What to eat Cyprus? culinary specialties and gastronomy

As in the rest of the Eastern Mediterranean, Cypriots start their meals with small bites to whet their appetite, known as mezzedes. However, they can make up a whole meal, as they are so diverse and above all delicious. The ouzerie is a specialized place for ouzo lovers, which is served abundantly with the mezzedes. This brandy, served iced, is often lengthened with water such as pastis, whose taste is close to it. Everyone pecks at the plates among an often impressive choice. Among the best known mezzedes is of course the famous horiatiki or Greek salad made with tomato, cucumber, onion, olive and feta cheese, all covered with olive oil and oregano. Another salad, specific to Cyprus, the louvi is a white bean salad, which some people sometimes eat with herring, while the moungra is a fermented cauliflower pickle. Next comes tzatziki, a delicious cream with yoghurt, cucumber, dill and crushed garlic. It is served as an appetizer as well as an accompaniment to grilled meats. This is also the case with skordalia, a very garlicy potato cream that goes very well with fish. Taramosalata is a purée made from smoked fish roe and olive oil. Don't be surprised if it is pale orange when served. It is its natural color, the French industrialists having taken the bad habit to add dyes giving it a fluorescent pink tint when you buy it at the supermarket. There are other creamy preparations to be enjoyed with bread such as melitzanosalata, a lemon eggplant caviar or hummus which, although of Arabic origin, is among the most popular mezze in Cyprus. The inratable dolmadakia (or dolma/dolmades) - called koupepia

in Cyprus - are vine leaves in brine stuffed with rice and onion, all spiced with dill and lemon juice, and served warm or cold.

But there are many hot mezzedes such as kalamarakia tiganita or fried squid which are at least as popular as htapothi sti skhara, the famous barbecued octopus. Yahni karaoli is a recipe for snails in tomato sauce. More surprisingly, tomatokeftedes are fried tomato-based croquettes flavoured with mint and oregano. But locals also love other types of fritters such as kolokythokeftédes, croquettes made from grated zucchini. The kolokouthkia me t'afka is a typical Cypriot mezze made from zucchini confit with scrambled eggs. Finally, there are also many savoury pastries - which are often eaten on the go all day long - such as tiropita, a puff pastry made of filo pastry filled with feta or spanakopita, garnished with spinach. Piroski are fried slippers filled with various fillings (meat, cheese, spinach, etc.). Flaouna

is a purely Cypriot speciality that resembles a bun filled with cheese, raisins and sesame seeds, usually eaten at the end of Lent. Cheeses are often served as a mezze. This is the case with saganáki, a pan-roasted feta psiti, or baked feta, roasted with a few herbs and slices of tomato. But of course it is impossible to mention Cyprus without mentioning its most famous speciality: halloumi. This very salty cheese made from sheep's and goat's milk has the peculiarity of not melting. It is therefore grilled with a little olive oil while it retains its firm and slightly elastic texture. But it is also eaten fresh, often with watermelon in midsummer. Another Cypriot speciality - often associated with halloumi - is lountza, a cold cut prepared from salted pork loin, marinated in red wine, sun-dried, rolled in coriander seeds and finally smoked. Another delicacy unique to Cyprus, hiromeri is a pressed, marinated and smoked ham. Many of these dishes are commonly found in Turkey and the Arab world under other names. It should also be noted that the difference between main course and appetizers in Cyprus is less marked than in France, for example. Thus many of the specialities mentioned above can be served in larger quantities as a main course.

As a main course, grilled meats are the order of the day and they often make up a whole page in the menus of Cypriot restaurants. Souvlaki takes the form of a large skewer of meat, most often pork or chicken, but also sometimes beef or lamb. Another popular grill, loukanika is a type of smoked pork sausage spiced with coriander seeds and red wine. But no Cypriot barbecue can be organised without sheftalia: these delicious seasoned minced meat sausages are wrapped in strainer (mainly lamb or pork) and then cooked on embers. In the same genre, païdakia generally refers to grilled and finely spiced lamb chops, while keftédès are minced meatballs flavoured with onion, oregano, mint and dill. They can be simply grilled or cooked in a thick tomato sauce and are then called keftedes me saltsa domata.

Apart from grilled dishes, there are a large number of cooked dishes such as moussaka alternating minced meat and candied aubergines, all topped with béchamel and gratiné or in the same genre the makarónia tou foúrnou where aubergines are replaced by macaroni, all topped with halloumi of course. The magarına bulli is a long pasta dish, bucatini type, cooked in chicken broth and served with chicken, grated halloumi and mint. The giouvetsi, baked in the oven, consists of chicken, lamb or beef with small pasta and tomato sauce flavoured with cinnamon, clove and bay leaf. The term "yemista" refers to different types of vegetables (such as peppers and eggplants) stuffed with rice and ground meat and baked in the oven.Afelia is a Cypriot pork stew cooked in red wine with coriander seeds. Spetsofaiis a sausage stew with peppers and tomato.

Cypriots also consume a lot of vegetables which are used in many ready meals. Fasolakia is a recipe for green beans in tomato sauce. In the gigantic plaki, the green beans are replaced by huge white beans, called fasolia gigandes. Prasorizo is a kind of leek risotto, very popular in winter. Although originally from tropical Asia, taro or kolokasi has become very popular on the island. This sweet potato-like tuber is traditionally simmered with pork in a tomato and celery sauce.

