#palouzes

[plantsseeds]

CYPRUS traditional festival STATOS village 2019 part 2

[cyprus-kypros]

Traditionally made shoushoukos

Almonds and walnuts are soaked in water to get softened and then sewn onto a cotton thread. These threaded nuts are then dipped in the palouze (explanation of what it is here) and then hung to dry. This process is repeated to make sure that there is a thick coating around the nuts. It is then left to dry removing most of its moisture and therefore increasing its shelf life.

[cyprus-kypros]

Traditionally made palouze.

Palouze is a traditional sweet made by boiling grape juice. The grapes are usually harvested in September-October and that is the time when it is made.

In older days the grapes would be stomped on to release the juice but that method is no longer used. The juice is placed in a large pot called a χαρτζί (harche)*, and starts to boil. A special type of white soil (ασπρόχωμα - asprohoma) is added to it to help clean the juice from impurities which rise up to the surface and can then be removed.

Then flour is added along with rosewater to give it a pleasant aroma and it is continually stirred until it becomes the thick mixture portrayed in the photos. It is then placed into different dishes and left to cool down and thicken into a jelly-like substance.

It is usually served cold with crushed almonds or walnuts on top but many people enjoy eating it warm once it has been removed from the heat. Because it does not have a very long shelf life in the fridge it is then left to dry in the sun and then cut into rectangular pieces creating another traditional sweet known as κιοφτέρκα (kiofterka), which have a much longer shelf-life.

*the pot depicted in the photos is just a normal modern made pot, not the traditional one