There is a moment, after months of planning, when a project really feels as though it’s coming together. When you arrive in the place, begin to explore and gradually understand the full extent of what might be possible. I always do my research so when I arrive I have an idea of which plants are available in profusion but then, once on the ground, there is always so much more than expected, all those plants that are too common to catalogue but which are full of healing potential.
Formulating a set of coherent products is a little like learning a new language, you need to know the grammar, the foundation of each product, the set of ingredients that give it structure, and then you can start to build the vocabulary, introduce the nuance, learn the special colloquialisms that make it so specific to that place. It is exciting and often frustrating as each iteration brings you closer to what you want, but still not quite right, until that magical moment when everything aligns and I feel I’ve cracked it.
I arrived in the Peloponnese with my sister, who over the years has been my trusted right hand woman on these trips, she understands what I’m looking for and is always game for adventure.
We flew into Athens which is a sprawling, busy, dusty city and I couldn’t wait to get out. We were picked up by a chap named Adonis and immediately the John Cooper Clarke lyrics rattled through my mind
“I lay beneath the parasol, watched him with the chicks
Horsing around with his aerosol, they whispered about his odd trick
Send no cash, fear no man, you can be a love leviathan
She’s a fan of the man with a tan from a can
The bronze Adonis got her”
There was literally no similarity. Our Adonis was a pale, portly driver in a sleek black car, tan-less and quiet, occasionally declaring the names of interesting places as we sped along, the Corinth canal passed in a blur.
The south of the Peloponnese is magnificent. As we drove further from Athens the city gave way to the mountains and the further south we ventured the more the landscape came to life. Blood red poppies in drifts, Olive trees full of blossom, the familiar rocky, red, iron rich soil blanketed in wild flowers.
There is such a responsibility in developing a range of products for other people, for our own products I don’t need to explain decisions I’m taking, rationalise one choice over another. As long as the product meets the need I’ve identified and as long as the plants to make it are plentiful we can proceed at a speed we choose as a team.
With other people, especially those new to our way of working, we need to effectively communicate the idea, help them to feel part of our world and appreciate that the pace is determined by the seasons and the plants available to us. It is such a far cry from mainstream product development, it needs trust in a very unconventional process, but the rewards are legion.
For this project, the fact that I lived in Cyprus and know the flora very well has helped a lot. This landscape feels so familiar, it is like a walk into cherished memories. Scent long forgotten has been re-remembered, the Rose Geranium, Juniper, Orange leaf and blossom, wild Thyme, Sage, Helichrysum, Carob, Oregano, Lavender dentata, Olive leaf and blossom and the Mastica with that incredible spicy, earthy scent.
On day 2 we headed up into the mountains to survey and gather a few bits and we visited an apiary with 5th generation bee keepers. Their hives were really simple compared to those I’ve seen in the UK and they were scattered across the mountains. Wherever we walked there was the hum of bees busily getting on with their work. It made my mind calm to hear them, the pitch of the buzz so utterly soothing.
The bees were small and docile, when we approached the Sage they drowsily buzzed. The father didn’t wear protective clothing, the bees know his scent so well that they accept his presence without feeling at all threatened. It is a beautiful relationship.
Little has changed over the generations, the knife used to slice off the beeswax from the comb is now electrically heated rather than dipped in hot water. The centrifuge for extracting the honey is no longer hand turned, instead it spins powered by electricity. These are small changes, pretty much everything else is as it has always been, the rhythm remains the same.
We tasted honey from Carob, Thyme and mixed meadow flowers including Sage, each had its own characteristic scent and flavour. All were utterly delicious. We ate fresh pollen with every grain a reflection of the flower from where it was collected. I discovered that poppy pollen is black! And then we sat under a tree eating bread, fresh local butter and honey drizzled goat cheese whilst drinking Sage tea. It was such a lovely day.
Over the next few days we walked in the mountains and around the estate helped by friends, their children and members of the Hotel team – it was a delight to be showing people who had grown up here what an incredible offering there is. Valeria even found a Tortoise up high in the mountains much to the delight of Greta.
We tasted endless Olive oil looking for the pepperiest, polyphenol rich option to work with. Gradually the balcony filled with plants – Hypericum in perfect condition for harvesting into Olive oil to produce the rich, red oil that is so incredibly healing for the skin. Bitter Orange leaves with their unmistakable double leaf. Oregano on the point of flowering, Chamomile barely 5” tall but with flowers so strongly scented it stopped me in my tracks and so, so much more.
This area is an absolute treasure trove, I was overjoyed to find masses of wild Oats which are not only brilliant for the skin but also nourish the nervous system. The Pine trees yielded a resin so rich and sticky it quite took my breath away. On some days it was warm enough that it melted and dribbled down the tree trunk forming long rivulets.
Today I sat by the sea on the island of Spetses, collecting pebbles, eating fresh fish for breakfast and musing on the direction of travel for these ingredients we’ve now gathered. Which to distil, which to immerse in oil, which will respond better to an alcohol extraction. What do I want to achieve for the skin and as importantly, for the mind and in what combination.
Gradually the ideas are forming and I’m so excited to get to work. These products will be unique because they are only of this place, this terroir. Even plants I grow in Harris of the same species will yield a different result because of the climate and the soil.
I very rarely agree to produce products for other people, but this time I’m so glad that I did because they are going to be awesome.