Cyprus tourist information

Cypriot cuisine is the cuisine encountered on the island of Cyprus located in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Cypriot cuisine is shaped by the island's Mediterranean climate, its geography and history. Reflecting the two dominant populations, Cypriot cuisine has evolved as a fusion of Greek and Turkish cuisine with local twists to well known dishes.

Further influences are evident from neibouring countries namely Arabic and Middle Eastern cuisine. There are remnants too of French, Italian and Anglo-Saxon influences stemming from the island's occupation by the Luisignan Franks, the Venetians and the British. Modern western cuisine (especially fast food) has an ever increasing influence on the day-to-day diet followed on the island.

• Seafood - Seafood dishes include calamari, octopus in red wine, parpouni (red mullet), and sea bass.
• Vegetable - Some common vegetable preparations are potatoes in olive oil and parsley, pickled cauliflower and beets, zucchini, kolokasi (taro), and asparagus.
• Meat - Meat based dishes include souvlaki, souvla, sheftalia and pork sausages.

Food preparation
Frequently used ingredients are vegetables such as courgettes, green peppers, okra, green beans, artichokes, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and grape leaves, and pulses such as beans (for fasoulia), broad beans, peas, black-eyed beans, chick-peas and lentils.

Pears, apples, grapes, oranges, mandarines, nectarines, mespila, black berries, cherry, strawberries, figs, watermelon, melon, avocado, citrus, lemon, pistachio, almond, chestnut, walnut, hazelnut are some of the commonest of the fruits and nuts. Some of the most well-known spices and herbs are: pepper, parsley, roka, celery, mint, thyme, oregano and others.

Rice is prepared as the chard pilaf, locally called seskoulorizo, which contains chard leaves, chopped onions, long grain rice, peeled and chopped tomatoes, freshly ground pepper, olive oil and parsley. The meal is usually served with plain yoghurt and crusty bread. There is a variety of sweet snacks, which are found in most of the cafe bars around Cyprus, like the honey and syrup doughnuts. Honey is also used for the pastellaki, which is a snack prepared with sesame, peanut and honey syrup. There can be found many Oriental kebabs, with various kinds of beef or chicken meat, wrapped in a special bread and with various dressings.

Drink
Non alcoholic - Ayran is a traditional yoghurt-based drink also found in several countries of the region. In bygone days it was sold on streets by individual producers but it is now found on chilled supermarket shelves.

Alcoholic - Wine has a long tradition on the island, evidence of which goes back for millennia. Commandaria is a popular desert wine, and zivania is a potent spirit. Local beer such as KEO and Leon are popular served chilled in the summer months especially as an adjunct to the Cypriot version of souvlaki. Cyprus also has a tradition of brandy production, with Cypriot brandy having been produced by various Limassol-based distilleries since 1871. Cypriot brandy is commonly drunk with meze dishes, and forms the base for the distinctive Brandy Sour cocktail, developed on the island in the late-1930s.

A former British colony, Cyprus received independence in 1960 following years of resistance to British rule. Tensions between the Greek Cypriot majority and Turkish Cypriot minority came to a head in December 1963, when violence broke out in the capital of Nicosia. Despite the deployment of UN peacekeepers in 1964, sporadic intercommunal violence continued forcing most Turkish Cypriots into enclaves throughout the island.

In 1974, a Greek-sponsored attempt to seize the government was met by military intervention from Turkey, which soon controlled more than a third of the island. In 1983, the Turkish-held area declared itself the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," but it is recognized only by Turkey. The latest two-year round of UN-brokered direct talks - between the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities to reach an agreement to reunite the divided island - ended when the Greek Cypriots rejected the UN settlement plan in an April 2004 referendum.

Although only the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot-controlled Republic of Cyprus joined the EU on 1 May 2004, every Cypriot carrying a Cyprus passport will have the status of a European citizen. EU laws, however, will not apply to north Cyprus. Nicosia continues to oppose EU efforts to establish direct trade and economic links to north Cyprus as a way of encouraging the Turkish Cypriot community to continue to support reunification.