Greek oregano is considered to be one of the best herbs in the world. The Ancient Greeks called it ‘oreganos’ from the words ‘oros’, mountain, and ‘ganos’, brightness. It was the plant that ‘brightened the mountains’. In Ancient Greece oregano symbolized joy and happiness, and garlands were made from its branches for wedding ceremonies. Aristotle writes that as soon as a goat that had been wounded by an arrow ate oregano, its wound healed.
Mountain Tea
Mountain Tea belongs to the family Lamiaceae of the genus Sideritis. widely known throughout Greece as Mountain Tea, are a herbal medicine with many properties. From Hippocrates, who recommended it as a tonic because of its high levels of iron, through Dioskouridis who considered it as strong protection against the common cold, up to today when we know about its beneficial effects on hypertension, oxidants and thrombosis due to its rich content of flavenoids which protect the circulation and the cardiac system, Mountain Tea has remained the most popular Greek herb.
Nikolas Bournakas, Grower Organic Herbs
Nikolas Bournakas works on the Mountain Treasure farm, in Northwestern Greece in the area of Zagori. Here they grow organic Greek mountain tea and oregano since 2014. His professional occupation is at a technical company that he owns in Ioannina. He is an electrical engineer. But in 2014, in the midst of the economic crisis, Nikolas decided to take a new step. To come here to the mountains, which he loves a lot.
The classic Greek mountain tea, which was found in every Greek home in the past, and was the first herbal remedy prepared to fight the common cold, has gradually gained scientific recognition among beverages beneficial to the body. Laboratory research into the beneficial effects of mountain tea have already been carried out by the Universities of Patras and Ioannina, while the University of Athens has found that extracts of Sideritis euboea and Sideritis clandestina can help prevent osteoporosis by protecting against loss of bone density and strengthening the bones. Further studies in Germany have stated that mountain tea may offer protection against Alzheimer’s disease.
There are about 6,600 native plants in Greece, comprising 50% of the European Union total, 1,600 of which are considered to be aromatic or therapeutic.
Nikolas Bournakas
The Gorge of Vikos in Zagoria located in the mountainous area of Epirus, to the northwest part of Greece is an extremely spectacular Gorge. In fact, it is the second deepest Gorge in the world, after the Grand Canyon in the USA.
This area here is considered one of the best herb gardens in Greece. Because the microclimate of the area influences cultivation a lot. So that the plants can grow very high quantities of essential oils. From the middle of the seventeenth century in the area there were experts in herbs, who used them to cure human and animal diseases. They were called Bio-doctors. They were people who knew very well the quality of the herbs of the area. The area has a huge wealth of herbs. According to research in the Gorge of Vikos, there are over 800 species of different herbs. These bio-doctors used a lot of these herbs, to treat various diseases. The plants used in these recipes include the very popular Sideritis raeseri, known colloquially in Greece as ‘Mountain Tea’.
But unfortunately, it was a closed community, where all their recipes were shared only among them by oral tradition. As a result, today we have nothing written by them. There are hardly any recipes we can reproduce. It would be great to put them to the test today and see if they work on modern diseases.
