#droushia

Η Γιαγιά ζεσταίνει τον φούρνο για τα ψωμιά

Δρούσεια, Μεγάλη Παρασκευή, 3 του Μάη 2013

Giagia is warming the oven for the bread to be baked 

Halloumi is the cheese world's version of marmite.

Either you love it or hate it. Plenty of people can't stand the salt - but you can always wash it off!

There's also the choice of frying halloumi to make it soft inside, and caramelised and almost burnt on the edges. 

This is delicious for a few minutes, but once cool it becomes hard and dry.

But when it's as good as this lady's in the north Cyprus village of Drouhsia, there's little you need to add or take away.

Set at 700 metres in the hills leading to the Akamas Peninsula, the terrain around Drouhsia is perfect goat-grazing land, with grass amidst the rocky outcrops and occasional rains to offset the searing summer heat.

We taken by the owners of our guesthouse to see some halloumi making in a room in the house of this family on the edge of the settlement.

She was grabbing huge lumps of curd as we walked in, taking them from a large cauldron and squishing them into circular containers.

The idea was to get rid of the whey and form large sausage-shaped strips, then cut in half and set to rest.

These are then flattened and placed in salt, giving that recognisable split oval shape.

The family own around 300 animals, including goats, cows and pigs locally. In the traditional way this cheese is made from goats' milk and you can really notice it. Many now use cow's milk, but it has less flavour, say locals. Judging by this I'd have to agree.