Chapter IV: Dairy Produce

_Milk_

Sheep and goats' milk is principally used for cheese and butter making. Fresh milk of any kind is not much consumed by the native population, although within the last few years the more well-to-do townspeople have taken to drinking cows' milk, when obtainable, and it is in growing demand in some country parts for invalids when prescribed by the local doctor.

The flavour of sheep and goats' milk is a good deal affected by the herbage or shrubs on which they feed, and thus varies according to locality. A characteristic odour is imparted, for instance, by the alnifolia oak (_Quercus alnifolia_) and the cistus, which are common in many parts of the Island, and the cheese and butter produced from such milk are in better demand in the local markets. The places in which this quality of milk is chiefly produced are the Paphos District, the neighbourhood of Kykko and Trooditissa in the Troodos mountains, and Akanthou to the north-east of the Island.

A considerable impetus has been given to the production and consumption of fresh cows' milk by the establishment of a herd of Devon dairy cows at the Government Farm, Athalassa. Cows of Athalassa strain fetch high prices, as much as L80 having been given recently for a cow and several others have changed hands at L50 to L60.

_Cheese_

The Cypriot is a great cheese eater. The most popular and commonly made cheese in Cyprus is that known as Halloumi; the next in order being the Paphos and Akanthou cheeses, and then, in imitation of the Greek cheeses, the Agrafa, Kefalotyri and Kaskaval, all of which are of a hard kind, while there is a small production of the Greek soft cheeses Fetta and Telemes.

There are no statistics as to production; the export figures in recent years as given in the official trade returns are as follows:

Year. Quantity. Value.
_Cwts._ L

1904 5,606 8,040
1905 4,705 7,245
1906 2,511 4,238
1907 2,200 4,559
1908 2,786 5,824
1909 2,367 4,927
1910 3,345 6,564
1911 3,647 6,624
1912 3,335 7,203
1913 3,699 9,268
1914 4,582 10,132

_Halloumi._--This cheese, though rather insipid, is very popular, and forms a large part of the dietary of every household. It is easy to make, needs no special appliances, and is almost entirely made by the shepherds themselves. It is made either from sheep's milk only, or, in the hills where goats are numerous, from sheep and goats' milk mixed, or in some places from goats' milk only; especially is this so in the mountains where sheep are not found. The two kinds of cheese, _i.e._ that made from sheep's milk and that from goats' milk, are easily distinguished, as the former is rather soft and crumbly, while the other is hard and separates out into flakes.

This cheese as it comes from the mould is in the form of a slab called "kefali." This is then divided into four or more pieces.

There are two kinds of halloumi: one called "mona" (single), the other "dipla" (double). The latter is most in demand. It differs from the first in being finished off by being well hand-pressed, and then doubled or folded over, salt and spearmint being sprinkled between the fold.

"Myzithra," or, as it is more commonly called, "anari," is a soft cheese produced by boiling the whey, whereby all albuminoid substances not previously coagulated are now coagulated and rise to the surface together with any pieces of curd still remaining in the whey. A good quantity of fat is also enclosed in the coagulated mass, which is placed in rush moulds or in cloths and pressed so as to squeeze out the whey. "Anari" thus made is specially known as "bastard," and is an excellent soft cheese, very popular among the European residents as well as among the native inhabitants.

A rather finer "anari" with slightly different flavour is made by adding 5 to 10 per cent. of pure milk. This added milk is known as "prosgalo."

Both kinds are dried in the sun.

From "anari" is made a kind of fat used as cooking butter, by crushing and rubbing it between the hands in warm water. A thin paste is thus formed from which a fat separates, which rises to the surface, and is then collected.

_Paphos and Akanthou Cheeses._--These are prepared in much the same way as "halloumi," but are made in smaller, barrel-shaped moulds, and are steeped longer in the whey, which produces a rind and renders them tougher and less liable to crack. They are well rubbed with salt. Their characteristic flavour is doubtless due to some extent to the milk of those districts, as explained above. Owing to their small size they become very hard.

_Kefalotyri._--The best cheeses of this type are made with sheep's milk, which is coagulated at its natural temperature immediately after milking. Rennet is added so as to produce coagulation within an hour. The cheeses are placed in moulds, pressed and salted. They are turned and salted every day for a week; and this continues for two or three weeks, until the cheeses cannot absorb more salt.

