Cypriot Cookbook: Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Cooking

Though Cyprus is a small country, its cuisine features a large variety of dishes due to the many different cultural influences affecting the island's history. There is also a substantial variation in climate around the country... from sunny beaches to snow-capped mountains. Cyprus cuisine has a Mediterranean allure, mixing Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavors and ingredients.

Many Cypriot families still make home-made olive oil every year, and neighbors regularly exchange excess bounty of homegrown fruits and vegetables, including pomelo, grapes, carobs, figs, oranges, lemons, cantaloupe, bergamot, medlars, almonds, kumquats, cactus pears, and, of course, olives.

Most Cypriot dishes are not particularly hot or spicy, though there is ample use of local herbs such as wild oregano, rosemary, mint, parsley, basil, cinnamon and coriander. Spices such as allspice, cloves, mastic and mahleb powders can be found in many sweets and baked goods.

The book features 68 recipes, featuring all of these Cypriot culinary delights... and more. Illustrated in full color, Cyprus Cuisine offers a wide variety of Cypriot dishes, ranging from drinks to desserts, to soups, salads, small bites, breads and pastries, pickles, dips and main courses.

Christina Loucas is a Canadian-Cypriot. She has a BA in Jurisprudence from Oxford University and a BSC in Government and Economics from the London School of Economics. She currently writes and photographs for Taste Magazine in Cyprus.