Tavas (stewed lamb or beef)

One of the most popular specialties in Cyprus cuisine is Tavas, stewed lamb or beef with tomatoes, onions and cinnamon. The meat is usually cooked in a clay pot with potatoes, but it can also be served with bulgur rice (see older post).
Lefkara village in the Larnaka district, is famous for its Tava dish, along with the world's well known traditional lace making and embroidery crafting.
Tavas is a very easy dish to cook and tastes great.


Ingredients

• 1 kg lamb or beef cut in cubes
  
• 8-10 large onions cut in 4 pieces each
• 5-6 potatoes cut into cubes
• 1 tsp cummin, crushed
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 4-5 tomatoes cut in medium size pieces
• 1 glass dry white wine
• 4-5 tbls vinegar
• 1 tbls salt
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 2-3 cinnamon sticks
• corn flower oil

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Method

Fry the meat in a pan until it becomes golden colored , drain it and then place it in large pyrex (must have a lid). Fry the onions in the same pan, then put them in the pyrex along with all other ingredients. Mix well and cook for 1 hour at 190-195 Celsius.

Souvlakia

I love meat. Everybody that knows me, knows that. Today I am posting one of my favourite meat dishes. It is very simple to prepare and it is one of the most popular, if not the most popular meat dishes in Cyprus.
It is also the the No.1 take-out/take-away food on the Island and is what hamburgers are to the USA. When people don't order souvlakia for take-out, most will prepare souvlakia over the weekend and invite friends or family over to enjoy this delicious food. Even though everybody prepares souvlakia in a slightly different way, the overall preparation is pretty much the same. My secret is adding the spice Sumac, that gives the souvlakia just that slightly different taste than the norm, and I also marinate them for a few hours in a mixture of soy sauce and olive oil.



Ingredients

• 1.5 kg of pork belly cut into bite size cubes
• 2 tomatoes cut into cubes
• 2 large green peppers cut into cube
• 1 large onion cut into pieces
• 1 eggplant cut into cubes
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1-2 tsp sumac spice
• salt according to taste
  

Method

• In a bowl mix cubed meat, olive oil and sauce sauce.
• Then sprinkle sumac all over the meat and again mix well.
• Cover the bowl with cling film and let it marinate in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
• Put the meat on skewers with onion, eggplant, peppers or tomatoe in between the meat and cook over charcoal for 15-20 minutes.
• Garnish with finely chopped fresh parsley and some lemon juice if you wish.