As I promised here a few more Cyprus dishes, all quite easy to prepare. They can be cooked in a slow cooker or as casserole in your Rotisserie oven. They could even be cooked in your electric wok on a low temperature setting.
AFELIA-PORK IN RED WINE.
I
ngredients
1 lb or 1/2 kilo of pork chops or small pieces of pork. It is better to have some pork bone.
The bones gives extra flavour in any slow cooked meat dish.
1 tablespoon of crushed coriander seeds.
1/2 glass of Canola oil. Reduce if you think a bit too much
A glass of red wine.
Method
Chop up the chops into pieces or leave whole if not too big. Fry the pork for a few minutes to bring out the juices, season with salt and pepper. Add the red wine cover the pan cook until the meat is ready and the liquid is almost absorbed.
Add the crushed coriander seeds just before the food is ready.
Best served the Cypriot way with Pourgouri and salad or seasonal vegetables of your choice.
TAVA or SLOW COOKED LAMB
Ingredients
2 lb or 1 Kg of lamb with some bone, shoulder, leg or chops. Cut into pieces.
3 to 5 onions sliced. 1 Kg of ripe tomatoes cut into small pieces.
A little water or stock. Or. Some white wine if you are having a glass while cooking.
Method
Put all the ingredients into your "Tava" or casserole dish. Season to taste with salt and ground pepper.
Cover and cook in a low oven for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Meat has to be thoroughly cooked in a thick tomatoey sauce.
In Cyprus they would add a Herb called Artisha but this is probably only available in Cyprus. You can add any of your favourite herbs near the end of cooking. Oregano, Sage, Thyme or Rosemary, what ever takes your fancy..
Serve the Cypriot way with "Pourgouri".
SHEFTALIA SAUSAGES
Sheftalia sausages seem to be native to Cyprus and not seen anywhere else in the region.
Quantities depending how many you want to make.
Minced pork and lamb mixed or seperate. Veal is okay as well.
Finely chopped onion and parsely (always the flat leave Mediterranean kind).
Use your hands to mix the meat, onions and parsley together.
You'll need "Panna" peritoneum skin. Sheeps stomach. Cut into 5" or 10 cms square. Sausage tube skins don't really work for sheftalia. As I found out.
Put about 1 tablespoon of meat filling onto each piece of Panna and roll up into an oblongish sausage like shape about 5cms or just more than 2". Fold over the ends to keep it all together.
These taste best BBQ'd with proper charcoal. Cook easier if you have a double pronged BBQ skewer.
Turn often to avoid burning and thoroughly cooked through.
There is a restaurant in west London that serve them I'll add the address later.
MOUSAKA-THE KING OF GREEK STYLE COOKING
The way I cook it.
Ingredients
1 lb mixed minced meat (pork and lamb) a must.
Egg plants Garlic to taste
1 or 2 onions finely chopped Stick or 2 of celery (if you like)
Can of chopped tomatoes Cup of white wine
Parsley Bread crumbs
Canola or Olive oil Herbs of your choice
Salt and pepper to season.
Bechamel sauce, a real B... to make
Corn flour is easiest. Oil Milk
Grated mature chedder cheese.
My Method
Cook the mince to your liking. I wash it in cold water to wash out the blood. Then I fry in a little oil to get rid of some of the extra fat the butcher puts in. I then drain this through a sieve.
I use the same pan (or my wok) but clean out what's left behind.
I then fry the onions, garlic and celery if used, until onions start to soften. In goes the meat and chosen herbs. Fry this for 5 or 10 minutes stirring regularly. Then add the wine and tomatoes, season to taste.
I use a deep pyrex dish for my mousaka. Put some oil and the bread crumbs in the dish to warm while your getting the rest ready
While this is cooking, slice the egg plants, up to you if you want to peel them, not too thick or they'll take ages to cook. A trick I do is to lay the slices on a plate and microwave for a minute or 2 to give them a start.
You can add sliced potato or top with sliced tomatoes. I don't though.
When the meat and egg plants are ready layer them alternately finishing of with a layer of egg plant, leaving enough space at the top for the B... Bechamel sauce. You can put the meat and egg plants into the oven to start cooking.
Now for the sauce. You're a magician if you can do this with out lumps.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan (or your cleaned out wok) add corn flour until you have a flour and oil paste. Now the hard part if you don't have three hands. Slowly add the milk stirring all the time to mix it thoroughly without lumps. When you have a nice lump free thickish sauce add the cheese, keep cooking and stirring till the cheese is melted.
Now you'll see if you left enough space on the top of the mince for the sauce. Pour the sauce on top of the mince mix. Cook in a medium oven till the sauce has a golden brown top and the mince and egg plants are cooked.
BBQ'D PORK CHOP
This is how I BBQ a pork chop. A great favourite in Cyprus. Best done on an open charcoal barbeque.
Have a good size pork chop on the bone. Pour over fresh lemon juice, sprinkle or grind over with salt. Leave for awhile then do the same the other side.
While bbqing squeeze more lemon juice and sprinkle more salt to both sides after turning. This gives the pork chop a nice salty lemony crust.
CYPRUS CHEESE
Cyprus cheeses are made from goat or sheeps milk. Yes you milk sheep. The best Haloumi comes from sheeps milk. There aren't many lush green fields to farm cows for milk.
ANARI
Anari can be a soft cream cheese like a ricotta, where it is used to make small Cyprus pastries. You can also spread on biscuits or local bread.
