Cypriot cuisine

Cypriot cuisineis the cuisine of the island ofCyprus.
Frequently used ingredients are fresh vegetables such ascourgettes(zucchini),olives,okra,green beans,artichokes,carrots,tomatoes,cucumbers,lettuceandgrape leaves, andpulsessuch as beans (forfasolada),broad beans,peas,black-eyed beans,chickpeasandlentils.Pears,apples,grapes,oranges,mandarin oranges,nectarines,mespila,blackberries,cherries,strawberries,figs,watermelon,melon,avocado,citrus,lemon,pistachio,almond,chestnut,walnut, andhazelnutare some of the commonest of the fruits andnuts.
The best-knownspicesandherbsincludepepper,parsley,rocket(arugula),celery, fresh coriander (cilantro),thyme, andoregano. Traditionally,cuminandcorianderseeds make up the main cooking aromas of the island.Mintis a very important herb in Cyprus. It grows abundantly, and locals use it for everything, particularly in dishes containing ground meat. For example, the Cypriot version ofpastitsio(locally known asmacaronia tou fournouormakarna fırında) contains very little tomato and generous amounts of mint.The same is true ofkeftedesorköfte(meatballs), which are sometimes laced with mint to provide a contrast with the meat. Potato is also often used in making keftedes. Fresh coriander or cilantro is another commonly used herb. It is often used in salads, olive breads, spinach pies (spanakopitaorispanak böreği) and other pastries. In some regions of the island it is also used to flavour hot dishes, particularly tomato-based ones, such asyiachnista.
Meats grilled over charcoal are known assouvla,souvlakiorşiş, named after the skewers on which they are prepared. Most commonly these are pork, kid, beef, lamb or chicken andsheftalia, but grilledhalloumicheese, mushrooms, and, uniquely to the Greek Cypriots,loukaniko(pork sausages) are also served. They are typically stuffed into apitaor wrapped in a thinflatbread, along with a salad of cabbage, parsley, thinly sliced onions, tomatoes and sliced cucumber. Although less popular thansouvlakiandsheftalia,gyrosare also commonly eaten. Gyros (also known as döner) have grilled meat slices instead of chunks, and the taste differs from that of souvlaki due to the salad and dressings added. Gyros are made from various cuts of lamb, pork, or chicken, and sometimes but rarely beef.
Bulguris the traditional carbohydrate other than bread. It is often steamed with tomato and onion; a few strands ofvermicellipasta are often added to provide a texture, fragrance, colour and flavour contrast. Along with bulgur, naturalyogurtis a staple. Wheat and yogurt come together in the traditional peasant meal oftarhana/trahanas, a way of preserving milk in which the cracked wheat is steamed, mixed with sour milk, dried, and stored. Small amounts reheated in water or broth provide a nourishing and tasty meal, especially with added cubes of aged halloumi. Bulgur is also used to makekoupesoriçli/bulgur köfte, the Cypriot form ofkibbeh, where the bulgur is mixed with flour and water to form a dough, which is formed into a cigar shape. A hollow is made through the cigar and a mixture of minced meat, onions, parsley and cinnamon is packed. After sealing the meat mixture inside the cigar they are deep-fried before serving with lemon juice.
ForGreek Cypriots, there are many fasting days defined by theOrthodox Church, and though not everyone adheres, many do. On these days, effectively all animal products must not be consumed.Pulsesare eaten instead, sometimes cooked in tomato sauce, but more usually simply prepared and dressed with olive oil and lemon. On some days, even olive oil is not allowed. These meals often consist of raw onion, raw garlic, and dried redchiliwhich is eaten along with these austere dishes to add a variety of taste, though this practice is dying out.
Popularseafooddishes include calamari,octopus,cuttlefish,red mullet,sea bass, andgilt-head bream. Octopus, due to its peculiar taste and texture, is made into astiffado, a stew with red wine, carrots, tomatoes, and onions. Calamari is either cut into rings and fried in batter or is stuffed whole with rice, cumin, cloves, sometimes adding mint to the stuffing, and then baked or grilled. Cuttlefish may be cooked like calamari or like octopus in red wine with onions. It is sometimes prepared with spinach, but without adding garden peas, which are a popular accompaniment for cuttlefish in Turkey (specially in west and south coast), some parts of Greece, and Italy. Calamari, octopus, and cuttlefish commonly feature inmeze, a spread of small dishes served as an extensive set of entrées.
The most traditionalfishissalt cod, which up until very recently was baked in the outdoorbeehive ovenswith potatoes and tomatoes in season. Gilt-head bream is popular because it is relatively inexpensive and like sea bass extensively farmed. Until recently,salted herringsbought whole out of wooden barrels were a staple food. They are still enjoyed, but not as much now, as fresh fish and meat are regular alternatives.
