Cypriot Specialities

These are just some of the Cypriot dishes worth breaking the diet for during a visit to Cyprus:

• Afelia: pork, marinated with coriander.

• Village Salad: salad composed of cabbage, lettuce, celery, cucumber, tomato, pepper, olives, feta cheese and herbs.

• Bread: always white and a central component of every Cypriot meal.

• Fish: usually deep-fried.

• Fresh Vegetables: artichokes, asparagus, various kinds of lettuce, potatoes, mushrooms, aubergine, courgettes and celery.

• Halloumi: cheese made from either sheep’s or cow’s milk which tastes especially good when fried. You can only find this cheese in Cyprus.

• Hiromeri: smoked ham. 

• Hummus: cold chickpea puree. 

• Kleftiko: lamb simmered in foil. 

• Keftedes: fried meatballs 

• Kolokasi: root vegetables. 

• Kolokithakia: courgettes either stuffed or plain served as a side dish.

• Koukia: broad beans, served either as soup or raw in salad. 

• Koupepia (dolmades): stuffed vine leaves.

• Lountza: ham, usually served in sandwiches and fried with halloumi. 

• Makaronia tou Fournou (or Pastitsio): macaroni cas¬serole made with ground meat. 

• Meze: a little bit of a lot of dishes! 

• Fresh Fruit: especially grapes, figs, melon, citrus fruits, and watermelon.

• Olive-oil: especially tasty and used generously in the prepara¬tion of many foods.

• Olives: marinated with garlic, coriander, lemon and rhyme.

• Pastourmas: garlic sausage 

• Pitta Bread: flat, hollow rounds of bread filled with sheftalia or souvlaki and vegetables. 

• Pilafi: coarsely ground wheat grains and vermicelli cooked in chicken broth and served with a selection of different vegetable side-dishes.

• Souvla: pork, chicken or lamb roasted on a spit, which is especially popular at family picnics, birthdays and special occasions. It is also considered a “man’s job” to take care of the spit.

• Souvlakia: grilled meat kebabs.

• Sheftalia: grilled sausage made of ground meat. 

• Stifado: beef or rabbit stew prepared with onions.

• Tahini: sesame sauce with lemon and garlic.

• Talattouri (Tzatziki): yogurt prepared with cucumber and peppermint.

• Taramosalata: pink dip made of cod roe with lemon, potato puree, onions and oil.

• Trahanas: coarsely ground wheat grains dried with yogurt and added to soups together with halloumi.