still regaling us with stories of his childhood on the island (aka practising his English on us). “The Mediterranean diet doesn’t only refer to a diet, but to a lifestyle,” explains ParavantesHargitt. “Greeks typically have three meals a day. Traditionally, the largest meal was lunch, eaten at home between 1.30 and 2.30pm, when schools were out and shops were closed,” she says.

The coffee and yoghurt that we finished our meal with play a part too, apparently. Vascular Medicine reports that the strong java favoured by Greeks has 120 times more healthy compounds than a typical brew – and those

Dietician Elena Paravantes-Hargitt, founder of Olivetomato.com, recommends the top five Greek ingredients to incorporate into your diet Olive oil Not only due to the type of fat (monounsaturated), but more so for its polyphenols, which appear to be the reason for its benefits and which other vegetable and seed oils lack.

Origanum A US Department of Agriculture study has found that it has the highest levels of antioxidants among commonly used herbs.

Lemon Another source of antioxidants through vitamin C, its presence also helps you absorb more iron from the foods it’s served with, like fish.

Tomatoes and tomato sauce Again, not only are tomatoes a great source of vitamin C, but they also contain lycopene – another antioxidant.

Beans (legumes) These really are superfoods and a great source of protein, fibre and antioxidants.

They’re also filling if you’re cutting carbs and can protect you against chronic diseases.

who drink it regularly have elevated endothelial function, a measure of blood-vessel health.

The traditional extra-creamy yoghurt is also higher in protein than your average yoghurt.

The Medscape Physician Lifestyle Report 2014 also emphasised the social importance of mealtimes in order to reap the lifestyle benefits of the diet – something we embrace happily while in Mykonos. There are worse ways to spend your time than sitting under a 200-year-old eucalyptus tree listening to a teenager boast about how he can make his frappé last all day.

Beyond the islands

As we leave Costas and Ano Mera, the villas lining the roads take on a blue tinge; you can tell the time of day on the island simply by looking at the buildings. In the evenings, the light seems to Photoshop everything around you and even the leathery beach regulars look healthy and glowing. Back in Ornos, where our family-run boutique hotel, Kivotos, hugs the bay, we snack on olives and watch the moon rise from the hotel’s private beach. Some nights we brave the 10-minute bike ride into town to eat giros and ice cream and explore the cobbled alleyways. Even though it’s not high season, the shops stay open till 11pm and you don’t have to look far to find a party.

On the other side of the island, on the notorious “party” beaches of Paraga

and Paradise Beach, the hedonism of summer has given way to families dominating the beaches. Still, the bars pump out music feverishly while bikini-clad dancers try to coax a celebration out of the remainder of the revellers.

But there are remote beaches to explore too. We brave the dusty, snaking road to Agios Sostis, which eventually reveals sweeping turquoise views and semi-deserted beaches below.

We smell the restaurant before we see it. Above the cove sits an unassuming stone cottage with a chimney puffing out smoke fragrant with prawns and grilled fish. Kiki’s Taverna is an institution in Mykonos – although you can’t book and there are no signs indicating where it is. We sit outside on a bench with a glass of chilled boxed wine in our hands – it’s too hot to be bothered to do much else – and are rewarded with an unrushed meal of grilled octopus, swordfish fillet, a Greek salad and kopanisti (Mykonian cheese), tzatziki and brilliant pink taramasalata. Needless to say, the rest of the afternoon is spent reclining in the crystal clear waters of the beach below.

After a week of island living, we have 24 hours to explore the antiquities of Athens, among them the Parthenon with its new museum that brings the relics back to life. On the surrounding slopes, the tables and chairs of dozens of tavernas balance perilously alongside the stone steps leading up to the Acropolis. And it is here, appropriately, in the festive glow of the floodlit ruins, that we toast farewell to Greece with more chilled wine and fresh fish. Who can resist it when you know it’s so good for you?

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