cyprus food stuffs > History, Traditions & Myths > eating habits
The history of Greek-Cypriot eating habits
The main focus of this section is to briefly introduce the change in eating habits that occurred in the Greek Cypriot community in the last sixty years, concentrating on the 1940s, 1970s and the 21st century.
Eating habits in the 1940s
The most prominent dishes in the 1940s were kkeftedhes/köfte (traditional
meat balls), koupepia/dolma (stuffed vine leaves), ttavas/ fırında patates
(meat cooked with onions, tomatoes and potatoes in the oven), bizeli/bezelye
(peas in tomato souce), pourkouri/bulgur (parched crushed wheat), trahanas/tarhana(a
soup of dried yogurt and flour curds), psito/fırın
yemekleri (baked food),
souvla/çevirme kebap (barbequed pieces of meat) , beans and cauliflower.
Greek Cypriots used to follow an eating schedule based upon the fasting
(Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) and non-fasting (Tuesdays, Thursdays,
Sundays) days. Furthermore, they used to pray before eating, eat together
and have certain positions at the table. The husband (as the provider
of the household) used to sit at one end of the table, the oldest son
at the other head, the wife (as the one who cooked) on the right of her
husband and the daughter next to her mother. Having said this, the table
showed the relationship among family members and between family members
and the house. Thus, food was not only for taste and nutrition but also
for constructing or reflecting relationships among people. As a result,
it is possible that the dishes mentioned above became important because
it was, for example, koupepia/dolma and ttavas/firinda patates that were
associated with religious practices and family gatherings.
Eating habits in the 1970s
In the 1970s, there was a change in social relations and not surprisingly
in people’s relationship with food. First, Mondays were considered as
fasting days in which beans were consumed. However, while Wednesdays and
Fridays were the other two fasting days of the week most fish instead
of beans were cooked. Second, these three days were not prominent as the
fasting ones but in some cases, people ate fish or beans in order to avoid
meat. Third, vegetables’ consumption was dramatically reduced in the 1970s.
Fourth, people’s eating schedule became more relaxed. And last, the Greek
Cypriots
began eating out.
EATING HABITS OF THE GREEK CYPRIOTS IN THE 21ST CENTURY
The changes continued throughout the 1980s, the 1990s and into the 21st century and resulted in the abandonment of the eating schedule and prayer before eating and fast foods and restaurants become more dominant features.
The morning usually starts with a Nescafe and sliced bread with butter, jam and cheese and no longer with a Cypriot coffee. The weekdays are not separated into fasting and non-fasting days. Monday has become the vegetarian day, which is an contrast to the massive amount of meat during the weekend. Some households sometimes cook beans on Wednesdays but they do it for the same reason as just mentioned and not for fasting. The frequency of consuming beans has dramatically reduced with some households only eating beans once or twice a month. For the rest of the week, they eat meat in the form of kkeftedhes/köfte, koupepia/dolma, boiled chicken, and with either bizeli/bezelye or kolokasi/kolokas. However, new kinds of dishes have emerged such as pasta, steaks, hamburgers, pizzas with new sauces like mayonnaise and ketchup. These new kinds of food dominate some households. For example, some Cypriots do not cook beans anymore because their children do not like this kind of food.
Apart from the eating habits during the weekdays, those who do fast have
reduced the number of their fasting days to one week before Easter and
Christmas. They usually consume boiled potatoes, vegetables, fried potatoes,
soups, and mushrooms or buy vegetarian food from outside.
Christmas and Easter
For
Christmas in the 1930s-40s the basic dishes were kaourmas/et sote
(lamb in the casserole with wine), avgholemoni/- (soup of chicken, lemon,
egg and rice) and several sweets such as ghlika tou koutaliou/macun
(preserves), lokmadhes/lokma (sweets wıth honey), pishies/- and dhaktila/-
(sweets with nuts and syrup). Kaourmas was the main food and it was
consumed on Christmas Day. The age of the lamb used depends on people’s
preferences on the smoothness of the meat. The preparation of kaourmas is
time consuming. The meat is first marinated in wine for three hours and
then cooked in oil and butter. The cooking of the meat should be slow.
Then the wine (which was previously used) is put with the half-done meat
and cooked until ready. The reason it was called kaourmas was
because the meat was fried [kaourtismeno]. The liquid from the
cooked kaourmas was used to make a soup called mavri avgholemoni
(black avgholemoni), which also has eggs, water and lemon juice.
Apart from kaourmas and avgholemoni, Christmas dinner also
included liver ( liver from the sheep they bought), which was cooked with
tomatoes and onions in oil. Christmas dinner was completed with sweets
such as ghlika tou koutaliou/macun, dhaktila/- and
kourapiedhes/kurabiye (cookies) . There was no Christmas Cake.
On 1st January (St. Basil’s day) Christmas dinner is repeated. The difference was that souvla/kebap could be prepared instead of kaourmas. They also made vasilopitta (St Basil’s loaf), which was a loaf of bread in the shape of a circle with a drawn cross in the middle. The first piece of vasilopitta symbolically belongs to the poor, the second to the house, the third to the family and the fourth to the guests.
On 6th January (Phota), lokmades/lokma were made.
Lokmades/lokma were a special kind of sweet made of dough and syrup
made for kalikandjari. Kalikandjari were “mischievous
gnome-like creatures that were the souls of the unbaptized children or of
adults who had no-one to vigil during the night after their death” [Sant
Paul Cassia, p. 290]. So these souls should be calmed with food. A basic
ingredient of lokmades/lokma that was considered sacred and could
calm the souls was bread.
