Learn about and experience healthy Ikarian food, cooking and local farming during your holiday and see why Ikaria has been designated as a BlueZone for its extraordinarliy long-lived and healthy people. Your host for the day is a renowned Ikarian food expert who has appeared on BlueZones, National Geographic, CNN and other international television and news reports about Ikaria's food and cooking culture.
The day starts with a visit to an Ikarian organic farm near Nas. The owner and husband of your host, an accomplished organic Ikarian farmer and wine maker, supplies their nearby family restaurant with fresh meats, vegetables, herbs, greens and delicious wine. At the farm you can partake in activities such as: milking goats, feeding the animals (goats,sheep,rabbits,chickens), collecting fresh eggs, picking seasonal fruits & vegetables, gardening Ikarian style, or just relax and have a glass of homemade Ikarian wine while looking out over the Aegean Sea. There is always something fresh and healthy to be harvested, and visitors use these ingredients for their Ikarian cooking class which follows.
Your host for the cooking lessons has over 16 years of experience in traditional Ikarian cooking and her local restaurant located near the farm is the perfect place for an afternoon cooking lesson. The lesson is followed by a wonderful lunch with what you havepicked from the farm and cooked during your lesson. The focus is on learning to prepare traditional healthy Ikarian dishes that are easy to make and that you can adapt to your home country's available products.
One of the typical Ikarian dishes you will learn to make is "Soufiko", a delicous and nourishing vegetable medley. The dish and recipe is unique to Ikaria and is made mostly in summer, because the ingredients are seasonal. It is a vegetarian food and can be served either cold or hot.
Ingredients: 
- 4 potatoes
- 4 onions
- 4 green peppers
- 4 red peppers
- 2 eggplants
- 2 tomatoes
- 2 zucchinis
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 glass of red wine
- olive oil
- salt
Preparation:
Cut the onion into slices and place them into a bowl. In the same bowl, chop the eggplants, peel the potatoes and cut them in grommets. Mince the onions and the tomatoes. Place all of the vegetables into a pan without olive oil, just to boil in their own juice. Blend well and add some salt. Once the vegetables absorb their juice, add the olive oil and the red wine. Leave them to simmer at a low temperature. When the sauce is ready and the vegetables have cooked and softened, the dish is ready to be served.