May 2, 2007 7:08 AM

A trip down Memory Lane

The incredible Cypriot cheese, has been around for hundreds of years but is just now catching on in the United States. Halloumi is made by hand from a mix of sheep’s and goat’s milk. The milk is produced in the villages surrounding the Avdhimou area between Limassol and Paphos districts.

Twenty-two years ago, I left Cyprus to move back to Portland, OR. After all this time, I still miss Cyprus. Of all the places I’ve lived- and there have been a lot of addresses in my lifetime- I loved living in Cyprus most of all. Perhaps it was the climate, or the beaches, or the food, or driving on the left side of the road. Or perhaps it was all of that and more, but I LOVED living in Cyprus. The relaxed, laid-back lifestyle fit my temperament, and I enjoyed the idea of living off the beaten track. Ask most Americans where Cyprus is, and they’ll tell you that it’s in Florida. Uh, not exactly….

One of the things I most enjoyed was the food. Fresh vegetables, abundant lamb, tzatziki, Lebanese mezes, inexpensive but fabulous Cypriot wine, and my all-time favorite food, halloumi cheese. Halloumi is a traditional Cypriot cheese normally made of a blend of 15% sheep’s and 85% goat’s milk then stored in salt water. It’s a salty cheese with a bit of a squeaky texture to it, and while it’s not bad cold, it’s best when lightly fried in olive oil. To say that halloumi is my favorite food would be something of an understatement. I…absolutely…adore…halloumi. Given that halloumi is a traditional Cypriot cheese, protecting the name and the method of preparations has been something of a crusade for both the government of Cyprus and Cypriot cheesemakers. They know they’ve got a good thing, and they don’t want to see it compromised…like, say, chocolate in this country

The problem is that halloumi can often be very difficult to find in this country. It can be ordered online, but as you might imagine, that’s a very expensive way to obtain it. I once found a Russian deli in Portland that carried halloumi…until I apparently bought out the only supply they would ever have. Once I’d finished it off, which didn’t take long, that was it. Now, after living in Seabrook for the past 10 years, I discovered that there’s been a local halloumi source available to me the whole time…I’ve just nevered bothered to avail myself of it. It’s just about five miles down NASA Parkway in Nassau Bay, literally across the street from Johnson Space Center. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve driven by Mediterraneo over the past 10 years, and it never even dawned on me to stop in. It’s like a trip to Heaven for someone like me who has some unusual tastes in food- Armenian fig jam, Israeli honey, Algerian tabbouleh, Turkish halva…and Cypriot halloumi.

Now that I’ve discovered a supplier, I feel like a crack addict with a guaranteed supply of his drug of choice. I can’t imagine that there will EVER be a time when there isn’t a packet of halloumi in the refigerator. She Who Endures My Myriad Eccentricities © isn’t impressed, but she’s learned over the years that indulging my myriad eccentricities is a rather harmless way to keep me in line. Hey, it could be worse, right? I could be out drinking, carousing, and sleeping around. Instead, I’m waxing rapturous about CHEESE. Things could definitely be worse, eh?

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to find the olive oil…. :O)

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on May 2, 2007 7:08 AM.

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