Rooted in antiquity

Exploring the mastic villages on the Greek island of Chios

August 14, 2011|By Aleixs Marie Adams, Globe Correspondent

MESTA, Greece - The instant we enter the mastic grove, the heat of midday drops and the craggy, sun-bleached landscape of the Greek Island of Chios is transformed. A type of wild pistachio, the evergreen mastic tree has shiny, dark green leaves and long gnarled branches that twist and turn horizontally. Between the dusky green light, the floor of the grove, which the farmer keeps impeccably clean, the sharp scent of mastic sap, and the mythical appearance of the trees, it seems that we have entered a place inhabited by creatures poised to dance a slow, medieval dance.

Also known as lentisk, the slow-growing mastic tree (Pistacia lentiscus var. Chia) is not only enchanted in appearance, it also presents an intriguing mystery. Although the tree is native to the Mediterranean region, southern Chios is the only place in the world where it exudes its resin in enough quantity and quality to be harvested - over 120 tons each year.

My daughter Sylvie, 8, and I follow our guide, Vassilis Ballas, through the shade of the grove to a tree. Six years ago, Ballas and his wife, Roula Boura, both IT professionals, fled the throngs and smog of Athens to Chios to tend his family’s ancestral trees and to start the ecotourism company, Masticulture, which offers seminars and tours focused on the culture, agriculture, and natural history of the island, Greece’s fifth largest.

At the foot of the tree, Ballas drops his bag of tools, pulls out a small, sharp, pick-like instrument, and uses it to score inch-long incisions in the bark. From these incisions, mastic will slowly ooze, forming tear-shaped droplets that eventually fall to the ground, thus mastic’s nickname, “tears of Chios.’’

Since antiquity, mastic has been prized for its therapeutic and culinary properties. Hippocrates recommended it for gastrointestinal disorders. In Persia, it was used to fill cavities. In its raw form, mastic can be crushed with a mortar and pestle with salt for savory dishes, sugar for sweet. It can also be chewed like gum (thus “masticate’’). In traditional Greek cooking, mastic is used to flavor Easter and Christmas breads, spoon sweets, and confections. Today in Greece, the resin is experiencing renewed popularity and imparts its flavor to gourmet ice creams, fine chocolates, and other fancy foodstuffs.