It is also left to harden where you crumble it over salads or grated over pasta dishes.
Anari is quite often made in the village homes using milk from the family goats.
But for us we by it from the local grocers shop. Mostly in the pastries with honey.
HALOUMI
Haloumi, which a big favourite of mine, is also made in the villages but again for us we will buy in the local grocers.
There are a number of haloumi cheese impostors from other countries, Denmark and Saudi Arabia even Greece but you can't beat Cyprus Haloumi.
Haloumi can be eaten uncooked, grilled or fried. I feel it is best cooked. But it does go well cold served with tomatoes and cucumber.
Grilled or fried Haloumi can be a starter a main course or as part of a main course. It can be served for breakfast a lunch time snack or with the evening meal.
For breakfast it goes very well with fried egg and bacon, or in Cyprus with lounza, a Cypriot style bacon. Even with baked beans.
The taste of Haloumi is complimented by tahina. Serve with a salad and warm pitta bread for lunch.
Add Haloumi to your evening meal as a starter or part of the main course. Goes very well with a pork chop.
TAHINA (NOT HUMMUS)
Tahina is made from sesame seeds. Hummus is made from chick peas. I'm not a lover of Hummus but Tahina is to die for.
Tahina paste, you can by this from the shop already made. Garlic, 1 clove is enough.
Juice of 1 lemon. Water.
Olive oil and parsley to garnish.
First add the lemon juice to Tahina paste mix in well, it will look curdled, don't worry. When mixed well slowly add the water till you have a tahina sauce to the consistency you want. Thick or runny.
Drizzle over a little olive oil for show and sprinkle with a little chopped parsley.
Goes great with BBQ'd pork chops or just serve as a dip with warmed pitta bread.
CYPRUS BEER-KEO
No article on Cyprus food would be complete without mentioning Cyprus’s own beer “Keo” a King amongst beers, both bottled and draught.
When I first went to Cyprus, wine making was in it’s infancy. Not beer making though.
The Keo Company had been making beer to satisfy the men of Cyprus and the long-standing
British troop presence since 1927.
There are two exceptions to wine making though, “Commanderia St John” a sweet winter dessert wine and Filfar a village style Orange liqueur.
Commanderia is a dessert wine made from a particular grape grown in a particular area of Cyprus, which is strictly controlled by the Government. Commanderia was originally made by the Monks living in the Monasteries nestled in the cold mountain range of Troodos. More of a medicinal wine to keep the winter chills away.
I must admit it is a very pleasant drink to sip during the long winter evenings.
The other exception is the orange liqueur “ Filfar”. It’s like a
Village Cointreau but with a lot more taste. Filfar has been
made in Cyprus since the Venetian Era.A timeless liqueur of Cyprus.
Tangy but mellow, warmly golden, distinctively Cypriot.
Beware though when you’re drinking it, it is 34% alcohol.
Take a look at www.filfar.com
Back to Keo. Before the beer, I should mention Cyprus brandy. Most very drinkable some not so. The brandy I drank was kept in the fridge, unlike French brandies. They can be drunk neat or with a mixer, cola or something. A favourite is a brandy sour, brandy, angostura bitters, lemon squash topped up with club soda, ginger ale or lemonade.
Keo beer. A light coloured pilsner lager style beer that is poured with a good head. Don’t be fooled by it’s
innocent appearance, it has a kick like a Cyprus donkey
and there are plenty of them around.
I’ll tell you about the Lophos Donkey sanctuary later.
The Keo brewery and British forces in Cyprus have
a very good relationship. We were probably their
best customers before the influx of tourists.
Keo brewery trips are very popular with the
British forces and we were always very well looked after.
Keo brewery had very good footballers and they
regularly played on the service bases. We had the only grass pitches, which they loved to play on. They would bring along dustbins full of cold beer and ice.
Our host from Keo was George. If you’re still around George a big thanks for your hospitality.
COFFEE
Of course a Cypriot meal, or Greek come to that, is not complete without finishing off with a Cyprus (Turkish**) coffee with fresh seasonal fruit and Cyprus (Turkish**) delight.
** Since the troubles and the mini-war between Turkish and Greek Cypriots you’ll find Coffee and Delight sweet called Cyprus**.
You’ll have to buy the finely ground Cyprus/Turkish coffee. Also a small Turkish coffee saucepan “Imbrikia”, usually for 1 or 2 cups size and a set of small coffee cups.
There are three levels of sweetness, Skettos-No sugar,
Metrios-medium sweet, Glykis-Sweet. Vari glykis-Very sweet. You can use Honey.
I put in 2 teaspoons of coffee and 1 of sugar (that is mediumish for me). For each cup.
Measure in 1 or 2 cups of water depending on the size of your saucepan. For quickness you can use water boiled in the kettle but I don’t think it brings out the full coffee taste. So fresh cold water for me, don’t over fill the saucepan as you want the coffee to boil up.
You have to stand and watch the coffee come to boil, stirring most of the time. A small stick is best for this.
I believe there is special tree you should use for the stick but I don’t know which tree.
A small wooden spoon will do.
When the coffee boils up to the top o the pan quickly take from the heat. Let the mixture settle back down, then put back on the heat to boil up again.
Serve by putting a little of the froth “called kaimaki’ into each cup with a teaspoon pour gently into the small coffee cups. Don’t drink all the coffee, as there will be a layer of coffee sediment.
