The mountain herb trail

Thyme in bloom in Sfakia

 The mountains of Crete yield culinary herbs in epic proportions.

Most stunning, on the south side near Chora Sfakia whole hillsides were given away to purple-blooming thyme, with a bee poised in almost every blossom. The result of their industry, little jars of golden thyme honey, are sold throughout the west of Crete.

Oregano and sage can be seen grown abundantly in the wild in large shrubs – again, sometimes with whole hillsides given away to these crops – and based on what is available in the markets shops, so do marjoram, chamomile, rosemary and many others. As the supply chain is clearly very localised and uncomplicated, in the markets and shops the dried herbs actually resemble the real thing, buds, stalks and everything.

Good apres-beach fare was mountain herb roast potatoes with olives and yogurt – and cold beer. This is roughly what we made… the important thing to note is to leave the addition of the seasonings and olives to the last 10 minutes of the roasting time so they still have a really fresh young flavour, rather than getting cindered flavourless as I sometimes find happens to my small pieces of garlic and herbs. Fresh and zingy, they provide a nice contrast with the yogurt.

Lemon thyme roast potatoes with olives and Greek yogurt

Serves 3-4

I kg waxy potatoes cut into wedges or large chunks

Olive oil

Fresh thyme leaves – 2 tablespoons (about 15 stalks’ worth)

3 cloves garlic – very finely chopped

Finely grated zest of 2 lemons

Black olives in brine – whole or sliced

Greek yogurt – 150g

Cut potatoes into large chunks and parboil until still firm.

Drain and spread out on an oven tray and coat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 200 for about 20-25 minutes or until starting to crispen up.

After about 20-25 minutes, remove from oven and add the garlic, two thirds of the thyme, two thirds of the lemon zest and the olives.

Cook for another 10 minutes just to release the flavours from the seasonings.

Once the potatoes are crisp, remove from oven and sprinkle over the rest of the lemon zest and thyme. Serve with Greek yogurt.