EMBORIOS  for the culture of kasos

When the wind drops and the sea is calm it is hard to resist the call of the often inaccessible southern side of Kasos. The drama of sheer cliffs with rocky islets nestling at their feet is heightened by the calls of the Eleonora's Falcons overhead. It is really only from a boat that these ragged shores can be properly appreciated, and then only when the weather is calm. Otherwise it isn't sensible to make the trip.

When conditions are right, enthusiastic support for an afternoon's expedition is always forthcoming from both George and Michael at Taverna Emborios because there are treasures to be found among the rocks: sea-salt and kritama.

Kritama thrive along the sea cliffs, where other plants cannot survive the levels of salt. The growing tips of these fleshy succulent plants can either be eaten fresh, boiled like any other green vegetable, or pickled in brine and used later in the year to add their particular flavour to any dish, such as a simple tomato salad.

Even after our boat, Naftilos, has taken us safely there, it's still a scramble to get to where the kritama grow plentifully. Nissos, a rock just off the southern shore, is always worth investigating, but its sides are steep. No boat can approach safely in heavy weather, but when it's calm the very sheerness of the rock's flanks means that you can heave the boat to as easily as at a purpose-built jetty. Then the two hunter-gatherers (George and Michael) are off like a pair of mountain goats, armed only with a pocket-knife and a sack each.

The sea-battered rock is like a moonscape and, as some of us are still admiring the formations at its lower levels, shouts from way above our heads tell us that George and Michael have scaled the cliff and found what they are looking for. Nimble fingers get to work snapping off the freshest tips; the older growth is too tough and woody. Most of the plant is left intact, since we want to find a new crop when we come back again for more.

Somehow the bulging sacks are brought down safely and left ready for loading into the boat. Now our attention switches to something lower down the rock – we are looking for salt. If there has been heavy weather recently the sea will have swept up high over Nissos, filling some of its cracks and fissures with water. Then, when the wind dies down, the sun will do its work – evaporating the water off and leaving a concentrated salt solution behind. Gradually crystals will begin to form and grow.

If you come looking too soon after a storm, you will find nothing but water; too late and someone else may have been there before you, leaving no salt to be found. Today we are in luck and pure, white sea-salt is sitting in the rock pools waiting to be harvested. All we have to do is scoop it out and let the water drain away.

Then it's back into the boat for the return trip. If we head west, we must run the gauntlet of the swell created by Plati – another good salt-finding spot – otherwise to the east the narrows at Voualia lie in wait. Nosing the boat round either headland we pray there has been no sudden change in the weather, but all is well, and on this occasion we can enjoy the constantly changing shoreline on the way back to Emborios.

So next time you are on Kasos and see us returning, get down to Taverna Emborios quickly and order a plate of George's fries and a tomato salad. Insist on them being sprinkled with fresh “Kasiotiko alassi” and perhaps, if you're in luck, there will be a sprig or two of kritama to go with your tomatoes. Enjoy!

For a complete set of photographs take a look in the kritama and salt section of the Gallery.