Cook like a local Cyprus

Explore the many complex flavours of this eastern Mediterranean island, from smoky mangal grills to halloumi and olive-stuffed breads

- MELIZ BERG

Cyprus is a cultural and culinary melting pot. The impact of Turkish and Greek gastronomy is undeniable but it has its own distinct repertoire of recipes influenced by Eastern cuisines. The ingredients used in many Cypriot dishes can be traced back to Arabic and Asian cooking where spices such as sweet cinnamon, aniseed and cumin, and fresh produce such as jute mallow, okra and taro root provide the backbone to some of its unique dishes.

Cyprus enjoys a hot climate for most of the year, with a coastline that delivers an abundance of fish and seafood, such as sea bass, bream and octopus. Home-grown produce includes wild asparagus, white courgettes and black-eyed beans. Bitter oranges and bergamots are preserved whole in jams, and citrus fruits are made into cordials (limonata), with the thickly sliced zests, along with walnuts and watermelon rinds made into spoon sweets (macun).

Ripe red watermelons are rarely eaten without uncooked slices of halloumi (sheep/goat's milk cheese), with the whey made into a Cypriot ricotta known as nor or anari. Uncooked halloumi can also be finely grated, mixed with dried mint and sprinkled over dishes such as magarina bulli (pasta and chicken). Mint (dried and fresh) is used in salad dressings and meze such as cacık, and it's also used to flavour savoury bakes such as hellimli zeytinli (halloumi and black olive bread).

Türlü (roasted vegetable stew)

Türlü translates as 'all kinds of' and refers to the assortment of vegetables that are thrown together in this dish. The vegetables are roasted, like an oven-baked ratatouille, with a colourful combination of herbs and sweet, warm spices. It's Turkish in origin and is one of those dishes that can be eaten hot, warm or cold (it's known as a zeytinyağlı - 'with olive oil' - dish in Turkey).

2 HOURS SERVES 6-8 EASY LO LC