_Fetta._--The process for making this cheese is much the same as for Paphos cheeses, but differs in regard to temperature. It is placed in bags and hung up, or left in cheese cloths on the table to drain. It is made up in 100 or 200 dram pieces, and turned and lightly salted for three days; then placed in barrels filled with brine. This cheese ripens in a few days. It is soft, and has a sharp, pungent flavour. It is the first to come on the market. It is not consumed in Cyprus, but made entirely for the Egyptian market, where it is much liked. Being soft, it does not keep well, and should always be kept covered in brine. For these reasons it is exported in small barrels of a gross weight of 40 to 50 okes. If care is taken in this respect, if all leaky barrels are kept refilled and cool storage provided, it may be preserved for a year; but these conditions are rarely fulfilled in Cyprus.

_Telemes._--This is another soft cheese, prepared in a similar manner to "fetta," but it is cut into square blocks and placed not in barrels or vats, but in tins which, when completely filled with cheese and brine, are soldered down. This cheese is also made entirely for the Egyptian market.

_Kaskaval or Kaskavalli._--This is mostly made by cheese-makers who come over from Greece or Turkey during the cheese-making season.

The curd, after the whey is drained off, is called "phlongos," and it is almost always bought from the shepherds, each shepherd preparing it in his own way. It is transported in baskets, sometimes a good distance, to the cheese factory, or "kassaria," and these drawbacks, added to lack of cleanliness, are the cause of much cheese of inferior quality being produced which has no keeping properties and must be quickly consumed.

Having reached a pasty condition, the cheese is placed in reed or willow baskets and immersed in either boiling whey or clean water and stirred until the whole mass is transformed into "kossimari"; it is then cut into pieces weighing one or two okes, and moulded by hand into a globular form, leaving one slight depression called the "omphalos" or navel. If not properly stored, this cheese soon dries and becomes rancid or tasteless.

_Agrafa Cheese._--This is made entirely from sheep's milk. Coagulation should be completed in 25 to 30 minutes. The cheese remains 20 hours in the press. Salting lasts from 40 to 60 days, and the cheeses ripen in four months. If well stored, the cheese may keep for two years.

_Butter_

Butter making is carried on to only a limited extent in Cyprus, and with two or three exceptions is in the hands of shepherds, who use a primitive conical-shaped churn, something after the Danish pattern. Churning consists in beating up the contents of the churn with a stick, to the end of which is fixed a round wooden disc 6 to 10 in. in diameter, not unlike a piston in its action. Sheep's milk is mostly used and, with a modern churn, this will yield 9 to 12 per cent. of fresh butter. Goats' milk gives about 5 to 6 per cent. About half the above quantities may be obtained with the older, native churn.

In the Near East (Greece, Turkey, etc.) fresh butter is not used in cooking, as almost all cooked food is fried and butter containing the least water and casein cannot serve the purpose. The pure fat must therefore be extracted. Two methods are applied. The best is that of plunging the tins containing the fresh butter into hot water which heats the butter and sends the fat to the surface. It is then collected and slightly salted. This has a good flavour and keeps well.

The second method is to place the fresh butter, or the residue from the former process, into tin pans and boil until the water is evaporated, when the albuminoids solidify at the bottom of the pans. The fat which is then on the surface is ladled out. This is inferior in quality, and has a disagreeable smell imparted by the albuminoids which come in contact with the hot pan.

_Xynogala or Yaourti_

The former is the Greek, the latter the Turkish name for this preparation of sour milk. Unlike fresh butter, it forms, in season, part of the diet of almost every Cypriot household. It is now made in England and sold as "Bulgarian milk" or "yaourti." It is in the form of clotted cream, but if placed in a bag of fine cloth and if the whey is left to drain off, it forms a thick paste, and has an excellent creamy flavour, and is eaten in both cases either alone or, like Devonshire cream, with stewed fruits, etc.

_Trachanas_

This is another favourite milk preparation, being a mixture of "yaourti" and ground wheat made into a thick paste. This is sun-dried and makes an excellent soup.

_Kaimaki or Tsippa_

This much resembles Devonshire clotted cream. It is the natural cream formed after boiling the milk overnight and setting it in shallow pans to cool. If the boiled milk is poured into the pans from a height, so as to make a foam, a better result is obtained.