Besides the extra virgin olive oil of my farm, several friends visit me at Schillermarkt in Schillerkiez at the district of Neukölln exclusively to get mountain tea (from Mount Parnonas), a sort of tea of exceptional quality and famous worldwide. Especially the tea from mount Parnonas has a very high reputation. People who often visit the mountain from all over Greece, it’s the first thing they look to procure. There is even an old saying in Laconia that goes: “gather tea on the mountain of Parnon and oregano on Taygetus”. The older generations knew well that the mountain tea from Parnon is special. The same goes for me, of course. You see, I grew up with mountain tea. There are many times I remember my grandmother when I was a child, when every time I had a cold she would brew mountain tea from Parnon and serve it to me with local fir honey from the mountain and lemon she had picked from her garden. The kitchen was filled with the beautiful smell of mountain tea. Surely a memory from my childhood that is hard for anyone to forget. Drink it, my grandmother used to tell me. It’s better than medicine. And of course, it’s true. Mountain tea has very beneficial properties for our immune system. It helps to fortify the body, especially in cases where we have caught a cold.
With a quick search on the internet, I found that there are various ways to prepare mountain tea. However, I prefer to tell you the way my grandmother used to prepare it. Below is the simple recipe for preparing mountain tea, for all the friends who I realized do not know this particular recipe, which is the most popular in the region of Laconia.
The recipe:
In a small saucepan, we boil the water with the 2 sprigs of mountain tea. When it starts boiling, we leave it for one minute with the burner on. Then we leave it as it is for 2 minutes with the stove turned off. Next, we strain and serve it in our cup. We add a teaspoon of honey, few drops of lemon and stir. But even plain, it is super fragrant and tasty.
I hope you find this article useful. Dont hesitate to contact me if you have more questions.
