Kopiaste.. Flavours of Cyprus

Athoi are vegan Cypriot zucchini (courgette) flowers which are stuffed with rice, herbs and spices and cooked until the rice is soft.

My favourite eggplants until now were “tsakonikes” which I thought were the only ones which were sweet.   I avoided cooking with the big round purple ones, as I heard that they were bitter. I’ve been seeing white eggplants at the market place for a long time but had never tried them until recently.  When …

Galeos (tope shark)  are found around the coast of the Mediterranean.  The genus Galeorhinus galeus is derived from the Greek words “galeos” meaning a shark and “rhinos” which means nose. Tope is closely related to the blue shark and shares many of the features of this fish.   Tope reach 1 – 2 metres length and …

Did I hear anyone saying that healthy food is bland and boring? Well, I hope to change your mind with this recipe of mine. When I went to the farmers’ market last week, I got some courgettes and was thinking of boiling them with carrots for a healthy salad.  As I usually buy lots of …

Kolokassi (taro) is not popular in Greece but we love it in Cyprus.  Today I am posting a recipe you have never saw on the internet and I am sure you all want to see something new for a change, as it is one of my original concoctions.  I made it with avgolemono sauce.

Savoro, which means sour, is a sauce which my mother used to make whenever we had fried fish such as red red mullets (μπαρμπούνι), mullets (κουτσομούρα) or other fish like bogue (γόπα) etc.  The combination of vinegar and rosemary is a method they used to preserve food back when there were no refrigerators.

On Sunday, before leaving Cyprus, we visited the church of Aghios Antonios, which is in the ex Turkish section of Limassol. It was the name day of Aghios Antonios (Saint Anthony), so there was also a panigyri outside the church, where I had the opportunity to find various products which I have not eaten for many years.

Sykotakia  me Lahanika (pr. see-koh-TAH-khia meh Lah-chah-knee-KHA) are Greek braised chicken livers with vegetables.  This dish is not only easy to make but also very nutritious.

Glystarkes or glistarkes or gyristarkes, from the Greek verb γυρίζω = turn, is a kind of Cypriot grid-like crusty, sesame rusk.

Mint Pesto is a twist to the classic Italian sauce which is made with basil, olive oil, garlic, pine nuts and parmesan. There are many kinds of pestos using different herbs, cheeses and nuts but my favourite is the one I have made with mint and of course almonds and halloumi which are used in Cyprus to suit the tastes and flavours of my country.