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[greekcypriot]

Cyprus produces some very interesting and tasty food, below you will find a quick guide to some of the more well known items. Give them try whilst you're on holiday. You will find most of these in the restaurants and supermarkets, and if you are lucky enough to be invited to someone's home for a meal then you may taste some real Cypriot dishes.

Below you will find a table of some local delicacies

Koulouri: (Bread) Delicious small white loaf, smothered with sesame seeds, and sometimes some caraway or anise. Comes in ring shapes (with a hole in the middle) and easily dividable oblongs.

Lountza: (Meat) Unleavened bread, Oval shaped and flat, Warm it on a grill and it puffs up ready for a kebab to be inserted. Also available in small sizes.

Loukanika (Meat) Smoked and spicy sausage, These are normally served in the meze during the first course with the grilled halloumi, if its a good one it can be brilliant, full of garlic, make sure your partner tries it too, if not its just a smoked, spicy, lumpy sausage.

Pastourma (Meat) Made with beef or once upon a time, camel. Now just made with beef. A very spicy meat, Full of garlic and coriander.

Tzantziki (Dip) A yoghurt, cucumber and mint dip that you will find in most restaurants, served along with tahini, olives and salad.

Tahini (Dip) A blend of crushed sesame seed paste, lemon juice, water, garlic and olive oil, sprinkled with parsley.
Very difficult to find a good one since the supermarkets started doing a pre-packaged version. Try a granny, who might remember how to make it. Ask for ' tashi '.
Improves when a day or 2 old, as the garlic seeps into it.

Anari (Cheese) Cypriot white cheese, similar to cottage cheese, but not scrambled, you buy it in blocks. Very bland.

Fetta (Cheese) Salty and white, used in village salads.

Halloumi (Cheese) This cheese is great either cooked or raw, when grated it is used extensively in au gratin dished, grilled or fried. (I always prefer it lightly fried - keep your eye on it, it burns quickly.) Wash it before cooking it at home, as it is kept in brine and can be very salty.
You can also use it very successfully as a cheese to curry with spinach or peas as it keeps its shape and texture when cubed, fried and then simmered for long periods of time.

Kappari (Vegetable) If you find thorns in your salad, no they did not make a mistake in the kitchen, this is the thorn of the caper, usually pickled. Be careful!

Kolokassi (Vegetable) This is a strange but delicious vegetable. It looks like a dirty elongated swede/turnip/parsnip/sweet potato type root vegetable. It has a magnificent texture and the good ones have a fascinating taste. You cannot cut it with a knife, as it becomes slimy, you have to break it into pieces before cooking. It is often served in a tomatoey sauce and is well worth trying to find.

Koupepia (Cooked dish) Stuffed vine leaves. (called Dolmades in Greece) If they are well made these little rolls of meat and rice cooked in a rich oily sauce can be delightful. The supermarket ready made versions are generally vile. They are prepared with either fresh or pickled vine leaves, both have their own charm, popular at the take away shops, during Lent, the vegetarian version is served instead.

Afellia (Cooked dish) This is pork cubes, marinated and cooked in red wine with coriander seeds (sometimes vinegar, or maybe just old or cheap wine). Cooked slowly, gently and long, this dish can be outstanding and very sustaining.

Stifado (Cooked dish) Based on Beef and onions, but with a flavour all of its own.

Tavas (Cooked dish) Lamb (or sometimes pork) cooked with potatoes, tomatoes and sometimes carrots and other in season bits. Presumably in the oven, slowly. Can be delicious but is usually at least edible.

Flaounes (Pastry) Easter cakes, well buns, no, pies. O.K. eggs, cheese, sultanas, sugar and stuff on the inside wrapped in a kind of pastry and oven baked. Try them at Easter, where you will find them in all the bakers shops.

Halva (Sweet dessert) Sesame seeds pulp and sugar melded into a square, sometimes with nuts, or vanilla flavouring. A little goes a long way.

Dachtila ton kyrion (sweet dessert) Pastry filled with almonds, cinamon and sugar, and fried in pan. When cool they are dipped in honey syrup. (Just great)

Koupes (Cooked dish) Cigar shaped savouries, containing meat , onions and parsley surrounded with a thin, crispy( when fresh & well made) layer of crushed bulgur wheat. Buy them in the bakers or periptero's (newsagent / corner shops) and eat them with a wedge of lemon, which you squeeze into the top. There are big ones, small ones and in the fasting periods, ones with a mushroom filling instead of meat.