Many fish restaurants also include in the fishmezea variety of different food which include fish, for example fish souffle and fish croquettes.
Cyprus potatoes are long and waxy with a unique taste, exported internationally. Locals bake them in the oven, preferably the outdoor beehive fourni. Many Cypriots add salt, cumin, oregano, and some finely sliced onion. When they barbecue, some Cypriots put potatoes into foil and set them in the charcoal to make them like jacket potatoes, served with butter or as a side dish to salad and meat.
Salad vegetables are eaten at every meal, sometimes whole. More often, they are prepared chopped, sliced, and dressed with lemon and olive oil. In the summer, the usual salad is of celery leaves and stalks, parsley, coriander leaves, tomatoes, and cucumber.Summer purslaneis very popular as are wilddandelion leaves.
In the early spring,artichokesare in season. Cypriots eat the leaves by detaching and biting off the fleshy base. A common preparation for the stalks and the heart is braised with garden peas, with a little onion and perhaps a chopped tomato. Meat is sometimes added.
Okrais baked in the oven with tomato and oil, andcaulifloweris also given this treatment. Cauliflower is also made intomoungra, a sour pickle covered with a marinade ofvinegar,yeast, andmustard seeds. It is also cooked in tomato sauce, onions and minced meat.
Auberginescan be prepared in a variety of ways, including stuffed and inmoussaka. They are commonly fried and stewed slowly in oil, where the cooking time brings out the flavour and also allows them to shed the oil they have absorbed. Turkish Cypriots hollow them, fry them, stuff them with tomatoes and garlic or mince meat and tomato paste, cook them in the oven and garnish with parsley.
Makarónia tou foúrnou(Greek: μακαρόνια του φούρνου,Turkish: magarina fırında,English: oven macaroni) recipes vary, but usually the meat sauce in the middle is made of pork, beef or lamb, tomatoes are only sometimes used, and it is flavoured with mint,parsleyor cinnamon. The top is sprinkled with gratedhalloumioranari cheese, though cheese is sometimes added only to the white sauce. The traditional pasta shape for this dish isbucatini. This dish is also referred to aspastitsio.
Magarına bulliis a traditional Cypriot meal made ofbucatinipasta and chicken. This dish is widely known as being one of the national dishes of Cyprus. Chicken is often boiled in water which is then used as the stock to cook the pasta. When the pasta and chicken are cooked the pasta is often topped with lemon juice, grated halloumi cheese and dried mint.
Prior to Cyprus' urbanisation, Cypriots traditionally ate fresh meat on weekends. This was usually a boiled chicken, served with a starch (usually pasta or bulgur) cooked in its juices. This would stretch the meat to enable the whole family to eat. Other fresh meat dishes were only enjoyed occasionally, sometimes en masse as a feast such as a wedding. Now, as people are better off and meat is widely available, traditional meat dishes are enjoyed frequently.
Afelia, when well prepared, is a saute of pork, red wine, and coriander seeds.Psitois large chunks of meat and potatoes cooked in the oven. Plenty of fat is used in its preparation; traditionally, this would have been rendered pig fat, but now sunflower oil is used. Olive oil is used as a dressing for salads, vegetables, and pulses but is not used to cook meat dishes.
Preserved pork is very popular, and before refrigeration, it was the main source of red meat available to Cypriots. Before refrigeration became widespread in the 19th century it was tradition to throw away the preserved pork in summertime. Cypriots also add red wine; therefore, there is a characteristic flavour to most of the charcuterie from the island.
Lountzais made from the pork tenderloin. After the initial brining and marinading in wine, it is smoked. Although it can be aged, many prefer younger, milder lountza. It is often cooked over coals or fried with eggs to act as a sandwich filler or as part of a meze. Stronger than lountza and made from the leg, ischiromeri, which is similar to any smoked, air-dried ham from Southern Europe, although the wine flavour makes it characteristically Cypriot. In non-mountain areas, the same meat used forchiromeriis cut into strips along the muscle compartments and dried in the sun asbasta. The shoulder of a freshly slaughtered animal is cut into chunks about the size of an almond along with a smaller quantity of chopped back fat, which are marinated in wine and brined, stuffed into intestines, and smoked as sausages (loukaniko).
A traditional practice that is dying out fast is to render pig fat for use as a cooking medium and a preservative. Loukaniko and also chunks of fried salted pork meat and fat can be stored in earthenware jars submerged in the lard for a long time, even in the heat of the island.
Lamb and goat meat is also preserved astsamarella, made very salty to prevent the fatty lamb meat from going rancid. Very popular amongst both communities is preserved beef. The whole silversides and briskets are salted and spiced quite powerfully to makepastourma/bastirma. The same meat and some fat is chopped finely and made into pastourma-loukaniko sausages.
