Cyprus Cuisine is not just a cookbook. It’s a travelogue that transports you to a Mediterranean island and a time when cooking and eating was a daily communal affair. Cyprus is now on my travel bucket list! We have moved away from books like this for a quick search on the internet to source a recipe for dinner tonight. Unfortunately, we miss out on the back story that inspires us to try new dishes and learn new cultural lifestyles and rob us of an experience.
Christina Loucas was raised on Vancouver Island by Greek-Cypriot parents immersed in her father’s restaurant business and mother’s traditional cooking. From there, Christina moved to England where she studied and worked as an international arbitration lawyer. A few adventures later, she began exploring her Cypriot roots, gathering recipes and tasting local dishes…and then had a medical illness that rearranged her life and goals. Out of the medical ashes, a cookbook and blog were born and Christina has never looked back.
Cyprus is an island with many culinary influences: Mediterranean and Middle Eastern for the most part while also geographical differences. One can be playing on the sandy beaches in the morning, and traversing snowy mountains in the afternoon. From such diversity comes a unique and varied set of recipes. Christina tries to keep as close to the island’s ingredients and cooking methods while tweaking them for off-island kitchens. She also explains unfamiliar products like spices and fruit that may be uncommon elsewhere…and provides alternatives if you don’t live near multicultural food stores.
This cookbook isn’t Christina’s only venture into Cypriot cuisine. She has developed a blog that takes you on her island journey through food and personal stories. Check her out at https://afroditeskitchen.com/about/
And personally, Christina and husband Steve have weathered the pandemic by increasing their family and living the whirlwind of parenting. When I asked Christina what her favourite recipe in the book was, she mentioned the Avgolemono Soup that I had chosen to make. Serendipity! Check it out in our Recipe section and play around with the ingredients to make it your own.
And if she isn’t busy enough, Christina is now working on another cookbook with a Canadian focus – can’t wait to see what she produces! Want to go on a Cypriot culinary adventure? You can win a copy of this amazing book in our Giveaway section or go to https://afroditeskitchen.com/book/ to order your own copy.
Images and content used with permission by author Christina Loucas and Whitecap Books/Fitzhenry & Whiteside. https://afroditeskitchen.com/book/