Moussaka (Cooked dish) Classic and famous. Oven cooked dish with layered potato, aubergine, meat and white sauce. Lovely or foul, depending on who cooks it and how.

Avgolemono (Soup) Chicken, Lemon, egg and rice soup. A classic local delicacy.

Pourgouri (Cooked dish) Bulgur wheat, pasta and onions. A treat when nice, stodgy when not.

Moutzendra (Cooked dish) Lentils, rice and fried onions, yum yum.

( A NOTE ON THE CURING OF MEAT)
Local recipes for the curing of meats, sausages and so forth are often kept within the family or the village for generations. Greek Cypriots cure the Cypriot pork Sausage such as loukanika and pastourma as well as cuts of meat such as a cured pork loin called 'Lountza'. All are marinated in wine, sometimes left in wine for a couple of days other for over a week, some pre-cure and then add to the wine, others add to the wine or brine-wine mix from day one. Spices used are salt, pepper, coriander, red pepper and local herbs such as thyme and a type of Bay leaf. Traditional recipes never use nitrates as preservatives . Most cured meats were traditionally prepared in the winter months (November to March) when it is not too hot. They are normally smoked using the branches and leaves from the local Mediterranean herbal shrubs. If you are lucky, you will still find some in the villages. There are enthusiasts who keep the art alive, but not very many who produce on a commercial basis.


^^^^^^
Do give me your preferences and dislikes when back from the island.
Tell me what else have you tried.

[greekcypriot]

Glossary: It will help you with Cypriot Dishes:

I thought to give you the name of somemove Cypriot dishes and explain what each one represents so that you know exactly what it is when you are at a Cypriot restaurant.
You can of course photo copy and have it with you on your trip.

Afelia: it is pork cooked in red wine crushed coriander seeds
Arni: it is lamb
Avgolemono: egg and lemon soup
Bourekia: small puff pastries with meat, or cheese and cream with a cheese filling.
Daktyla: almong finger pastries
Elioti: olive bread or pie
Elies tsakistes: cracked green olives with coriander seeds, lemon and crushed garlic.
Fangri: sea bream
Fasolia: haricot beans cooked in a casserole
Feta: salty white cheese usually crumbled on village salads.
Flaounes: Cypriot Easter cakes made with cheese and spices
Glyko: preserved fruits in syrup
Halloumi: firm goats or ewes milk cheese, often served grilled.
Hirino: pork
Horiatiki salata: village salad of white cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, capers, olives, onion, etc.
Houmous: dip from soaked, crushed chick peas
Kalamari: squid
Kapari: pickled caper
Karaoli yahni: snails in tomato sauce
Keftedes: meat balls
Kleftiko ofto: lamb or goat wrapped in foil with herbs and baked in a sealed oven
Kolokotes: pastries stuffed with red pumpkin, raisins and pourgouri
Kotopoulo: chicken
Koupepia or dolmades: stuffed vine leaves
Koupes: cigar shaped wheat cases with meat filling
Loukoumades: doughnuts in syrup
Loukanika: Cyprus sausages
Loukoumia: Wedding shortbread
Lountza: smoked and marinated loin of pork
Marida: whitebait
Moungra: pickled cauliflower
Moussakas: a pie made from layers of minced beef, spices and vegetables with cheese topping
Octopodi krasato: octopus in red wine
Pitta: flat envelope of unleavened bread
Pourgouri pilafi: pilaf of cracked wheat
Psari: fish
Ravioli: pastry stuffed with halloumi and mint
Rizi: wheat and lamb pilaf, served at weddings.
Sheftalia: minced pork and herb rissole
Souvla: large chunks of lamb cooked on a spit
Souvlakia: kebabs
Stifado: rich beef and onion stew
Tahini: sesame seed paste, served as a dip
Taramosalata: dip made from smoked cods roe
Trahanas: soup from cracked wheat and yoghurt
Tzantziki/or Talatouri: yoghurt, cucumber and mint dip
Vodino: beef
Yemista: baked stuffed vegetables with rice and minced beef
Zalatina: brawn


This is CYPRUS!!!