Name - Origin
The farmers of Cyprus would roast ears of wheat and then rub them rub in the palms of their hands, in order to easily remove the husk from the seeds. They used to call this katsourin (Pharmakidou XP, 2003, p. 258).
Katsourka form the verb katsourizo i.e. to roast over fire (Pharmakidou XP, 2003, p. 258), (Erotokritou I, 1989, p. 300)
When the wheat was ripe (and before it was dry), the villagers would cut the ears of wheat with their stalks (reeds) and would form bundles, which they would tie up. They would hold the bundles by the reeds and place them over a fire (pyrá) until they were charred. They would. then, rub the ears of wheat and the wheat husks would fall off and the wind would cleaned the wheat (Erotokritou I, 1989, p. 466).
Functional and symbolic role
And they would eat the seeds as a sort of kollyva. (Pharmakidou XP, 2003, p. 258) The villagers regarded them as very pleasant to eat. A common phrase was: 'Cut some wheat to make katsoutka to eat. I miss katsourka a lot" (Erotokritou I, 1989, p. 466).
Additional information and bibliography
Pharmakidou XP (1983). Glossary of Xenophon P. Pharmakidou, [Materials for the compilation of the Historical Dictionary of the Cypriot Dialect, part B', ed. T. D. Kypri], Centre for Scientific Research, Nicosia, 2nd ed., 2003.
Erotokritou I (1989) Glossary of Ioannos Erotokritou Publications of the Centre for Scientific Research XIV Materials for the compilation of a historical dictionary of the Cypriot dialect Part C ed. Th. D. Kypri, Nicosia.
Stalo Lazarou