During Easter in the 1940s, the Greek Cypriots cooked the same food as
they did at Christmas, for example kaourmas, liver, kourapiedes,
ghlika tou koutaliou, along with some extra dishes. However,
flaounes/pilavuna were made of dough, cheese, raisins and cooked in
the stove. Flaounes/pilavuna were used by people for breakfast or
to offer their guests.
In the 1970s, the Greek Cypriots preserved some of the earlier Christmas
and Easter food and sweets and also began making some new ones. They did
not make kaourmas in Christmas and Easter but instead prepared
souvla/kebap, koupepia/dolma, potatoes, makaronia tou
fournou/fırında makarna and salad. They also
cooked kourapiedes, vassilopitta, lokmades and dhaktila. In
the early 1980s, they began making the Christmas Cake, melomakarona/-
(cookies soaked in syrup), finikota/- (cookies stuffed with dates),
biscuits with jam and vasilopitta as a cake and not as a bread.
While the style of Christmas changed from the 1970s, Easter did not.
The only difference observed at Easter was the stove in which
flaounes/pilavuna and the meat were cooked. While in the 1930s the
stove was made of mud (clay) and straw, it was built outside the house and
burnt wood was used to cook the food, in the 1970s the stove was electric
or gas. This difference might have changed the taste.
For Christmas in the 21st century Greek Cypriots cook the same dishes as in the 1970s but with turkey and mayonnaise, ketchup and refreshments having a substantial position on the table. Some households have cheesecake and chocolate chops while others buy kourapiedes, melomakarouna, lokmades and the Christmas Cake from confectioneries. At Easter, a similar pattern is observed regarding the main dishes but sometimes flaounes/pilavuna are bought from confectioneries or an older relative (usually the mother or the grandmother) cook it for the family.
Understanding the changes
There are many reasons for this gradual change in eating habits. First,
religion lost its previous impact as sciences and education removed the
importance of religious practices such as prayer. Second, education very
often removed children from the household at a young age many times making
family gatherings impossible . Third, technology and the refrigerator made
the eating schedule more flexible. Fourth and last, tourism and travel
exposed Cypriots to several foreign foods and therefore made the
combination of dishes such as mayonnaise with kebab or spring rolls with
pourkouri/bulgur possible. In conclusion, changes in religion,
education, technology and transportation, which changed society, also
had a profound effect on people’s relationship to food.
Mairko: The traditional Cypriot restaurant
This section aims to briefly describe a mairko in Nicosia in terms of its menu, clients, utensils, internal decoration and location.
Mairko’s menu and mission
The name mairko implies a place where food is cooked and served for
lunch. The main difference between a mairko and a restaurant is that
the former serves dishes which are widely cooked and consumed in the
household, such as koupepia/dolma, pourkouri/bulgur, beans,
kolokasi/kolokas, ttavas/fırında patates, ghlika tou
koutaliou/macun [Cypriot preserved sweets] etc. There are of course
mairka that work during evenings and also function as restaurants. In
these cases, a mairko may also serve grilled dishes for dinner such
as kebabs or ribs.
The clients
A mairko or laiko estiatorio [a public restaurant]
largely aims at serving lunch so its clients differ when compared to
those of restaurants. To elaborate, mairko’s clients are usually
workers near the area where a mairko is located. The workers visit
mairko during their lunch break and can find affordable everyday
Cypriot food. In the past, mairka also attracted villagers who were
visiting the main markets in the walled town of Nicosia.
Utensils and employees
Very often mairka’s equipment includes a gas cooker with several
cooking spots and forks, knives, plates and glasses. The owners buy the
ingredients usually from the older markets in the old town of Nicosia,
prepare them and start cooking. In other words, the owners (very often a
married couple) work as chefs and waiters for their mairko and the
employment of other waiters is rare.
Internal decoration
In order for the mairco to have a traditional feel to the space, the internal decoration of the place includes the display of earlier cooking utensils and pictures of rural countryside .
Location
In south Nicosia, the mairka are only found in the old town, for
which there are several reasons. First, many of the main mairka
have been there for decades and have therefore established their
reputation in the walled city. Second, renting a shop outside the old
town would be much more expensive and as a result would prevent the
mairka from having such low prices. Third, nowadays the mairka’s
location has a symbolic value in the sense that the old town is perceived
as a traditional place, linked to traditional food and restaurants,
which contribute to the traditional nature of the mairka. It is
believed that the most modern and international restaurants are found
outside the old town therefore keeping the Cypriot flavor within the walls
of the old town of Nicosia.
Change
Mairka are not immune to change. First, some have increased
their variety of dishes in order to attract more clients, especially
tourists, who are not familiar with certain dishes like beans and
kolokasi/kolokas. As a result, their menu has been translated into
English . Second, due to EU membership the mairko are now
obligated to raise their prices. Third, the owners now make sure they
have certain sauces, like mayonnaise and ketchup and refreshments which
are being increasingly asked for by clients. Finally, to keep up with the
current music industry, those mairko that also function as
restaurants during the evenings may play modern rather than traditional
Greek music.
In conclusion, for traditional restaurants to keep up with social and technological changes, they have had to adapt their manus, prices and environment in order to reach a wider circle of clients.
