Wheat bread making process

In each household, bread was baked every 10-15 days, as bread was prominent in the Cypriot diet. Stylianos Hatzionas, referring to the diet in the village of Alona, located at the foot of Troodos mountains in the Nicosia district, says that bread would be introduced into the diet of infants immediately after the 5th month of life. It was cut into small pieces for dipping into soups for the infants. Soups with a lot of dipped bread were also consumed by women who were pregnant, as it was believed to promote the production of milk. In Alona, the peasants’ lunch in the fields consisted of bread and olives. The same was true for schoolchildren who would eat dry bread (Hatzionas, 1971).

Bread was an integral part of the soup. In Kythrea of Mesaoria, in order to make the various rice or bulgur soups more palatable, they would combine them with koukkouroúthkia, i.e. bread crumbs fried in olive oil and added to a soup (Prodromou, 1982). 

In many villages, such as in Skylloura of Tillyria, in Lapithos, in Lythrodontas and others, a piece of bread or wheat was placed near a newborn baby to protect it from evil. The tradition was followed for 40 days (that is, until the infant would attend its first church service), since the first days were regarded as the most dangerous for an infant (Kypri, Protopapa, 2003 and Deuteraios, 1978). 

Moreover, pregnant women in Cyprus believed that a pregnant woman would have difficulty giving birth if the breadboard would be placed upside down by mistake. A woman who had just given birth, had a piece of bread next to her in bed that would protect her from harm (Kypri, Protopapa, 2003 and Deuteraios, 1978). Additionally, on the day when a new mother would get out of bed, a midwife holding a cross would throw pieces of bread in all corners of the house to remove evil; this ceremony was called stavrósima, and bread was believed to have the power to remove evil spirits from the house (Devteraios, 1978). 

In the village of Peristerona, in the Paphos district, a loaf of bread was placed under a new mother’s armpit during the first time of breastfeeding of her infant, as they believed that the bread would help her not to lose her milk (Devteraios, 1978). 

Bread had also a prominent role during a funeral, as it was served as consolation. In old times, in the villages of Acheritou and Pyrga in Famagusta district, this bread was baked during the night, as it was believed that the darkness of the night was related to evil spirits (Devteraios, 1978)