Cyprus Cuisine

Thank you for your interest in my cookbook. The book is now available for purchase in Canada from Indigo/Chapters or Bolen Books, Munro’s Books or Amazon Canada. Elsewhere, the book is now available for pre-order and will be released on September 10 2021. If you are in the US you can now pre-order it from your local bookstore or Barnes & Noble or Amazon USA. If you are in Australia, you can now pre-order it from The Greek Providore or Booktopia or Amazon Australia. If you are in the UK, Cyprus or anywhere in Europe, you can pre-order the book from Amazon UK or Amazon Germany or the Book Depository.

About the Book: Though Cyprus is a small country, its cuisine features a large variety of dishes, probably due to the many different cultural influences affecting the island’s history…as well as a substantial variation in climate around the country… from sunny beaches to snow-capped mountains. Cyprus cuisine has a Mediterranean allure, mixing Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flours and ingredients.

Many Cypriot families still make home-made olive oil every year, and neighbours regularly exchange excess bounty of homegrown fruits and vegetables, including pomelo, grapes carobs, figs, oranges, lemons, cantaloupe, bergamot, medlars, almonds, kumquats, cactus pears, and, of course, olives.

Most Cypriot dishes are not particularly hot or spicy, though there is ample use of local herbs such as wild oregano, rosemary, mint, parsley, basil, cinnamon and coriander. Spices such as allspice, cloves, mastic and mehleb powders can be found in many sweets and baked goods.

The book features over 80 recipes, illustrated in full colour, ranging from drinks to desserts, to soups, salads, small bites, breads and pastries, pickles, dips and main courses.

Christina Loucas was raised on Vancouver Island, Canada by Greek-Cypriot parents. She worked for six years as an international arbitration lawyer in London, Singapore and Canada after a law degree from Oxford. Following a sudden illness, she decided to change her life, move to Cyprus, and to follow her passion for food and photography. With her now very successful blog (www.afroditeskitchen.com), she brings to the attention of the international public all the beauty and ingredients of her Cyprus.

Afrodites Kitchen Cookbook (Italian)

Questo libro parla di una piccola isola del Mediterraneo sud-orientale chiamata Cipro, e della sua irresistibile cucina. Cipro gode di una posizione privilegiata (incastonata tra Grecia, Turchia, Libano, Israele, Siria ed Egitto) e di una cucina che si distingue da quella greca così come da quella mediorientale, in un inebriante incontro di sapori, profumi e tradizioni. Mare, montagne e frutti della terra: una natura forte e generosa che entra nei piatti casalinghi – tramandati per generazioni dalle famiglie dell’isola – e nelle evoluzioni della gastronomia moderna. Insalata di fichi d’India, muffin speziati alle zucchine, stufato di polipo al vino, stufato di coniglio alle cipolle, souwlaki cipriota, baklava al pistacchio, crostata di prugne all’acqua di rose, budino di mosto d’uva… .

Afrodites Kitchen Cookbook (German)

Aphrodite, die Göttin der Liebe, der Schönheit und der sinnlichen Begierde soll bei Zypern dem Meer entstiegen sein. Vermutlich hätte auch sie sich für die Leckerbissen von Christina Loucas, der bekanntesten Insel-Bloggerin, begeistert: Denn die Rezepte, die sie für ihr erstes Kochbuch „Aphrodites Küche“ zusammengestellt hat, sind eine Liebeserklärung an Zypern. Traditionelle Gerichte werden neu interpretiert, überraschend und einfach göttlich. Tahini-Pastetchen und Olivenbrot, zyprische Lasagne, pikant gefüllte Zucchiniblüten und Baklava mit Pistazien bringen den Mittelmeer-Sommer auf den Teller. Abwechslung wird dabei groß geschrieben, denn aufgrund der Lage ist Zyperns Küche nicht nur von Griechenland inspiriert, sondern auch von Syrien, Israel, der Türkei und dem Libanon. Und auch das Auge isst mit in „Aphrodites Küche“: Wunderschöne Bilder aus Zypern nehmen mit auf die Reise und holen Sonne, Sommer und Meer nach Hause.