Food: CYPRIOT CUISINE

Food Shopping
Articles
Seafood Articles

Cheeses
Chocolates, & Candy
Coffee & Tea
Desserts
Fruit
Gift Baskets
International Foods
Meats
Nuts
Seafood
Specialty Foods
Complete List
Home

Article List
Directory
Resources

Articles/Resources:
Beans
Breakfast
Budget
Cheese
Chinese
Comfort Foods
Dessert
Diet
Eating Habits
Everything Food
Fast Food
Food Gifts
Food History
Food Shopping
Food Traditions
Foods and Events
Foods and Holidays
Foods and Places
French
Fruits
Gift Baskets
Healthy Foods
Italian
Lunch
Mexican
Recipes
Restaurants
Treats
Vegetables

Archives:
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006

Have New Articles E-Mailed To You!

CYPRIOT CUISINE
Tuesday, September 12, 2006

I am sure many of you never heart about the Island of Cyprus or Cypriot Cuisine. Well, Cyprus is a small island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is a member of the European Community and although it is an independent country the nationality is Greek. There are many Greek dishes included in this cuisine but there are also many which someone can find only in Cyprus cuisine.

SHIEFTALIA

One of the most common foods in the island is "Shieftalia". It has the shape of a small sausage and it is cooked mainly over charcoal. Below you can find the detailed recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

* 2kg Minced pork (2lb 4 oz)
* 175g Onion; Finely chopped (6 oz)
* 85g - 100g Flat leaf parsley; chopped (3 oz app.)
* 1ts Ground cinnamon
* 1ts Ground black pepper
* 1ts Salt
* 300g Lamb fat stomach linings; (10 Â½ oz)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place the mince pork in a large bowl then add the other ingredients and mix to combine.
2. Lay the lamb fat out on a chopping board and cut into pieces 10x10cm (4x4 inch).
3. Take a small handful of the pork mixture and squeeze in the palm of your hand to form a small sausage. Place the sausage on a piece of the lamb fat and roll up, turning the ends in to enclose totally.
4. Repeat with the remaining pork mixture and lamb fat.
5. Cook for 15 minutes over charcoal or on a barbeque grill turning occasionally. Alternatively roll the sausages in a little olive oil and cook on a barbeque grill or bake in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes at 200Ã¸C/400Ã¸F/gas mark 6.
6. Serve with a generous squeeze of lemon juice, a salad of chopped tomato, cucumber, cabbage, onion and black olives and fried or roasted potatoes.
7. It can be served in special bread called "pitta" together with tomato, parsley, cucumber, onion and plain yogurt or pickle.

It is delicious!!!

PORK AFELIA

Another common Cypriot food is "Pork Afelia". It is made with pork meat and it is very easy to prepare. It is served with fried, roasted or mashed potatoes, vegetables and salad (tomato, cucumber, onion, black and green olives). It can be served with boiled rise as well. Best accompanied by a glass of red wine!

INGREDIENTS:

* 2kg (2lb 4 oz) pork tenderloin
* 1 cup red wine
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 3 teaspoons coarsely crushed coriander seed
* salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Trim the pork and cut into chunks. (Optional) Put in a nonporous glass dish or bowl; cover with red wine, refrigerate and marinate for at least 2 - 4 hours.
2. Remove the pork from the marinade with a slotted spoon, reserving the marinade. Brown pork in the olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan, in batches if necessary. Remove pork from saucepan and set aside.
3. Pour most of the oil out of the saucepan, leaving just enough to gently sautÃ© the coriander seeds until they are fragrant. Pour in the marinade, deglaze the pan and return the reserved pork. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Bring the liquid to a boil; reduce heat to low and let simmer, covered, for about 40 minutes or until internal temperature of the meat has reached 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). When the meat is cooked, the liquid should be reduced and thick. If it is too thin, remove the meat temporarily and reduce the sauce by raising the heat.

I am sure that if you like wine you will love this dish as well!

KLEFTIKO

Kleftiko! In the old times this dish was cooked by men, shepherds and guerrilla soldiers who used to hide in the mountains. An old age goat or lamb is preferable for this dish. At the old days they used to dig a large hole in the ground, put charcoal in and the meat on top. After that they covered the hole with ground so nobody could see the smoke coming out reviling the position they used to hide. Nowadays things are a bit different. There are special traditional ovens where this dish can be cooked. In our case home ovens will do fine. It is very easy to make but it needs a lot of patience since it needs 3 - 4 hours to cook. Below you can find the recipe.

Kleftiko

* 1 Boned Shoulder of Goat or Lamb
* 2 Cloves Garlic
* 4 Tbsp Olive Oil
* 2 tsp Dried Oregano
* Juice 1/2 Lemon (Optional)
* 10 small pealed potatoes
* salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Preheat oven. Place the Goat or lamb and the pealed potatoes in some foil with the thinly sliced garlic, oil, lemon juice and oregano. Give a good seasoning, wrap and bake for 3 -4 hours in 120 degrees F, (gas mark 4). After the 1st three hours check to see whether the meat needs more cooking. If you think it has cooked enough, just turn the oven off. It can be served with salad or boiled vegetable.

If you ever visit the island of Cyprus and you go to a tavern for a meal you will be able to find all above dishes in the menu. If you decide you would like to have all of them a nice move will be to order meze. Meze is a selection of many dishes but in a smaller quantity. Some taverns offer from 10 to 20 different dishes in meze.

As for a drink you can order anything you like. Beer, wine, soft drinks or even water will match perfectly to the Cypriot cuisine. There is a special drink called Zivania, which is made from grapes. It is similar to Italian Grappa. It has a very strong taste and it contains a high level of alcohol. If you do not drink alcohol I would not advice you to order Zivania.

In meze, Cypriot sweets are included as well along with season fruits. Traditional sweets include baklava, kataifi, pittes in syrup, pourekia (they have the shape of half moon and they are made of flower, oil, sugar, cinnamon and a special Cypriot cheese called "anari",) and daktila (they have the shape of a finger and they are made of flower, oil, almonds, sugar and cinnamon). There are also some sweets which are made from fruits and vegetables. Some of them are: Apple, orange, walnut, grapes, watermelon, cucumber, apricot, eggplant etc. all cooked with sugar and preserved in syrup.

In Cyprus you can find any fresh fruit you wish since those which are not cultivated in the island are imported from other countries.

So, Kali Orexi (bon appetite)!!!

11:32 AM Comments:
Post a Comment

<< Home