Ikaria Greece Cooking and Longevity Workshop

The "Blue Zones" are places where people live longer and much healthier lives.  On the Greek island of Ikaria, the Karimalis family runs their sustainable and organic farm, a winery for natural wines, a traditional farm stay accommodation, as well as their own cooking school and farm restaurant. 

They travel to different countries to demonstrate the cooking and lifestyle of Ikaria.  This year we are honored to welcome them to Grand Rapids, Michigan!  

George and Eleni have gathered a lot of data over the last 30 years on the cooking, diet, and lifestyle of Ikaria.  During the workshops, the instructors give tips that connect cooking with longevity, proper diet, lifestyle, and wellbeing.   Their work has been published in several books, articles, documentaries, and TV shows.   

The diet of Ikaria is a very genuine version of the Mediterranean diet, considered as very tasty and extra healthy.  It is a plant-based diet, consisting of nearly 90% plants and 10% animal products.  

The ingredients will be mostly organic plants, like legumes, vegetables, fruits, some grains and flour, extra virgin olive oil and in a few cases nuts.  Minimal animal products like dairy or eggs might be also used in some recipes.  Participants will get the recipes prior to the workshop.