The Global Chef: Greek mezes | Lifestyles

When I was 20 I married a Vietnam war objector. My husband, four friends and I decided to travel to Europe so my husband could escape the draft. We followed Joni Mitchell’s lead and eventually ended up in Ierapetra, Crete, close to Mitchell’s beloved caves at Matala.

During my year in Ierapetra, which sits on Crete’s southeast coast on the Libyan Sea, food became central to my life. It’s where I was first infused with a passion for cooking. As locals invited us to restaurants, family gatherings and shared their expertise, I had taste revelation after taste revelation. Greek cooks showed me how to grow and prepare snails, beat octopus (tossed off their fishing boats at me) on the rocks until tender and butcher a baby lamb and spit-roast it.

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Nancy Krcek Allen has been a chef-educator for more than 25 years. Her culinary textbook is called “Discovering Global Cuisines.”