Meet
Maria
Maria is a professional chef who has worked in the culinary world since 1998. Deeply passionate about Greek cuisine, she celebrates the diverse ingredients and flavors found across the regions and islands of Greece. Her cooking is rooted in a strong sense of place, drawing on local ingredients and traditional techniques. For over a decade, Maria has lived in a modest home overlooking the Cycladic islands on Syros, a place she considers a true herbal paradise. She now specializes in foraging wild herbs and greens, and uses organic produce from nearby farms, exceptional Cycladic cheeses, spices, and ancient grains to create dishes that are fresh, flavorful, and often delightfully unexpected.
Maria invites you on a journey through time, where the history and culture of Syros come to life on your plate, accompanied by Greek hospitality at its finest.
What to expect
Please note menu might vary. If there are particular dishes you are interested in trying, please include your request in the booking form.
In-home meal:
(2-16 guests)
Enjoy a traditional Cycladic meal at Maria’s table, where the spotlight is on fresh, organic ingredients and foraged wild herbs. The menu is seasonal and thoughtfully curated in collaboration with you, ensuring a personalized and authentic dining experience. Your meal includes a variety of seasonal dishes, from salads made from foraged and cultivated organic vegetables and fava “padremeni” (yellow split peas from Iraklia island, topped with slow-cooked onions, sun-dried capers, and tomatoes) to petroti, a traditional Cycladic cheese baked with tomatoes, tourlou (a hearty mix of seasonal vegetables baked with chickpeas) or melitzanes dellagratsiano (a local version of moussaka with eggplant, local cheeses like gruyere and San Michali, and tomato sauce). Your meal concludes with a homemade sweet and a choice of tea or coffee. Local Greek wine is included in the experience.
Cooking experience:
(1-8 guests)
Cook with local ingredients in Maria's home in Syros. Depending on the season, your culinary journey begins with a walk near Maria’s home, where she will teach you how to identify and gather wild herbs and greens. You’ll collect herbs such as sage, St. John’s wort, sea fennel, and other local wild greens. Maria will share her deep knowledge, both historical and scientific, about these plants, including their uses in herbal medicine and how to incorporate them into unexpected, delicious recipes.
Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, return to Maria’s home kitchen to transform these wild plants, along with organic vegetables and legumes, into a memorable meal. This hands-on Syros cooking experience is guided by Maria, who will share cooking techniques, nutritional insights, and personal stories throughout the process. You’ll prepare a unique, traditional Greek meal that goes beyond the usual Greek dishes, featuring local cheeses, vegetables, legumes, and grains. Since meat was traditionally used sparingly, the focus is on vegetable-rich dishes enhanced with small amounts of meat.
This immersive cooking class in Syros is ideal for travelers looking for authentic culinary experiences with locals.
Notes:
Maria can also provide a French, German, Spanish, and Italian translator for an additional cost. Please email reservations@travelingspoon.com to ask for pricing for a translator. She can also accommodate a vegetarian diet, if informed in advance. Please let her know if you have any dietary restrictions or allergies in advance, while booking your Syros cooking class online.
Languages spoken:
English
Sample menu
PERSONALLY VETTED REVIEW
A Traveling Spoon ambassador visited this host. Here is their personal review.
Maria is both an excellent cook, having had her own restaurant for many years, and an experienced nutritionist. She is also extremely knowledgeable about wild greens, flowers and herbs and their uses in cooking and natural medicine. This makes for an experience which is both gastronomically and intellectually stimulating. On top of this Maria is a very warm, gentle but enthusiastic person to be with. She is also highly professional and committed. Her home, which she shares with her lovely partner Nikos, who is a painter and teacher, is the ground floor of a two-storey house. It is situated in an olive grove and looks south over the sea to the other Cycladic islands. It is a modest, functional home with nothing fancy about its interior decoration. As for the food, the tastes are fresh, varied and often unexpected. It is outside the mainstream of Greek food. There is something inspiring and exhilarating about the simplicity and easy availability (all gathered within 200 yards of the house) of the ingredients and the complexity of the palate. It also looks beautiful on the plate. But probably the best thing of all was Maria sharing her historical and scientific knowledge about the plants we were gathering and eating, which often went beyond the actual food we were preparing. This added an extra layer of pleasure to the experience.
Rupert, Traveling Spoon Ambassador
Traveler reviews
Maria is an old soul and a wealth of knowledge. Her home is clean, intimate and we
learned a lot. Her house is about 20 min from port. The ingredients were fresh. Our whole
visit was fun and she is delightful.
-
Katy
October 24, 2025
An absolute magical experience. Maria was incredible and gave us so much in the way of
information, positive energy and cooking. The food was amazing as well. We left feeling full
spiritually and physically. Highly recommend this experience.
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Rebecca
October 24, 2025
We had a very special afternoon at Maria's home. The day was filled with history, smells, tastes, textures.....and of course love. (you'll see) We learned so much not just about the region and their use of ingredients in cooking but also about healthy choices and a simpler way of thinking about food.
The perfect weather added to the al fresco lunch on the patio. This vegetarian menu was beyond delicious. We enjoyed seconds (maybe thirds) and left with full bellies and happy hearts.
Maria knew it was my birthday and surprised me with a delicious dessert as well.
This was the perfect way to wrap up our 2 week trip around Turkey & Greece. Thank you ladies!
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Amy
October 21, 2025
Maria is a master chef and natural/herbal remedy specialist. This class is a must for anyone who lives or visits the island of Syros. She makes cooking easy for the novice or experienced home cook a like. She is unselfish with her recipes and makes the entire day pleasurable. You would be hard pressed to find a better chef like Maria to learn from, especially with her knowledge and skill in the kitchen.
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Navin
August 04, 2025
Maria was an amazing person and a very talented chef. We learned so much from her about ingredience, food preparation, and adding love to what you cook and eat. The whole experience was wonderful. We sat outside her cute home, at a beautiful table, with all the incredible food we had prepared together. We had great conversations, great wine and great food. SO glad we did this. We love getting to know the culture of where we travel, Maria is the real deal!
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Danny
June 30, 2025
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