Many Cypriots consider snails a delicacy. Snails are in season in late autumn, when the first good rains arrive after the hot summer. The most popular way to prepare snails is to barbecue them. Another popular variation is to cook them with onions, garlic and tomatoes.
Mezedes is a large selection of dishes with small helpings of varied foods, brought to the table as a progression of tastes and textures. The meal begins with black and green olives, tahini,skordalia(potato and garlic dip), humus,taramosalata(fishroe dip), andtzatziki/çaçık(ttalattouri inCypriot), all served with chunks of fresh bread and a bowl of mixed salad. Some of the more unusual meze dishes include octopus in red wine, snails in tomato sauce, brains with pickled capers, samarella (salted dried meat), quails, pickled quail eggs, tongue,kapparipickles (capers), andmoungra(pickled cauliflower). Bunches of greens, some raw, some dressed with lemon juice and salt, are a basic feature of the meze table. The meal continues with fish, grilled halloumi cheese,lountza(smoked pork tenderloin),keftedes(minced meatballs),sheftalia(porkrissoles), andloukaniko(pork sausages). Hot grilled meats – kebabs, lamb chops, chicken – may be served toward the end. The dessert is usually fresh fruit orglyka– traditional sugar-preserved fruits and nuts.
Loukoumades(fried doughballs in syrup),loukoum,ravani (sweet semolina citrus cake),tulumbaandbaklavaare well-known local desserts. There are alsopastiș, cookies made of ground almonds, that are offered to guests at weddings.
Flaounesare savouryEasterpastries that contain goats cheese (or a variety of cheeses), eggs, spices and herbs all wrapped in a yeast pastry, then brushed with egg yolk and dipped into sesame seeds.
Cypriots also make many traditionalspoon sweetsthat are usually made ofturunch/bergamot, figs, tiny aubergines, fresh fleshy walnuts, watermelon or pumpkins processed akin to jam but without the over-cooking. The fruit is soaked for two weeks (depending upon the fruit) then boiled with sugar until the correct texture is obtained.
Sweet syrups and spreads includesoumadamade from almonds. Soumada has a very ancient history in Cyprus, stretching back into the Roman period, and it was given as an exotic eastern delicacy by KingPeter I of CyprustoKing Casimir the Great of Polandat theCongress of Kraków, held in Poland in 1364.Also popular ismahalepi,a kind ofblancmangemade from corn flour usually flavoured with rose water ormahlep.
Cyprus delights, or loukoumia, are one of Cyprus'sprotected geographical indication (PGI)by the European Union. It is a family ofconfectionsbased on agelofstarchandsugar, flavored with lemon, rose water, mastic or other fruits with or without chopped dates, pistachios and hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel. The main centres for its production areYeroskipounearPaphosandPano LefkaranearLarnaca. A similar looking sweet issoujoukorshoushouko, although it is made very differently from loukoumia, being produced from boiled grape juice.
Halloumiis a semi-hard white-brined cheese with elastic texture, made in a rectangular shape from a mixture of goat and sheep milk; it may be sliced and eaten fresh, grilled, or fried. Aged halloumi may be grated over pasta dishes.  It is the national cheese of Cyprus.
Anariis a crumbly freshwhey cheese, similar toricotta, made from goat or sheep milk. Two varieties exist, dry and fresh anari. Dry anari is salted and is much harder than the fresh variety, and is served grated with pasta dishes andgiouvetsi, while fresh anari is eaten in slices with honey or carob syrup.
Halitzia is a feta-like cheese made from goat or sheep milk. It is a slightly sour-flavored cheese, which is produced in the villages of the area of Tylliria. It can be enjoyed in salads.
Ayranis a traditional drink made of yoghurt. Its recipe varies from region to region.Triantafyllo, a thick concentrated dark pink syrup (rose cordial) made from the extract of the Cyprus (Damascus) rose, has water or milk added to make a refreshing sweet cordial, especially in summer. It is distinct fromrodostagma(literally "rose drops") (rose water) andanthonero(blossom water), which are used to sweetenmahallepiand other sweetmeats.
Among Cypriotstraditional brandyandzivaniaare of the most popular drinks on the island. The next most popular drink is beer. The local breweries ofKEOandCarlsbergcommand the lion's share of the market. In Northern Cyprus,Efesis the most widely sold. Evidence ofwineproduction on Cyprus goes back for millennia.Commandaria, the oldest wine in continuous production, is a popular dessert wine.
Cyprus brandy production is by various Limassol-based distilleries since 1871. Cypriot brandy is commonly drunk with meze dishes, and forms the base for the distinctivebrandy sourcocktail, developed on the island in the late 1930s. Zivania, a grape distillate similar toCretan raki, is another popular spirit.