Every country has its own festivities during Christian or Orthodox holidays. Also when it comes to food, there is a big difference in Cyprus whether it is a "weekday" or a Christian or Orthodox holiday. During Lent the meals are completely different than during the rest of the year and if you spend your visit or holiday in Cyprus during Lent, there is a chance that you will be confronted in a restaurant on weekdays with dishes without meat, milk, cheese, butter, eggs, fish with bones and olive oil.
Let me give you an idea of what might be on a menu. Naturally, restaurants and eateries that are completely dependent on tourism do not change their menus during these periods. But who knows where you will end up for a snack or a drink (alcohol is also not allowed during Lent) and if the owner also attaches great importance to his faith, there is a chance that you will encounter one of the dishes below on the menu. Then you at least know what it is and what's in it.
Lagana is a flatbread traditionally baked for Clean Monday, the first day of the Great Lent. Traditionally, it was prepared unleavened (without the yeast), but leavened lagana is nowadays more common. It is typically flat, oval-shaped, with a surface decorated by impressing fingertips.
Mpamies extra fine and soft okra cooked in thick tomato sauce with sun dried tomatoes.
Athoi Gemistoi (Stuffed Zucchini Flowers)
Kolokythoanthoi or Athoi, as they are called in Cyprus, are the blossoms of the courgettes (zucchini) with are filled with rice.
Kounoupidi me Patates Kapamas (Stewed Cauliflower with Potatoes)
Kounoupidi me Patates Kapamas is a simple vegan stew with potatoes. They also make the dish without the potatoes and serve it as a side dish.
Louvi with Kolokoui (Fresh Black Eyed Peas with zucchini)
Ampelofassoula are the fresh green green beans (Vigna unguiculata) also known as cow peas, also called louvi in Cyprus. These beans are eaten before they mature, usually boiled and eaten as a salad with olive oil and lemon juice.
Revithosalates
Chickpea Salad
Glystarkes (Cypriot crusty, sesame rusks)
Glystarkes or glistarkes is a kind of Cypriot grid like crusty sesame rusk. The
breadsticks are dipped into sesame seeds and then they are shaped beginning with a cross and then other breadsticks are added round the cross and baked.
Vazania (melitzanes) giahni (stewed eggplants)
Vazania, is the name of eggplants in the Cypriot dialect, which are fried together with potatoes and stewed, to make them giahni, which is a delicious vegan and frugal dish.
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