Fussili ala Cipriota

Hi everyone.  I am back from Cyprus, after visiting my family for a few days.  Although the weather was not very good, mostly cloudy and cold, I had a great time.  The days passed so quickly and all the days were full, visiting most of my relatives and of course, eating and eating (and again eating) all the time.

On Sunday it was the name day of Aghios Antonios (Saint Anthony), so we went to the church of Aghios Antonios, in Limassol.    Aghios Antonios was our parish before the new church of Aghios Ioannis was built and was the church in which I was baptized.  The church is in the ex Turkish section of the city and you can see the mosque just behind the church bell tower.   As I have already written when it is the name day of a saint there is always a panigyri, which is a small fair around the churchyard with stalls selling local products.

We went to the panigyri on Sunday morning and I would like to introduce you to some of these local products.

Some of my favourite Cypriot panigyri sweets:  loukoumades, shiamishi, pompes, pischies and koupes.  You will find the recipes of all these in the links given except for pompes.  Pompes,  are similar to loukoumades and have probably taken their name, which means bombs after their shape.

Other traditional products you can buy at the panigyri:

Preserved pork meat is very popular in Cyprus and before refrigeration, it was the main source of red meat available. During the initial brining of meat to be cured, Cypriots also add red wine, therefore, there is a characteristic flavour to most of the charcuterie from the island.

Lountza is made from the pork tenderloin. After the initial brining and marinating in red or white wine, it is smoked. Although it can be aged, many prefer younger, milder lountza. It is often cooked over coals or fried with eggs as well as a sandwich filler or part of a meze.

Chiromeri is stronger than lountza and is made from the leg, which is similar to any smoked, air-dried ham,  although the wine flavour makes it characteristically Cypriot. In non-mountain areas, the same meat used for chiromeri is cut into strips along the muscle compartments and dried in the sun as pasto.

Cypriot Loukanika are made from the shoulder of a freshly slaughtered animal and the meat is not ground but cut into small chunks about 1 cm with a smaller quantity of chopped back fat, which are marinated in wine and brined and then stuffed into intestines, and smoked into sausages. A characteristic spice in Cypriot sausages is shinos, which comes from a shrub called shinos.

Tsamarella, is a product made of goat meat, which is dried in the sun and covered with salt and oregano. Tsamarella?s dark, burgundy-hued cubes are not particularly inviting in appearance. However, its bold spiciness and pleasant gamey flavor are remarkable, and is considered an excellent mezes, particularly good with zivania. Tsamarella is made from the thigh of the animal because it is the leanest and most highly valued cut and best provides the earthy, rustic flavor and smoothness they are looking for. The leg is butterflied and cut into strips, immersed in salt and oregano and left to dry in the sun for 7-10 days.

Apohti,, a kind of pastourmas (pastrami), is made mainly from beef fillet but pork fillet is also used . The meat is first marinated for 24 hours in red wine vinegar. It is then coated with spices, including black pepper, paprika, cumin and cinnamon and of course garlic, which ultimately give apohti its distinctive flavour. The apohti is then hung up to dry in a cool, well-ventilated place until it becomes hard.

The products you can see in the collage from top left are:

1) Arkatena are bread products made from a chickpeas extract, used as yeast.  The bread is flavoured with mahlep, cinnamon, nutmeg and rose water with a hint of sugar.  Very flavourful and tasty, the crunchy rusks are light and crispy and melt in your mouth 2) Coriander seeds 3) Dried legumes, such as fasolia (beans) of all kinds, koukia (fava beans), revithia (chickpeas) and louvana, yellow split peas 4) Trahanas 5)  Shoushoukos 6)  Pastelli made from carob syrup  7)  Pastelli with honey and nuts 8)  Sisamopites (sesame sweet pies)  9)  Raisins, sultanas, black currants etc.  10)  Nuts, such as almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, peanuts, pistachios, etc.   11)  Dried fruit, such as figs, apricots, prunes etc. 12) louvana, yellow split peas.

Although I returned yesterday morning I did not find the time to blog and visit you as I have so many things which need to be done, and piles or ironing are awaiting for me after washing all day yesterday.

Yesterday I cooked Louvana soup, which is a yellow split soup but made my way.  The traditional way to make louvana is to boil the split peas until they are soft and thicken the soup with rice and then to caramelize onions and add them to the soup together with lemon juice.

Last night I made a toasted sandwich using Arcateno Bread, filled with halloumi, lountza and tomato.

Today I did not want to spend the time in the kitchen as I also had to visit the dentist, so I prepared a pasta dish and used some of the mint pesto and preserved mint which I made during the summer and of course used some lountza and halloumi I brought from Cyprus.

Fussili ala Cipriota, recipe by Ivy

Preparation time:  5 minutes

Cooking time:  20 minutes

Serves: 5

Ingredients:

500 grams fussili
5 slices lountza, cut into small pieces
4 slices halloumi, cut into small pieces
2 tomatoes, cubed
2 tablespoons olive oil and preserved mint
1/2 cup mint pesto
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package instructions and strain.
Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil, together with mint and spices and saute the halloumi and lountza, until lountza is crispy and halloumi has browned.
Add the tomato and mix.
Add the fussili, mint pesto and season with salt and pepper.
Mix well and serve while hot.

I still have a lot to write about Cyprus, so stay tuned until my next post.

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