Food, eating habits and cusine of Cyprus

Cypriot food has developed as a mixture of Turkish and Greek cuisines. Chinese, French, Indian and Italian foods are also served in several restaurants.

The recognized herbs and spices include celery, parsley, oregano, pepper and roka. Probably the most important herb in the country is the mint, which is mainly use in dishes having ground meat. Often used ingredients are vegetables like carrots, courgettes, cucumbers, grape leaves, lettuce, okra, green beans and tomatoes.

A meze is a large variety of dishes and an Eastern style cooking, which include halloumi (national cheese), celery, green peppers, olives, tomatoes, chicken, fish roe, octopus, prawns, sesame dip, seftalia sausages, smoked ham and stuffed vine leaves. This is usually eaten with bread, dipped into the special delicacies.

The following are the main courses that are usually served: moussaka (layers of chop lamb or beef, courgettes, eggplant, tomatoes sliced and with white sauce on the topped), suflakia (kebabs with pork or lamp), avgolemoni (egg and lemon soup), patcha (simmer lamb and served with lemon), kleftiko (roasted lamb), fasolada (bean dish), smoked Cyprus sausages (flavored with pepper), tavas (made from onions, veal and herbs), keftedes (spiced meat balls), koupes (fried meat rissoles wrapped in pastry), and kattimeria (thin semolina paste with almonds, meat and cheese).

Some sweets and desserts include glyka (preserves of almond, apricot, cherry, date, and grapes), souzoukko (prepared by dropping of nuts in boiled grape juice), kadeifi, baklava and galatopureko (honey cakes). Typical fruits are almonds, apples, apricots, bananas, cherries, grapefruit, lemons, melons, oranges, pears, pomegranates and tangerines.

The traditional non-alcoholic drinks are Turkish coffee and ayran. Other beverages include wine, brandy sour (mixtures of local brandy, fresh tang of Cyprus lemons), zivania (a grape distillate), commandaria (a well-liked dessert wine), raki and grappa (popular spirit).