Daphnis and Chloe: purveyors of Greek herbs

Recent studies have concluded that we should be consuming over 30 different plants a week. Thankfully this includes herbs too, so it seems timely to talk about Daphne and Chloe, an Athens-based brand that deals solely in dried herbs.

Even better, their herbs are organic and sustainably sourced from small farms around Greece. Great care is taken in their journey from living plant to dried seasoning, allowing the herbs to have powerful flavours and health benefits.

Created in 2013, Daphnis and Chloe have encapsulated that wonderful smell and taste of fresh herbs, powerfully dried. Especially prevalent and evocative of Greek cooking, the use of thyme flowers, oregano and sage is so resonant of holidays, rusticity, home cooking, Greek mamas, tavernas and all that is good and pure about Greece.

Located in a workshop under the Acropolis Hill in Athens, Daphnis and Chloe had a desire to distribute the magical wealth of Mediterranean herbs that grow in Greece and allow them to infiltrate homes and kitchens, worldwide. In doing so, Daphnis and Chloe wanted to make the herbs as high in quality as they could, hence sourcing direct from farmers in small batches. They were also drawn to little-known heirloom varieties which are now available to buy, either from their online shop or various outposts in Athens, Europe and even as far as the States. 

Bottled in glass, cardboard tubes or small pouches, you can buy herbs online to your heart’s content such as Aegean Isle oregano, wild thyme flowers, rosemary leaves, Greek sage and smoked chilli flakes. Of course, you might be tempted to sprinkle these onto your favourite Greek classics: Greek salad, cheese fritters, moussaka and grilled fish but they also work extremely well in our everyday dishes – enlivening them with their delicate and reviving flavour – why not dot the humble avo on toast with some smoked chilli flakes, dust the salad with thyme flowers and garnish the stew with rosemary leaves. 

Another success story are Daphnis and Chloe’s teas which run the gauntlet from peppermint, gathered from the foothills of Minthi, a small Peloponnesian mountain, to whole-leaf lemon verbena from Crete. We also like the sound of the Recovery Tea, perfect for that end-of-night tisane; it incorporates the medicinal properties of Greek mountain tea with chamomile, Cretan rock-rose and pomifera sage to soothe and kick start that detoxification.

Herbs with extra oomph, a lot of flavour and eco-credentials to boot, Daphnis and Chloe are the pantry heroes that are totally herbaceous.