Haloumi Cheese and a Holy Cave

Who knew, waking up at 6:30 AM, that Thursday would be such an amazing day?!

I was a bundle of nerves when I woke up because I knew I had to be on camera as we examined the haloumi making process. Deciding what to wear on camera is no easy task. Particularly when the pants you'd planned on wearing have a lovely spot or two on them thanks to beet juice from another meal.  Then there's the issue of what shirt to wear: blue, pink, grey and blue checked.... it's really stressful!

When we are on camera, we are supposed to wear the same outfit that we will later wear to our group Meze (which will also be filmed), this way it appears that we visited these various places the same day that we participate in our Meze.  But the actual Meze isn't for another week, so you really have to think ahead.

No one was really sure what to expect when we headed to the cheese maker.  We had vaguely heard about the haloumi making process and, to my understanding, we would be going to a place that has goats, whose milk is used for the cheese.  But when we arrived at the location, we were surprised to see that the cheese was made in a converted garage next to a lady's house.  There were no goats to be seen.

Now, I have a confession to make.  Initially I was petrified at the thought of potentially having to milk a goat on camera, to get fresh milk for the haloumi.  But after psyching myself up for this possibility, I was ultimately disheartened to learn that I would not, in fact, have the opportunity to milk a goat. :(

Constantia, who has turned out to be our translating savior on these excursions, was on hand yet again to mediate between Kendra and I and the cheese maker.

I am so incredibly fascinated by the amount of tradition that exists on this island.  And that so many skills are passed from generation to generation with the intention of becoming one's way of living.  While a skill such as making cheese has been passed from generation to generation in the past, Elpida (the cheese maker we visited) did not learn this trade just from her mother.

Elpida was actually a nurse before and during the war.  But when she and her husband decided to start a family after the war, she needed a job that would enable her to stay home with the children.  Since she had learned a little about making haloumi from her mother while growing up, she decided to attend a few classes so that she could fine-tune her cheese making skills.  Since that time, she has been making and selling haloumi to the residents of her community from the garage in her backyard.

As you approach the garage where the haloumi is being made, you notice the smell, first and foremost.  It's potent, to say the least, especially on a hot Cyprus summer day. Entering the open garage, you see a long, metal inclined table that narrows to a funnel at one end and, behind that, two huge cylindrical containers full of a milky white liquid - this is how haloumi begins.

Elpida has an assistant who has been helping her make haloumi for about 8 years now and, when we arrived on location, these two ladies were elbow-deep in goat milk.  Haloumi can be made two different ways: it can be made strictly from goat milk or from a combination of goat and cow milk.  Since Elpida has such a small operation, she cannot fulfill the legal requirements for using cow milk (mostly meaning she is unable to fully pasteurize the milk to the required standard), so her cheese is made solely from goat milk.

There is a gas furnace beneath the cylindrical containers that hold the milk, so the milk must be stirred almost constantly to prevent burning.  As the milk heats, it begins to solidify from the bottom, this is the haloumi.  This cheese making process actually yields two different types of cheese, haloumi and anari.  While haloumi is used in many Cypriot dishes, anari is a softer cheese that would be more comparable to the type of sliced cheese Americans use on sandwiches.  There is also a third product that comes from the haloumi process and that is trahanas. Trahanas is a traditional Cypriot soup that contains crushed wheat cooked in sour milk.

The sour milk is taken from the beginning stages of the haloumi process, is mixed with crushed wheat and is molded into what looks like miniature rice cakes which are placed in the sun to dry, resulting in a sour yet salty cake.  When trahanas is made, one of these cakes is dissolved in water.  We were informed that, as Americans who are unaccustomed to consuming sour milk, trahanas will likely make us sick but that we should try it at least once on this island.

But haloumi was the specific process we were there to observe and learn.

After the cheese product solidified at the bottom of the containers, it was removed in buckets and dumped onto a cheese cloth laid over a square metal frame.  The purpose of the cheese cloth was for draining the liquid from the cheese and the metal frame helped shape the cheese into a square.  Once all the liquid was removed, the cheese cloth was folded over the cheese square, a metal tray was placed on top and remained covered for about 15 minutes until the square solidified into a solid block of cheese.

From here, Elpida cut the larger square of cheese into 24 smaller pieces and placed each one into its own plastic bag.  The bags were then dumped back into the now boiling milk so they might absorb more flavor.  When the bags are removed from the boiling milk, the cheese is taken out of the bag and covered in an herbal mixture that contains mostly salt.  Then the cheese marinates until cool.

Haloumi cheese can be eaten while it's still hot or once it's cooled, Cypriots also occasionally enjoy eating it in the early stages while it resembles cottage cheese in texture but has no discernible taste, like tofu.  I tried the haloumi while it was still warm and I think that it's my favorite way to enjoy this cheese. However, haloumi is very high in fat, so you really shouldn't eat too much of it (if you eat any of it at all).   Anari is actually a lot better for you, as far as cheese goes, because it has much less fat.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to stay and try anari.  Maybe I will get the chance to try some before I leave Cyprus though.

Elpida seems very happy with the life she has led and continues to lead.  She says she misses having goats, like when she was a child, because the milk for the cheese would be a little fresher and easier to obtain.  One of her daughters lives next door and her grandchildren were running around and playing in her yard while we were visiting.  Unfortunately, none of Elpida's children seem particularly interested in carrying on the cheese-making tradition in their family.  She sells her cheese from her house and at the market in the old city as well on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  While her assistant enjoys making cheese, she also has no desire to start making cheese on her own. so when Elpida retires, that will be the end of the family business.

After we departed Elpida's house, we made an unexpected stop on the way back to our apartments.

As we pulled into a parking lot in an area we didn't recognize, we looked ahead of us and saw what looked like a church literally built into the side of a mountain.  This is a site that Constantia felt we should see while in Cyprus and I'm really glad we got to.

The backstory, as best I understood it, is that years ago the villagers saw a light coming from the side of the mountain.  When they were able to get a closer look, they discovered several caves in the side of the mountain. Inside these caves was an icon (painting) of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus.  On the walls were some painted frescoes.  No one knew how these things came to be in these caverns and it seemed to be a miracle, so the site was turned into a museum of sorts.

Upon further examination, the paintings were dated to around the 1400's and, after finding the tombs of several monks in the floor of the caves, it was determined that this site had been used for religious purposes as early as the 2nd century AD.  Now, on every August 15th, Cypriots from all over the island travel to this location to pray for the blessings of the Virgin Mary and to pass under her icon so that her blessings may pass down on them.




I am still in awe and feel very humbled when I am around such faith.  I feel that there is a spiritual connection to religion here that is lacking for me, personally, in America.  Perhaps it is because we are such a new country in comparison and have no such direct ties to the formation of modern Christianity.  But being here is giving me a new point of view.

I guess you could say, I've seen the light.