Ψητό στη φόρμα (Μαγειρεύω Κυπριακά 2013). Πηγή: Στάλω Λαζάρου.
The ingredients are placed in a custom-made pot with a hole in the middle and a lid, and the pot is placed on a wood-fired sand base. In the old days, this dish was usually prepared in the village of Kato Moni for Sunday family lunch.
Name - Recipe
Ψητό ψημένο σε φόρμα.
(for 4 persons)
1 kg chicken
4 large potatoes
1 medium onion
1 large ripe tomato
1 tbsp tomato paste
½ cup olive oil
Salt, ground pepper, 1 cinnamon stick
2 - 3 cloves
1 bay leaf
water
Cut the chicken into pieces, wash it and drain it in a colander. Peel the potatoes and cut them in half lengthwise. Peel the onion and chop it into small pieces. Wash the tomato and chop it into small pieces or grate it on a grater. Add the chicken, potatoes, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf, tomato, onion In the pot (which has a hole in the middle) and season with salt and pepper. In a bowl dissolve the tomato paste in a glass of water and add the olive oil. Pour the liquid mixture over the chicken and potatoes and add as much water as necessary to cover the ingredients. The pot fits on a slightly hollow base filled with sand. Place the pot with its sand-filled base on the fire and cook over medium heat for 1-1 ½ hours with the lid on. (Polydoros Theodosiou, Cooking Cypriot food 2012-2013)
Cooking in a custom-made pot on sand.
The dish may be served with a salad. The chicken must have a pleasant smell, be of "white" colour, not very fatty and generally free of bruising or blackening. For healthier eating, we can remove the chicken skin and fat, and only use olive oil. (Polydoros Theodosiou, Cooking Cypriot food 2012-2013)
Functional and symbolic role
This dish was prepared for Sunday family lunch (Polydoros Theodosiou, Cooking Cypriot food 2012-2013).
Additional information and bibliography
In the old days, as people had no electric or gas oven, they were obliged to eat roast meat only when the big wood-fired oven was lit, that is on major festivals or when enough neighbours would agree to to cook their roast meat in the big oven. So some people came up with the idea of cooking on sand (over wood-fire) using a custom made mould: a pot-like vessel with a hole in the middle, a lid with holes on the sides, and a hollow base that also has a hole in the middle and is filled with sand. The fire underneath must be high at the beginning of cooking and then it must be kept low. Roasting time depends on the recipe and the ingredients. Cooking over fire on a sand base allows the food to cook evenly and without sticking, while still providing the flavour and aroma of the wood-fired oven. Using ths method saved wood that to be used on the wood-fired oven as well as time, which was just as valuable to them. (Polydoros Theodosiou, Cooking Cypriot food 2012-2013)
Recording: Polydoros Theodosiou (10 years old, student of Agios Athanasios B Primary School) from the narration of his grandmother, Zenovia from Kato Moni, Nicosia district. See Cyprus Food and Nutrition Museum (2014); Cooking Cypriot food 2012-2013 (ed. Petroula Hadjittofi), unpublished data.
Petroula Hadjittofi
Τα υλικά για το ψητό τοποθετούνται στη φόρμα, για ψήσιμο πάνω στην άμμο (Μαγειρεύω Κυπριακά 2012-2013). Πηγή: Πολύδωρος Θεοδοσίου.
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