15 Α feast of flavour Production method: Spoon sweets are made from both ripened and unripe fruit (figs, nuts, apples, quinces, cherries, grapes, apricots etc.) but also from the peel of fruit such as watermelon, Seville orange, bergamot etc. Sweets are also made from certain vegetables (aubergines, zucchinis) as well as from flowers petals (i.e. Rosa damascena) and tree blossoms (i.e. bitter orange tree). The fruit must be healthy, smooth and as fresh as possible. The making of each spoon sweet differs in terms of time and baking process. Some types of fruit and vegetables such as walnuts, watermelons and baby aubergines must be soaked for some time in water and cooking lime before being boiled with sugar. Small secrets for the recipe of each spoon sweet are bequeathed fromone generation to the next, especially on how to preserve the special features of the initial product (fragrance, flavour, crispiness etc.). Gastronomy: Spoon sweets are consumed on their own as desserts and they are also offered as treats to guests or used in pastry-making. Traditional pastries Cypriot gastronomy includes a rich collection of baked food made of flour (dough). This is due to the fact that since antiquity wheat and barley were primary agricultural and exportable products. The Cypriots, essentially a rural population that lived from agriculture, recognizing the nutritional value of wheat, adapted their dietary habits and needs around it, elevating wheat and its byproducts to the foremost elements of their daily diet. Necessary for survival, these products were on several occasions rich in symbolism too, connected as they were to religious celebrations, social events and other aspects of the daily life of the Cypriots. The following are the most distinctive products: Spit pasta (Makaronia tis smilas) or holey pasta (Trypita) or rovanata: Traditional pasta with a hole running through the centre. Its name derives from the tool used for making it, namely the spit made of cane or “sklinidjin”, around which dough was wrapped. When the spit was removed, it left behind a hole, which explains the name “holey”. Pasta-on-a-spit wasmainly a festive food item made and consumed during weddings or during the Carnival period [“Sikoses”] or Sunday lunch. When intended for a social event such as awedding it wasmade collectively by the women of the village.
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