Red mullet, sea bream, swordfish, shrimp, octopus and squid are classic seafood products, most often served grilled or fried, delicately seasoned and served with a few lemon wedges. Grilled mackerel - safridia - for example, is highly appreciated for its fatty flesh. However, more elaborate dishes such as psari plaki, a baked fish covered with a mixture of tomatoes and onion confit, or garides me feta, a dish of prawns simmered in a tomato sauce and covered with crumbled feta, are also available. Media saganáki is a fairly similar recipe, but based on mussels. Finally, octopus is often grilled, both as a mezze and as a main course. Otherwise you can also try the octopus stifado, which is simmered for a long time in red wine. Cod is obviously very popular. The psarotavernas are restaurants specialising in fish and seafood.

On the street food side, it is absolutely unthinkable to miss the famous gyros, the Greek version of the kebab, made of a soft pita bread, topped with shredded meat (pork or chicken), fries, tomatoes, onions and tzatziki. Ideal for small budgets, its price rarely exceeds 3 €.

We often finish our meal with fresh fruit: peaches, melons, watermelons or apricots, especially in summer when the sometimes bitter temperatures call for a little freshness. Sometimes the meal can also end with a simple yoghurt topped with a drizzle of honey and a few pistachios. Many sweets are rather enjoyed during the day with a coffee. They include a base of almonds, pistachios or sesame, flavoured with honey, orange blossom or cinnamon such as baklava, a diamond-shaped cake made from filo pastry and nuts and soaked in a cinnamon syrup. Close enough, the kataifi replaces the filo pastry with angel hair. This very sweet cake is also known by other names in Turkey and the Arab world. The galaktoboureko also consists of filo pastry which contains a lemon-flavoured cream made from milk and semolina as a filling. Very similarly, the bougatsa is filled with a creamy cream with fresh cheese.

There are several specialties related to religious festivals such as the koulourakia, a vanilla brioche with sesame seeds prepared for Easter. This is also the case of tsoureki, a brioche often braided and flavoured with citrus zest and mahaleb, a powder obtained from wild cherry stones. Lazarakia is a brioche bread eaten on the first Saturday of Holy Week. Vasilopita is the equivalent of the cake of the Kings - eaten between New Year's Day and Epiphany - whose appearance, quite free, is between a cake and a brioche with a piece hidden in the dough. The melomakarono are Christmas honey biscuits just like the kourabiedes, large almond shortbreads entirely covered with icing sugar. Diples are thin, crispy, tube-shaped doughnuts that are soaked in syrup and sprinkled with cinnamon and chopped nuts, very common at New Year's Eve and for weddings. Finally, the shamishi is a small crispy slipper topped withhalwa.

Finally, coffee holds an essential place in Cyprus, due to its proximity to Turkey. The typical Greek coffee (equivalent to Turkish coffee) is not filtered, it is better to wait a few minutes for the layer of marc to settle at the bottom of the cup. Try it sweet(glyko), medium(metrio), with milk (me gala) or without milk(choris gala). A coffee brews in a small long-handled pot(briki) using very finely ground coffee beans. It is served unfiltered, often with a glass of water. Otherwise the classic espresso is served in all bars and restaurants. It should be noted that the British occupation had an impact on tea consumption, which is very popular on the island.

With a wine-growing history dating back more than 6,000 years, it is obvious that Cyprus has a unique know-how in the field of wine, even if the locals do not necessarily tend to consume too much of it and export a good part of their production to Western Europe or Asia. The white wines offer a beautiful variety with vintages such as Alkion de Keo, Nefeli de Etko, Salera de Etko. Also taste the Palomino, which is very dry, but goes well with seafood. The Saint-Pantelemeion, semi-sweet, is ideal for dessert. On the red side, Semeli or Othello, sometimes reminiscent of Rioja wines. In the rosés, taste the Myrto, quite dry. The Commandaria wines are very old natural sweet wines, dating back to the time of the Templars, hence their name, and come from the region known as the Commandaria, north of Limassol. The verico table grape is also a very popular variety. Its origin is very distant since it is said that Richard the Lionheart, when tasting it, would have simply said "very good", whose pronunciation would have been transformed into "verico". There are two endemic grapes on the island: xinisteri (white) and mavro (black).

Although beer is not traditionally common in Cyprus, it has become a very popular drink, boosted by the British occupation of the country. There are of course various international brands, although Cypriot beers such as Keo or Leon are quite respectable and often cheaper. Among all the liqueurs, ouzo occupies a central place. It is generally drunk as an aperitif. It can be drunk dry with an ice cube or diluted in iced water, which will make it milky like pastis. Flavoured with aniseed, it generally tastes around 40°. In a restaurant, it is often cheaper to order a small bottle for two or three people rather than having separate glasses. Zivania is a grape brandy sometimes abusively called "brandy of Cyprus". Filfar is a delicious orange liqueur sometimes drunk with coffee. But you can also imitate some locals: in small special glasses resembling our liqueur glasses, filfar is poured to the brim. The edges of the glass are then set on fire, resulting in a small crown of blue flame. A few seconds later, we blow on this ring of flame and empty the glass, obviously dead-dry.