Press & Media
“Party Like It’s 2700 B.C.” 2018 American Way magazine
“What Did the Minoan Civilization Eat for Breakfast?” 2018 Extra Crispy and myrecipe.com
An Evolving Life, Observations on food, travel, history & tradition. 2018 AmericanFoodieAbroad 2018
“Ancient Dinners Serves up Benefits of Ancient Greek and Cretan Cuisine.” 2017 The National Herald
“Ancient Nurtures: a Revival of Minoan Cooking.” Epitome.xyz
“Minoan Memories, modern flavours.” 2018 Blue Magazine, Aegean Airlines
“Cook like the Ancient Greeks.” 2018 Wings, Lufthansa Airlines
“Recreating the Food of Ancient Crete: A day in Ierapetra, Crete with Jerolyn Elizabeth Morrison, an archaeologist and artist, who recreates the Minoan cooking in replicas of ancient cooking pots made by herself.” 2017 Taverna Magazine, No. 1:Playing with Fire
“Top Ten Things to do in Crete.” 2017 The Big Bus Tour & Travel Guide
“Cooking Out, Minoan Style.” 2015 Penland School of Crafts
“An Epicurean Lesson in Cretan History.” 2014 Destin Asian
“Days of Their Lives—EARTH, FIRE, WATER: Jerolyn Morrison’s Dream Job.” 2014 Women Voices for Change.org
“In Crete, a Historic Feast (and a Lesson or Two).” 2013 The New York Time
"Minoan Flavours.” 2013 Blue Magazine, Aegean Airlines
Hellenic News of America
MINOAN TASTES CURATES ONLINE EXHIBITS WITH POLITISMOS MUSEUM OF GREEK HISTORY
SACRAMENTO, CA – September 28, 2016: POLITISMOS Museum of Greek History, an online Greek history projects, presents “Ancient Ingredients” Part 2 in the online exhibit series “Minoan Tastes Creates Ancient Flavors from the Land, Sea and Sky of Crete”, curated by Jerolyn E. Morrison and Stella Johnson.
This second part of the Ancient Flavors Series, studies the foods that have been part of the Cretan culinary tradition since the Bronze Age. The exhibit delves into the passionate and almost spiritual relationship that the people of Crete have with the food that they create, and even more importantly, the people that the food is prepared for.
“We are very excited to present this 4-part series curated by Minoan Tastes on the Politismos website. The exhibit is a wonderful blend of Cretan culture, tradition and history, from antiquity to modernity,” says Despina M. Kreatsoulas, co-founder of the Politismos online project.
“Meraki (Μεράκι) is a unique Greek word for which there is no accurate translation. It’s the soul, creativity and love that is put into something… the essence of the person that is put into their work. Cooking is something all Cretans do with meraki – it’s part of their identity and inherent in their psyche.” Francesca Muir, Writer; Australian, lived and raised family on the Island of Crete.
Jerolyn E. Morrison and Stella Johnson began working together on the Greek island of Crete in 2011. The images included in this exhibit were taken by Stella Johnson in the early summer in 2014 and 2015 in the eastern most prefecture of Lassithi, Crete, as part of a larger “Minoan Tastes Project”. The first part of the series is called “Cretan Faces”, and is also available for viewing on the Politismos Museum of Greek History website, www.politismosmuseum.org
series l: Cretan Faces
JULY 2016 - DECEMBER 2016
Minoan Tastes Creates Ancient Flavors from the Land, Sea and Sky of Crete
People are the inspiration for this body of work, and to honor this we begin with Cretan Faces, Series I. Both in the ancient world and today, individuals of all ages, shapes, and colors use their skills and relationships to knit together a community that establish their history. The individuals in these images are captured as they work, relax, negotiate, and discuss. Here you will see farmers, fisherman, merchants, beekeepers, homemakers, and cooks. Each image holds an intimate yet distant quality that is indicative to the dualistic nature of modern life on Crete. On this island there is a strong sense of both the physical and the spiritual world. Each working in tandem, but rarely is the acknowledgment of the other visible. The images were taken in the early summer in 2014 and 2015 in the eastern most prefecture of Lassithi, Crete.
Creating dialogue through exploration and documentation is the lifeblood of the collaboration between Jerolyn E. Morrison and Stella Johnson. The two women began working together on the Greek island of Crete in 2011 to document the Minoan Tastes project, and continue to do so annually. The images exhibited are from this collection and tell the story of modern people’s understanding of the past based on archaeological and environmental evidence. The period explored is Minoan life (ca. 1700-1450 BC), which is a time of growth and contact between communities within Crete and many foreign lands. People in the Aegean during this time were also recovering from the Theran eruption on the island of Santorini, which was once believed to have destroyed the Minoan civilization. The exhibition is divided into a series, and the topics are Minoan-style ceramic cooking pots and cooking, ingredients that were available during the Minoan period, and modern Cretan faces.
series ll: Ancient Ingredients
AUGUST 2016 - JANUARY 2017
Minoan Tastes Creates Ancient Flavors from the Land, Sea and Sky of Crete
The dramatic making of Crete created rough and soft landscapes where people living on this island farmed, foraged, hunted, trapped, and fished. Ancient Ingredients, Series II, explores these rich and long food traditions that date back to the Bronze Age, ca. 3000-1425 BCE. Archaeologists study food remains, burnt seeds and bones, a long with environmental evidence to better understand what the Minoan people ate. Many of the foods are local to Crete, but many have been imported long distances thousands of years ago. Here you will see how people today use these similar food products that would have been available to people during the Minoan time period. I call it the “Minoan Grocery Store List.” The images were taken in the early summer in 2014 and 2015 in the eastern most prefecture of Lassithi, Crete.
Creating dialogue through exploration and documentation is the lifeblood of the collaboration between Jerolyn E. Morrison and Stella Johnson. The two women began working together on the Greek island of Crete in 2011 to document the Minoan Tastes project, and continue to do so annually. The images exhibited are from this collection and tell the story of modern people’s understanding of the past based on archaeological and environmental evidence. The period explored is Minoan life (ca. 1700-1450 BC), which is a time of growth and contact between communities within Crete and many foreign lands. People in the Aegean during this time were also recovering from the Theran eruption on the island of Santorini, which was once believed to have destroyed the Minoan civilization. The exhibition is divided into a series, and the topics are Minoan-style ceramic cooking pots and cooking, ingredients that were available during the Minoan period, and modern Cretan faces.
series III: Craft of Potting
DECEMBER 2016 - MAY 2017
Minoan Tastes Creates Ancient Flavors from the Land, Sea and Sky of Crete
Does not the potter have power over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? Roman 9:21
The process of collecting, cleaning and molding raw clay into a ceramic cooking pot is magic! Behind all magic are skills, a vision and an ordered process rooted in the natural world. After many years learning the craft and studying ancient Cretan cooking pots, the Minoan tripod cooking pots are reborn. Here you will discover part of this ancient process.
Creating dialogue through exploration and documentation is the lifeblood of the collaboration between Jerolyn E. Morrison and Stella Johnson. The two women began working together on the Greek island of Crete in 2011 to document the Minoan Tastes project, and continue to do so annually. The images exhibited are from this collection and tell the story of modern people’s understanding of the past based on archaeological and environmental evidence. The period explored is Minoan life (ca. 1700-1450 BC), which is a time of growth and contact between communities within Crete and many foreign lands. People in the Aegean during this time were also recovering from the Theran eruption on the island of Santorini, which was once believed to have destroyed the Minoan civilization. The exhibition is divided into a series, and the topics are Minoan-style ceramic cooking pots and cooking, ingredients that were available during the Minoan period, and modern Cretan faces.