Nature in Greece | Mountains, lakes, forests, fauna and flora
Two tsipouro distillations in one day!
I. The learned version: empirical knowledge gathered from fathers & grandfathers mated to the modern theories The official government seal that grants permission to the owner of the still to distill tsipouro for a few precious days every year! Emptying the still from the remaining grapes…
Crocus olivieri
Crocus olivieri is a fall wild flower in the area of Zagori of the genus Crocus (family Iridaceae).
Truffle hunting in Zagori
The day started with fog and drizzle but turned out to a be dry one with beautiful autumn colours and clouds. After talking to Katerina over the phone the meeting was set for eastern Zagori where Christos and the three hunting dogs were waiting…
It is the season for tsipouro in Zagoria
Making tsipouro in Zagori using the traditional method of steam distillation, with the company of good friends, traditional Epirotic music (local music from Epirus), … grilled sheep and homemade cheese. Tsipouro (Greek: τσίπουρο), a pomace brandy from Greece that comes in two types: pure and…
Craterellus cornucopioides
Craterellus cornucopioides, or horn of plenty, is an edible mushroom. It can also be known as the black chanterelle, black trumpet, trompette de la mort (French) or trumpet of the dead. The Cornucopia, in Greek mythology, referred to the magnificent horn of the nymph…
Bears in Pindos, Greece
Brown bear distribution range in Greece comprises 2 distinct nuclei of unequal size, covering a total of about 11,000 km², and seems to have stabilized for the last 20 years after dramatic regression in the 19th century. The study area for the ecological analysis…
Foliage in the mountains of Zagori
The melting of hues from green, to yellow, to burnt orange and reds begins as early as mid-October in the region of Central Zagori in Epirus. The actual process of change in the forests of Zagori begins in October and as the warm weather wanes the…
Crocus (saffron)
Greek: κρόκος Crocus is a genus in the family Iridaceae. Saffron Crocus bears up to four flowers, each with three vivid crimson stigmas, which are the distal end of a carpel. Together with the styles, or stalks that connect the stigmas to their host plant,…
Crabapples
Greek: άγρια μήλα The crab apple was the most important ancestor of the cultivated apple, over 6,000 varieties having been bred over the ages (over two-thirds now extinct). The timber of the crab apple is uniform in texture and if dried slowly, is excellent…
