Halloumi Mint Scones
IN MY IMAGINARY BAKERY, these scones play a starring role. They are loved by everyone who tries them. This is perhaps one of my favourite modern Cypriot recipes — it uses the traditional Cypriot combination of mint and halloumi, which is found in a few of the traditional breads in Cyprus. This recipe, however, adopts a scone base, which I find easier and quicker to make. Same taste, just a bit faster. They make great breakfast scones and are best enjoyed when hot. If there are any leftover the next day, I usually heat them up in the oven, wrapped in tinfoil.
All-Purpose Flour 2 cups
Baking Powder 1 Tbs
Cold Salted Butter 1/2 cup, chopped into small pieces
Cubed Halloumi Pieces 1 cup
Chopped Fresh Mint
¼ cup
Egg 1 large, lightly beaten
Buttermilk 2⁄3 cup
1 PREHEAT oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2 IN a bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. Rub the butter into the flour mixture using your fingers to create a coarse meal.
3 ADD the halloumi and mint to the flour mixture and loosely mix together.
4 MIX the egg and buttermilk together and add to the flour mixture. Use your hands to create a soft, slightly sticky but still workable dough. Add a little more flour if necessary to get this texture. Do not overwork the dough.
5 FORM 6 to 7 equally sized free-form scones and place them on the baking sheet. Flour your hands if the dough is sticky. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. town on the southern coast, Michelin-starred chef Andréas Mavrommatis harnesses the sweetness of Commandaria in an appetizer of duck foie gras. In 2018 Mavrommatis won the first Michelin star awarded for creative Greek and Cypriot cuisine, challenging the notion that these culinary traditions were inherently unsophisticated.
But as modernization comes to Cyprus, some age-old skills are being lost. Christina Loucas, the Vancouverbased author of Cyprus Cuisine describes visiting her grandmother's village as a child: “Amargeti is a typical Cypriot mountain village — cactus pears grow along the road, grape vines swirl around your head. In the past, my grandma's homemade halloumi would hang from the corners of her house and old, unmarked glass bottles of homemade lemon squash would line the inside of her refrigerator, waiting to greet visitors. Olive and lemon trees always stood heavy with fruit, just as they probably had for hundreds of years.”
In subsequent visits, however, things began to change. Her grandmother was no longer making halloumi, her aunt who made her own orange blossom water passed away. There were fewer and fewer foods being made at home. Wanting to preserve recipes before they were lost to time, Loucas made the decision to drop her legal career in the UK and move to Cyprus, where she started a blog documenting the traditional cuisine of Cyprus and interpreting it for the modern kitchen.
Until we can all travel again, here are some recipes from Loucas and Theo Michaels that will bring a taste of Cyprus sunshine into your kitchen.