‘There is a lot of inspiration here. Every trip is a culinary adventure’ On the second floor of her idyllic Cretan home in the island’s rural heartland, Irini Tzortzoglou throws open floor-to-ceiling wooden shutters, steps onto a tiled terrace and takes in the panorama of lush green rolling hills and picture-perfect cobalt skies.
“I never grow tired of this landscape,” smiles the former MasterChef winner of her homeland.
Surrounded by acres of cypress and olive trees, this is her hideaway, nestled in the beautiful village of Ano Karouzana. Every year, Irini, 60, returns to the enchanting three-bedroom property she and her husband John Batty purchased and lovingly restored 15 years ago, to enjoy peaceful, fun-filled summers with family: stepdaughter Rachel and her husband Daniel Millar, both 36, and step-grandchildren Ava,…