CYPRUS FOOD
The delicious Cypriot cuisine lies at the heart of our culture. The Cypriot ‘meze’ is a banquet fit for a king with about twenty different traditional dishes being served as standard. Since long ago locals when they sit down for drinks, order these ‘mezedes’ and are a good way to become familiarized with the local dishes. Meze is often the dish of choice for the Cypriot locals, ordering them for feasts, celebrations, anniversaries and other joyous occasions. The meze starts light with salads, dips, olives and fresh bread. Then you start to work your way up! You then continue, depending on the restaurant, with; snails, octopus in red wine, pickled capers, greens. Then you move on to grilled halloumi (Greek cheese made from sheep and goat’s milk), smoked pork, fish, keftedes (meatballs), sheftalia and Greek traditional sausages. Then come the kebabs, chicken and lamb chops. Many places include giant beans and Cypriot rice too. The halloumi mentioned above is delicious uncooked as well and is the perfect complement if you are having watermelon.
CYPRUS MEZE
LOCAL DISHES
Best Halloumi Cheese Recipes
Best Cyprus Pasta Recipes
LOCAL DRINKS
Cyprus has a long-standing and historic tradition of 4,000 years in wine making. In ancient times it was a great source of wealth for the island, supplying ancient Egypt as well as the ancient Greeks and Romans. Commandaria is a sweet wine and known to be one of the oldest in the world. According to legend it was made originally for Richard the Lion heart and the Crusaders. Zivania is almost pure alcohol, made from highly-distilled grape juice it is very strong and not for the light hearted- it gives an intense burning kick. With the abundance of fresh fruit on the island, fresh juices are very invigorating not to mention extremely healthy. ‘Airani’ is a traditional Cypriot cold drink made with live yogurt and mint and is extremely refreshing, especially on a hot day. ‘Soumada’ is a drink made from almonds and is served hot and is soothing and gives you a feeling of warm comfort.