Greek savoury – whole dried leaves & flowers, 60 g peppery savoury flavour, leaves and flowers for pulses and meat • from a family farm in northern Greece • grown in potassium-rich mountain soil
Savoury has a distinctive herbal flavour with a lightly peppery edge. Use it with beans and lentils, in soups, with roasted vegetables or in marinades for meat and fish. Geusi Vounou means “taste of the mountains” in Greek. Agronomist Vasilis Karapas runs the family business in Vatolakkos, in Greece’s Western Macedonia region, continuing his family’s work growing aromatic herbs and pulses.
- ● crush only when needed • whole leaves and flowers let you control the texture for each recipe
- ● naturally shade-dried • herbs are processed without unnecessary heat
- ● fields at around 600 m above sea level • the farm near Grevena has a public OpenFarm profile
- ● one herb with no added salt • useful when you prefer to season the dish at the end
Greek savoury: a peppery herb for pulses, meat and vegetables
Savoury has a distinctive herbal flavour with a lightly peppery note. It is traditionally added to beans and lentils; it also suits roasted vegetables, meat, fish and tomato sauces. Rub the leaves and flowers between your fingers just before cooking.
Try it with Greek white beans or organic Greek lentils.
Know where your savoury comes from
Savoury reaches the European market from several growing regions. A country of origin is useful information, but it does not by itself identify the grower or explain how the herb was handled after harvest. Here, the producer has a name: agronomist Vasilis Karapas and his family farm in Vatolakkos near Grevena, in Greece’s Western Macedonia region.
Why do place and processing matter? The farm’s fields lie at around 600 metres above sea level. Growing conditions, harvest time and drying can affect the aroma of culinary herbs. Altitude alone is no promise of a stronger flavour, but knowing the location and the process helps you understand the seasoning you are buying. Geusi Vounou dries its herbs naturally in the shade and keeps processing before packing to a minimum. The leaves and flowers remain recognisable and can be crumbled just before use.
The producer can be checked beyond the label. Greece’s OpenFarm network has a profile of the Geusi Vounou farm describing its location and approach to processing. That offers more context than a herb name on the front of a packet.
How to use savoury
- Beans and lentils: add during cooking or towards the end to suit the intensity you prefer.
- Roasted vegetables: pair with extra virgin olive oil, garlic and salt.
- Meat and fish: use in a marinade or as a dry seasoning before roasting or grilling.
- Soups and sauces: add it to tomato- or pulse-based dishes.
For another herb to pair with roasted vegetables and meat, try organic Greek oregano. Browse more spices or explore the full Geusi Vounou range.
Storage and allergen information
- May contain traces of sesame, cinnamon, mustard seeds, celery, nuts and barley.
- Store in a dry place away from direct sunlight.
Additional parameters
| Category: | Herbs |
|---|---|
| EAN: | 5214001963218 |
| Země původu: | Řecko |
| Výrobce: | Geusi Vounou, Βατόλακκος, Grevená, Greece |
| Vhodné pro: | Bez lepku-GMO Free-Low Carb-Vegan-Sugar Free |
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Geusi Vounou – “taste of the mountains” from Grevena, Greece
Geusi Vounou (Greek: Γεύση Βουνού, literally “taste of the mountains”) is a family agricultural business from Vatolakkos near Grevena in northern Greece. The brand is run by Vasilis Karapas, an agronomist from a farming family who planted his first oregano on family land in 2014 while still studying. He later added Greek mountain tea, thyme, sage, saffron, lemon balm, other aromatic plants and pulses.
His grandmother Magdalini was an important influence, teaching the family how to work with local herbs and emphasising the value of traditional plant material. What began as a small student project developed into an agricultural brand combining Greek farming and culinary traditions with modern processing control, packing and export.
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Not an anonymous brand. A real farm in Western Macedonia.
- Fields near Vatolakkos at approximately 600 m above sea level – not 680 m, as our website previously stated incorrectly.
- A family farming tradition – Vasilis grew up working in the fields and built on the experience of previous generations.
- Farm-grown herbs are naturally shade-dried to avoid unnecessary loss of aroma during drying.
- Herbs and pulses form the core of the farm’s own production. We use organic claims only for products that are individually certified; the brand’s wider range is not automatically organic.
Greek agricultural press reported in 2023 that the family farm covered approximately 50 hectares, including around 20 hectares of pulses and about 14 hectares of aromatic plants. Cereals used in crop rotation also remained part of the farming system. For the pulses and aromatic crops, the source reported certified organic cultivation.
Why Greek herbs are more than “just another oregano”
With Geusi Vounou, the main difference is not decorative packaging but provenance and the way the raw material is handled. Vasilis describes manual work from planting and weeding through harvesting, drying and packing. With aromatic plants, the aim is to preserve the character of the whole plant with as little processing as possible before packing.
For customers outside Greece, it is also useful to understand what individual Greek ingredients actually are and how they are used. A literal translation of the name is not always enough. Greek mountain tea, dittany, trahanas, kritharaki, hilopitaki and petoura are not marketing terms; they are specific traditional herbs, foods or types of pasta with their own uses.
From herbs and pulses to the wider Greek pantry
Today’s Geusi Vounou range is broader than the farm’s original production. At PraveBio.cz we therefore distinguish between two parts of the assortment:
- The farm-grown core: oregano, thyme, sage, lemon balm, Greek mountain tea, saffron, other herbs and pulses.
- The wider Greek range: traditional pasta, honey, mushrooms and truffle products, flavoured olive oils and other regional foods.
For each product we therefore check origin, ingredients, organic certification, the traditional name and the correct way to use it. The aim is not to sell customers “something Greek” without context, but to explain what makes each ingredient different, how to prepare it and why it has a place in Greek cooking.
Vasilis Karapas: from the first oregano crop to an export brand
Vasilis Karapas was born in Grevena in 1994 and studied agricultural development and farm business management in Thessaloniki. He has worked professionally in agricultural production and packing since 2014. Oregano was the first crop, followed by other aromatic plants and pulses.
Greek media reported in 2024 that more than 70% of production was exported. Exports began in Germany in 2018 and later expanded to other European countries, including the Czech Republic. Geusi Vounou was not created as a souvenir brand for tourists; it grew out of a working agricultural business and now sells its products across several markets.
Geusi Vounou at PraveBio.cz
PraveBio distributes Geusi Vounou in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. As with Ceylon Kokonati, we explain the differences between individual products, their Greek names, how they are used in the kitchen and the genuine USPs of each ingredient. Organic claims are used only where they apply to the specific certified product.
