Sheftalia (Cypriot Crepinettes, served in Cypriot Pita Bread)

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Sheftalia singular. Sheftali, are Cypriot oval shaped crépinettes, made with minced pork, herbs and spices which are then wrapped in caul fat and barbecued.

The post has been updated in March 2022 with instructions how to make the Sheftalia in the Air Fryer, so keep scrolling for the instructions.

A few months ago I told you how I made Cypriot Pita Bread and how easy it was to make.

Ever since I learned how to make them we have been enjoying them in all sorts of sandwiches especially with halloumi and lountza or eating them with dips, like hoummous, taramosalata, tzatziki or melitzanosalata etc.

However, one of the best ways to use them is to fill them in with sheftalia or  souvlakia or both, “mixed” as we call them in Cyprus.

Sheftalia were unknown in Greece until the 21st century, but after the internet, they are now becoming popular and you can find them sold in most supeermarkets.

With Easter just around the corner, probably 99% of the Greeks will be barbecuing or grilling  lamb ovelias (whole lamb on a spit) and kokoretsi or other food,  as is the tradition.

We always make some sheftalia as well.

Today I would like to tell you how to make this Cypriot specialty.

Origin of Sheftalia

The origin of the word sheftalia comes from the Turkish word  şeftali (kebab).   However, the word şeftali means “peach” in Turkish.

So how is this delicacy which is made with minced meat, spices and herbs be connected with the word peach?

The word şeftali (peach),  has its root from the Persian word şaft ālū , which means “fat berry”.  

So, this crépinette, which looks like an oval shaped meatball, wrapped in caul fat*, probably took its name by being compared to a fat berry or peach.

How to Make Sheftalia

The ingredients needed are:  caul fat*, preferably from pork or lamb but they should be very fine, minced meat, preferably pork mince, lots of onions, lots of parsley, tomato, salt, pepper and some cinnamon.   

*Caul fat is the membrane that surrounds the stomach and is transparent, fragile, and naturally fatty, although when it is finally grilled or barbecued all the fat melts away, giving lots of flavour to the crepinettes.

I cannot tell you exactly how much caul fat you will need because some parts of the membrane are thick and fat and only the transparent part must be used.

For each sheftali, you will need a piece of caul fat about 10 ×10 cm (4 x 4 inches) in order to wrap them.*

Ask the butcher in your neighbourhood for it.

In Cyprus you can also find it frozen in supermarkets.

I do get some in Athens from my butcher but whenever we go to Sparta there is a big butchery and the owner has a big pigsty.

Caul fat from pigs are better because those from lamb have a lot of fat on them and are more expensive.

So whenever we go to Sparta I bring a lot with me (did I say a lot) and after washing them I separate them and store them in the deep freezer and use them whenever I like.

Apart from sheftalia I also wrap stuffed meat rolls with the caul (instead of the phyllo).

If you decide to make them, don’t add oregano because: it’s more like Greek meatballs or biftekia, don’t add cumin: it’s soutzoukakia, don’t add mint: it’s Cypriot keftedes (meatballs), don’t add rice: it’s dolmades, don’t add egg it’s something else and don’t use cooked meat, as I’ve seen that as well.

When we first moved to our house in 1992, there was a take-away rotisserie just around the corner and I was so excited to see that he was selling sheftalia.

I was already more than ten years in Greece and apart from a few Cypriot restaurants in Athens, you couldn’t find sheftalia anywhere else, so I hadn’t eaten any for a long time.

The first thing we bought from this rotisserie were some sheftalia!!

I was at first surprised of their size. Each sheftali was like a giant burger but shaped oblong like sheftalia.

When taking them home the first bite revealed chunks of meat (probably his leftover grilled meat) and chunks of peppers and whatever else he thought would go with it and wrapped them in the caul fat and baptized them as sheftalia 🙂

Needless to say that I never bought his sheftalia again but I continued buying other grilled meat as they weren’t bad.

Months later when we got acquainted, I asked him where he learned the recipe and he confessed that he served his military service in Cyprus years ago but could not remember exactly how they were made, so he just improvised.

If you ever visit Cyprus, you can find sheftalia in every neighbourhood, where there are small kebab shops selling souvlakia and sheftalia.  

They are served in Cypriot pita together with salad (tomato and cucumber or slaw, depending on the season), parsley and lemon juice.  If you like pickles you should ask them to add some in your pita.

Update: April 2022

Can I make the sheftalia in the Air Fryer?

Good question. Yes, of course you can make them.

Put them in one layer in the air fryer basket (mine can take 8 sheftalia or 500 grams). They do not need to be oiled.

I used the drumstick program, which is set at 180^oC for 20 minutes. I gave them an extra 2 minutes for a darker colour.

You should see how much fat melted due to the caul fat!

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Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,

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