Halloumi

Sheep and goat milk that is used for halloumi making comes from local breeds of animals and their crossbreeds that are adapted to the climatic conditions of Cyprus and cover all or most of their nutritional needs with free ranging, hay produced in Cyprus mainly from indigenous forage plants and supplemented with concentrated feeds, mainly barley (Cyprus Cypriot Cheese Makers Association 2008, 1262).

In the publication "Act 139(I)/2006 on designations of origin and geographical indications of agricultural products or foodstuffs. Halloumi" it is stated that "based on historical references, the production of halloumi in Cyprus has been known for several centuries. Florio Bustron makes reference to the cheese called 'halloumi' (in Italian-Gentile calumi) which was produced in March. The Doge Leonardo Dona, who lived in Cyprus and, because of his position, had access to the archives of the period, also makes reference to 'calumi' in a manuscript document. In a letter written by Elias of Pesaro, who visited Famagusta in 1563 AD, he mentions that local cheese is made from a mixture of sheep, goat and cow's milk, which is not kept for long. Richard Pococke visited Cyprus in 1738 AD and reports that Cypriots make cheese from goat's milk. This cheese was well known and was considered the only good cheese in the region. In 1788 AD, Archimandrite Kyprianos in his book 'Chronological History of the Island of Cyprus' refers to 'halloumia, or tongues of delicious cheese', which were made from sheep's and goat's milk (Archimandrite Kyprianos 1788). According to Sevan, the most commonly produced cheese in Cyprus at the beginning of the 19th century was halloumi. The importance of the presence of halloumi cheese in the life of the inhabitants of Cyprus is evident from references made to this cheese through art, according to the following examples. In 1836 AD, D.C. Byzantius writes the play 'Babylonia', which is set in Nafplio in 1827 AD, and mentions that one of the protagonists (who played the role of a Cypriot) asked to eat halloumi, 'cheese which was eaten in Cyprus'. Also, the poet Giorgos Viziinos, who was in Cyprus in 1867 AD, in his poem 'The Poor Man of Cyprus', refers to halloumi cheese. (Association of Cheese Makers of Cyprus 2008, 1274).

The preparation of halloumi cheese in rural homes used to be of particular importance for the inhabitants since, apart from meeting their nutritional needs, it was a practice of social solidarity and mutual aid between families and an opportunity for socialising (especially among the women who were usually assigned to prepare it). More specifically, because of the small quantities of milk produced by each family from its animals, all the neighbours gave their milk to one of them in turn, so that the necessary quantity of milk could be collected to make the halloumi. In other words, the neighbours worked together ('cooperative') to collect the milk and make the halloumi on a rotating basis. In this way, within a period of 1-2 months, the whole neighbourhood had its halloumi ready for consumption (Association of Cyprus Cheese Makers 2008, 1275).

The way in which the "cooperative" operated is also described by Sotiris Economides, according to whom it consisted of 10-15 women of the village, but the number of women in the cooperative depended on the number of goats each woman had. The woman who had the most goats was the leader of the cooperative and she was the first to start the thickening process of the milk and to prepare halloumi. (Economides 2004).