Tavas Lefkaritiko
This beautiful version of the famous Tavas dish is only found in the villages around Lefkara. All follow a similar recipe but the one found at O Takis, is to my mind the best. So here it is. The measure used is a standard water tumbler (25 cl).
Ingredients
1 glass rice
3 glasses water
2 glasses tomato (chopped very fine)
3 medium onions peeled and chopped (3 glasses)
½ glass olive oil (12.5cl)
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoon cumin
Salt and pepper
Mix of Pork and lamb – around 750 grams
Method
PLACE ALL ingredients in a large casserole and cook in a slow oven for about three hours. After about one hour it will probably be necessary to add a further glass of water.
Jean Sadler
Wine note
WITHOUT being stuffy, village wine is fine – on a convivial taverna night with a knees-up element to it. But Tavas can be a dish to die for, and good wine goes well with it. And I think a good quality robust red is called for. Among the locals, which incidentally are getting younger, fresher, fruitier and less robust (uncouth?) than they used to be, I would select ETKO’s Semeli or Fikardos’ Ravanti. If you’re pushing the boat out then a Michel Picard Burgundy or an Australian Shiraz-Cabernet will do the trick.
The joys of dishes like Tavas, of course, are many. Firstly, you can simply throw all the ingredients into a pot, stir and let the oven do the work, just checking the liquid level occasionally. Secondly they are forgiving if kept in a warm oven for half an hour or even longer after the estimated serving time. Thirdly, it keeps well for at least one day – indeed they are often more mature and together on the second day. At the end of the day, they are all good-tempered stews.
I love Tavas, though with my predilection for beef cooked with onions, I confess my partiality to one cooked with beef (lean stewing steak), baby onions, red wine, bay leaves and maybe a few potatoes. Perhaps some wonderful sponsor will organise the all-Cyprus Tavas competition?
Chicken with Prunes and Almonds
(Tajin Dajaj bi-Barqooq wa Lawz)
Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
One chicken, about 2 kilos, cut into serving pieces (8 – 12)
4 tablespoons butter
Pinch of saffron
3 medium onions peeled and finely chopped
50cl water
Half a cup of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
4 tbsp butter
8 oz prunes, washed and pitted
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Half a cup of blanched, peeled almonds
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
Method
IN A heavy saucepan with lid, place the chicken pieces, pepper, salt, saffron, onions, garlic, coriander, butter, and water.
Cover and cook on medium heat for 45 – 60 minutes, until the chicken is well cooked.
With a slotted spoon, remove the chicken pieces from the saucepan; then place in a serving dish and keep warm.
Add the prunes to the liquid remaining in the saucepan; then simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes.
Stir in the honey and cinnamon, and continue the simmering until the sauce thickens (about 10 minutes).
Pour the hot sauce over the chicken pieces, decorate with the almonds and sesame seeds.
Serve with rice and a finely chopped salad of mixed green, green onion tops, chives and fresh herbs of your choice.
Wine note
THERE are some fairly robust flavours here so a patsy of a wine is not required. Neither is a hefty job. Whilst we are in summer mode, I am regularly drinking Island Vines’ Rosé, which is like a light red – very good fruit, nice balance, tiny touch of residual sugar and a very agreeable flavour with hints of vanilla and red currants. You may have to go to SODAP to get it but it’s worth the trip. Otherwise, a light but assertive red – the Paphians have several: Plakota or Ayios Onoufrios, for example.
Muhumarra
FOR SEVERAL readers, who don’t get to places like Sidon in Limassol or Abu Faysal in Nicosia, and have requested it, I am providing again the recipe for a lovely hot-nut (if you will pardon the expression) hors d’hoeuvres dish…
Ingredients
150 grams of mixed nuts, chopped (walnuts, pistachios, pine-nuts and almonds, for preference)
2 small red chillies, de-seeded and finely chopped (wash your fingers well after the chopping)
The juice of one lemon
A few drops of chilli or Tabasco sauce
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped parsley
Method
IN A small bowl mix together the chopped nuts, lemon juice, chilli sauce and seasoning. Blend in a little olive oil to make the mixture more paste-like. Serve in a small bowl, topped with chopped parsley.
Very good as one of the opening dishes in a mezze.
Quote
Dine: to eat a good dinner in good company, and eat it slow.
From ‘The Devil’s Dictionary’ by Ambrose Bierce.
The best number for a dinner party is two – myself and a damned good head waiter.
Attributed to the late Nubar Gulbenkian
The Spaniard, I have heard it said,
Eat garlic, by itself, on bread.
Hilaire Belloc
Unquote
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