Cypriot cuisine is the cuisine of the island of Cyprus. The cuisine of Cyprus is heavily influenced by neighboring countries like Turkey and Greece. It also has Mediterranean influences because of its position in the Mediterranean Sea, including from countries in the Levant. Halloumi, a staple of the cuisine, traces its name to Arabic.
Food preparation Frequently used ingredients are fresh vegetables such as courgettes (zucchini), olives, okra, green beans, artichokes, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and grape leaves, and pulses such as beans (for fasolada), broad beans, peas, black-eyed beans, chickpeas and lentils. Pears, apples, grapes, oranges, mandarin oranges, nectarines, mespila, blackberries, cherries, strawberries, figs, watermelon, melon, avocado, citrus, lemon, pistachio, almond, chestnut, walnut, and hazelnut are some of the most common fruits and nuts.
The best-known spices and herbs include pepper, parsley, rocket (arugula), celery, fresh coriander (cilantro), thyme, and oregano. Traditionally, cumin and coriander seeds make up the main cooking aromas of the island. Mint grows abundantly, and is used in many dishes, particularly those containing ground meat. For example, the Cypriot version of pastitsio (locally known as macaronia tou fournou or fırında makarna) contains very little tomato and large amounts of mint. The same is true of keftedes or köfte (meatballs), which are sometimes laced with mint to contrast with the meat. Potato is also often used in making keftedes. Coriander or cilantro is another commonly used herb, included in salads, olive breads, spinach pies (spanakopita or ispanak böreği) and other pastries. In some regions of the island it is also used to flavour hot dishes, particularly tomato-based ones such as yiachnista.
Meats grilled over charcoal are known as souvla, souvlaki or şiş, named after the skewers on which they are prepared. Most commonly these are pork, kid, beef, lamb or chicken and sheftalia (which can be lamb or pork sausage wrapped in caul fat), grilled halloumi cheese, mushrooms, and, uniquely to the Greek Cypriots, loukaniko (pork sausages) are also served. These typically stuffed into a pita or wrapped in a thin flatbread, along with a salad of cabbage, parsley, thinly sliced onions, tomatoes and sliced cucumber. Although less popular than souvlaki and sheftalia, gyros are 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.
Bulgur is the traditional carbohydrate other than bread. It is often steamed with tomato and onion; a few strands of vermicelli pasta are often added to provide a texture, fragrance, colour and flavour contrast. Along with bulgur, natural yogurt is a staple. Wheat and yogurt come together in the traditional peasant meal of tarhana (or trahanas), a way of preserving milk in which the cracked wheat is steamed, mixed with sour milk, dried, and stored. Small amounts are eaten reheated in water or broth, sometimes with the addition of cubed aged halloumi. Bulgur is also used to make or , the Cypriot form of kibbeh, 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 the meat mixture is sealed inside the cigars, they are deep-fried before being served with lemon juice.
For Greek Cypriots, there are many fasting days defined by the Orthodox Church, and though not everyone adheres, many do. On these days, effectively all animal products must not be consumed. Pulses are 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 red chili which is eaten along with these austere dishes to add a variety of taste, though this practice is dying out.
Dishes Seafood Common seafood dishes include calamari, octopus, cuttlefish, red mullet, sea bass, and gilt-head bream. Octopus is made into a stiffado, 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, and cloves, with mint sometimes added 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 common accompaniment for cuttlefish in Turkey (especially on the west and south coasts), some parts of Greece, and Italy. Calamari, octopus, and cuttlefish commonly feature in meze, a spread of small dishes served as an extensive set of entrées.
The most traditional fish is salt cod, which up until very recently was baked in outdoor beehive ovens with potatoes and tomatoes in season. Gilt-head bream is commonly served because it is relatively inexpensive and, like sea bass, extensively farmed. Until recently, salted herrings bought whole out of wooden barrels were a staple food. They are still eaten, but not as much now, as fresh fish and meat are regular alternatives.
Many fish restaurants also include in the fish meze a variety of foods which include fish, such as fish soufflé and fish croquettes.
Vegetables 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 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 cucumbers. Summer purslane is often served, as are wild dandelion leaves.
In early spring, artichokes are in season. Cypriots eat the leaves by detaching and biting off the fleshy base. The stalks and the heart are commonly braised with garden peas, sometimes with onion, chopped tomato, or meat.
Okra and cauliflower are baked in the oven with tomato and oil. Cauliflower is also made into , a sour pickle covered with a marinade of vinegar, yeast, and mustard seeds. It is also cooked in tomato sauce with onions and minced meat.
Aubergines can be prepared in a variety of ways, including stuffed and in moussaka. 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 minced meat and tomato paste, cook them in the oven and garnish them with parsley.
Pasta Makarónia tou foúrnou (Greek: μακαρόνια του φούρνου, Turkish: fırında makarna, 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, parsley or cinnamon. The top is sprinkled with grated halloumi or anari cheese, though cheese is sometimes added only to the white sauce. The traditional pasta shape for this dish is bucatini. This dish is also referred to as pastitsio.
Magarına bulli is a traditional Cypriot meal made of bucatini pasta and chicken. This dish is widely known as 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.
Meat
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. Psito is 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.
Lountza is 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, is , 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 for is cut into strips along the muscle compartments and dried in the sun as basta. 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 as tsamarella, 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 make pastourma/bastirma. The Cypriot version of bastirma is more similar to Sujuk. The same meat and some fat is chopped finely and made into pastourma-loukaniko sausages.
Sheftalia, sometimes referred to as a kebab, is a lamb/pork sausage with parsley and onions, and is wrapped in caul fat and grilled/fried .
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.
Meze