Welcome to my new A-Z …World Cuisines…where I will be looking at the countries of the world, their food and national dish or their most popular dish around the world…by this I mean some dishes are eaten in many countries as their fame has spread around the world…I have Chel to thank for giving me some ideas from which this one took shape…Thank you Chel x

Today I am looking at the cuisine of Cyprus…

Cyprus is the third-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea…The island, geographically already part of Asia (Middle East), is located about 80 km (50 mi) south of the coast of Turkey, west of Syria and Lebanon, northwest of Israel, north of Egypt and east of Greece…Cyprus is famous for the Limassol Carnival, Wreck diving (Zenobia wreck), Haloumi cheese and Commandaria, the sweet dessert wine from Cyprus.

Cypriot cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine. It is heavily influenced by Arab, Greek and Turkish cuisines, whilst also sharing similarities with the cuisines of Italy and France. The Cypriot cuisine is very similar to the Greek cuisine, however, it has been affected by its many conquerors over the years.

Magarına bulli is a traditional Cypriot meal made of Cypriot style pasta( bucatini or zite) with grated Hellim(halloumi), mint & roasted 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…I found this authentic recipe and it definitely sounds like one to try…

Among some interesting dishes that can be found in Cyprus is kolokas, a root vegetable that when cooked has a texture of a potato, with a sweet taste. What is extraordinary about this dish is that it is not of Turkish or Greek origin, but was brought to Cyprus Island by Venetians who came to Cyprus prior to the Ottomans. Due to etymological meaning, Colocasia esculenta means “elephant ears”, because that is what the leaves of plants look like. Kolokas is usually served with chicken or lamb…when I saw the mention of “Elephant Ears” I made the connection to the Yam which is what I call it…and to a post, I wrote a few years ago…I find all these different regional names for the same fruit/vegetable quite fascinating.

Halloumi and anari are probably Cyprus’ most famous cheese products, with their popularity extending to many countries throughout Europe and the Middle East.

Koumantaria one of the most ancient wines in the world is often used in cooking.

Chicken,Pork and Veal are very popular meats in Cyprus…

little wraps of grape leaves filled with rice pork or veal with a tomato sauce or kleftiko a beautiful lamb dish which I have eaten many times in the past and think I need to make it again…we won’t be smashing the plates though as that was always one of the traditions which always used followed the meal…

Lunza, is deli meat. It’s cured pork with wine and coriander is very popular in Cyprus, it’s a sandwich with a toasted bread roll filled with lunza, tomato, cucumber and halloumi, and then grilled…

We like stuffed vegetables with mince and rice.,, Here the big difference between the three cultures is the flavours used. Greeks use lots of dill in their dishes, while Greek Cypriots use a lot of mint and parsley, with pork. Turkish Cypriots also use a lot of mint and parsley, but they will use beef and lamb for their dishes, not pork…

Afelia, which is pork pieces marinated in coriander and red wine and then shallow fried. It’s so simple to make and just yum…This sounds like my kind of dish…

Zalatina. It is a jelly-like savoury dish, made with pork usually. You boil the pork head and the trotters for about 3-4 hours until they become tender. You take the meat out of the water and then pull the meat pieces apart and discard the bones.

Then you return the boiling water to the stove and that concentrates the gelatin that is released from the bones of the meat. Then you pour that over the meat pieces that you’ve already pulled apart and it sets, like a jelly…this is something my nana and father used to like..I am not a fan of meat jellies or meat in jelly.

I have always loved watching the Great British Bakeoff and Paul Hollywood certainly knows his bread…plus he lived and worked in Cyprus for a number of years which means he knows the bread and how to make it…

From bread to desserts…one of the most famous and delicious tasting, Cypriot recipes is ladies’ fingers or daktyla in Greek.

And Eat Dessert First have just the recipe…

Don’t they look delicious? For the recipe please head over to Eat Dessert First by clicking the highlighted link …

I have decided that due to the time and research involved it is too time-consuming to get an A-Z out each week plus my other posts therefore I will be publishing the A-Z fortnightly…

I hope you have enjoyed this virtual tour of Cyprus as always I look forward to your comments 🙂 x