Generally, the quality and
quantity of the food in Cyprus is very
good. The varieties of fresh vegetables areplentiful. Bakeries and butcheries are open
seven days a week. All kinds of fresh breads and pastries are always
available. The meat here is
excellent, and very reasonably priced. The pork is
fantastic.
Cypriot cuisine is a mixture of Greek and Turkish styles of cooking,
olive oil and lemon juice play a large part in
it, as well as lots of fresh vegetables, fruit and
fish.
A traditional taverna meal
is a meze, which consisys of small
portions of many different dishes. Mezes do differ
from one Taverna to another, but generally they begin with a village
salad, served with Cypriot bread, and a selection of dips such as
tzatziki, taramosalata, and Hommous. This is
where most people make their biggest mistake in eating a meze. Unless
you've got a huge appetite (I don't usually), then stuffing yourself with
lots of bread with the salad leaves no room for the rest of the dishes.
The meze continues with a selection of some or all
of the following: fried halloumi, stuffed vine leaves, stuffed mushrooms,
herbed mushrooms, scrambled egg with courgette, cheese ravioli, marinated
beans, eggplant purée, roasted peppers, eggplant salad, dried and
marinated mackerel, deep-fried mussels and calamari served in a sauce,
fried marinated seafood, pickled meats, dill meatballs. spicy sausage,
mussaka and kebabs, and finishing off with french fries and portions of
kleftico, afelia and other meat dishes
Most tavernas can also cater for vegetarians, but
ask in advance if possible.
Cyprus Specialities
Halloumi is a rubbery cheese made from sheeps milk.
Its often grilled or pan fried and served with Cypriot bread.
Moussaka is a dish comprising aubergine
and lamb baked in the oven.
Dolmades are vine or grape leaves stuffed with
rice and diced tomato, pine nuts and all sorts of other things.
Kleftico is a lamb dish, where the lamb is spiced with garlic and cinnamon
and wrapped in parchment or tinfoild and cooked long and slow in a clay
oven.
Afelia is a pork dish.
Stuffed peppers and tomatoes, marinated fish, olives, hommous
and taramasalata are some other Cyprus specialities.
Dessert often features honey-drenched baklava.
Drinks
In all of the wineries, they
distill the liquor brewed from the grape skins to
produce a fiery drink called zivania.
Keo, the country's biggest brewer, produces a
lager style beer sold in
cans, bottles or draught, all over the island.
Carlsberg also have a brewery on the island where they brew their beer.
Cyprus also produces a large amount of wine. Some
of the wine is made for export, but much of the village wine goes to
supply the tavernas, where it is often served on a drink as much as you
can basis, along with your meze.
Cyprus' most famous drink, is Commandaria, a
dark, delicious dessert wine made from grapes
left to sweeten on the vine. It has been made around Kolossi, near
Limassol since Crusader times.
Eating Out
Restaurants in the tourist areas are usually more
expensive than taverna meals. Most tavernas have an a-la-carte menu as
well as the traditional meze, however, some don't so check first. If
you've already had 3 mezes this week, you probably won't want another and
so the lure of the Chinese or Japanese restaurant may tempt you. There
are some very good ones, and I'll be adding a page of recommendations
soon. Just remember that they are all mainly in the tourist areas, so
prices will be higher.
All restaurants and hotels charge 10% service,
so a tip is not necessary. There
is no particular dress code in Cyprus, unless you happen to be dining in a
5 star hotel or equivalent reastaurant..
