Hortopittes - Bread with greens and olives

Foods

Arkolahanon - sea beet

A wild green, the leaves and stems of which are cooked with various legumes or stews. Collected from January to April.

Foods

Arkóprasson, skourántha - wild leek

Wild leek is cooked whole, including its bulb. It can be consumed boiled with oil and lemon or added to legumes. It is added to many dishes when fried. It is also served fresh with olives or cheese.

Foods

Arkosellenoudin - fool's watercress

Wild, edible, small-sized celery. The leaves and tender shoots are consumed boiled, fried or in soups and sauces.

Foods

Arkostafida - Levantine pokeweed, American pokewee

A wild green grass which is included in the medicinal plants of Cyprus. It flowers from July to October on dry hillsides and alongside the roads in Agros, Geratzies, Pedoulas and Lefkara.

Foods

Arkotzinara - cardoon

Agriotzinara is eaten fresh and cooked. Its stems are boiled with legumes, especially beans and black eyed beans. Their artichokes are boiled, fried with eggs or cooked with meat and potatoes in a…

Foods

Atraší(d)a, atratží(d)a - Yellow star thistle

This plant belongs to the category of bitter greens. It is eaten before flowering and is cooked whole, boiled and with various legumes.

Traditional Recipes

Cardoons boiled with beans

Cardoons thrive in winter. In the past, at this time of the year, this dish was prepared regularly, sometimes even once a week.

Traditional Recipes

Cardoons skordalia (in garlic batter)

Cardoon, a wild green (Cynara cardunculus), cooked in garlic batter.

Traditional Recipes

Cardoons yahni with lamb

The taste of the cardoon is reminiscent of artichoke. In this dish, they combine well with lamb, potatoes and the rich taste of tomato sauce.

Traditional Recipes

Charlocks (wild mustard greens) yahní

Traditional Recipes

Charlocks (wild mustard greens) yahní with flour

A fasting dish. The greens are cooked in a mixture of fried onion in olive oil and toasted flour.

Traditional Recipes

Charlocks with bitter orange juice

"Add the lapsanes to the sautéed onion and stir them until all the water has evaporated. Add the bitter orange juice and continue to cookl..." (Maria Ioannidou, Rizokarpaso)

Traditional Recipes

Eliopitta - pl. Eliopittes - olive pie(s)

Often, eliopitta has the shape of a small round bun and contains whole olives. In other cases, it may be kneaded with pieces of olives, onion and fresh coriander/spearmint, or it may be a rolled pie…

Traditional Recipes

English-style pie with aphelia filling

An English pie with Cypriot aphelia filling served with mashed potatoes 

Foods

Field and mountain greens

In difficult times of poverty and drought, people would resort to wild greens.

Traditional Recipes

Flaounopitta

Flaoúna, a traditional Cypriot pie, is the most characteristic Easter delicacy prepared and/or consumed in all households in Cyprus. This recipe, which was developed in more recent times, is…

Traditional Recipes

Fried tremithies with eggs

Tremithies are the shoots of the terebinth tree. These are boiled and eaten with eggs as a tasty and original Cypriot omelette.

Foods

Gaourangatho - cottonthistle

A spiny plant with flowers that resemble artichoke heads.

Foods

Hostes - cardoons

Foods

Kalagathohorto or anginarouda

Wild green.

Traditional Recipes

Keftedes - patties with strouthoúthkia.

A variation of the keftédes recipe using wild greens (strouthouthkia) and potatoes, suitable for fasting periods or for vegetarians.

Traditional Recipes

Kolokotes Maratheftikes- Butternut squash pies

A special variation of a well-known and beloved Cypriot pies with butternut squash. In Marathasa, kolokotes were usually savoury.

Traditional Recipes

Lapsanes (charlocks) with garlic

"...add the olive oil in the same pot and then add the garlic. When the garlic is golden brown, add the lapsanes and salt." (Tasoula Hadjilambi, Komi Kepir Kyrenia)

Traditional Recipes

Louvi (black-eyed beans) with lapsánes (charlocks)

A very simple and easy recipe, based on boiling louvi with lapsanes are served with olive oil and lemon juice.

Traditional Recipes

Omelette with charlocks (wild mustard greens)

"We were able to make this recipe only in the winter, since the main ingredient of the recipe, the lapsanes (charlocks), only grow during this season." (Tasoula Hadjilambi, Komi Kepir Kyrenia)

Foods

Pággali or mággaloi - sea hollies

Wild greens served as an appetiser.

Foods

Pishies

Pishíes were a customary preparation of dough that were prepared on many occasions and served with sugar, honey or carob syrup.

Traditional Recipes

Pittes riziastes

The rice filling also contains fried onion, fennel and sugar. These large pittas are served hot, with a drizzle of honey on top.

Traditional Recipes

Pittes with sorrel leaves - Xiniatópittes

Wild greens are added to a bread dough to form small round flatbreads (pittes).

Foods

Pittes zymotes - pies

Traditional pittes (pies) made from bread dough (and similar in size to bread - round or long) contained one or more additional ingredients of olives, greens, halloumi, meat derivatives and animal…

Traditional Recipes

Pourekia with wild spinach

Nutritious pourekia for fasting with wild greens filling mixed with bulgur wheat, vermicelli and onion.

Foods

Pritziolos

A wild green served as an appetiser or snack, ideal for fasting periods.

Foods

Sakopittes, pittes tis satz̆is

Traditional Recipes

Tripites

In the old days, they would use sourdough in this recipe and would cook the tripites in gastra, a thin stone which they would place on wood fire. The recipe comes from Kathikas in the district of…

Traditional Recipes

Twisted spanakopitta

Vegetarian pie suitable for fasting with a filling of wild spinach, onion, vermicelli and bulgur wheat.

Foods

Vegetables and greens in the 18th c.

Vegetables and greens in Cyprus (Archim. Kyprianos, 1788)

Foods

Vegetables and greens in the Byzantine era

Vegetables and wild greens have always been an important part of the Cypriot diet.

Traditional Recipes

Wild greens with bitter orange

Dish with wild greens from Cypriot nature. Served hot or cold.

Foods

Zambouša

A type of pies.

Traditional Recipes

Zamboúshes

Zamboushes are a type of boureki or pie of the Cypriot traditional cuisine. Depending on the season, they are filled with poppy shoots, fennel or yellow pumpkin.