Living in Cyprus means market stalls, village shops and festivals full of products you will not find anywhere else, and knowing what they are makes shopping, cooking and gift-buying far more rewarding. Several carry EU quality labels: PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) means a product is made entirely in a defined area by a traditional method, while PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) means at least one stage of production happens in the named place.
EU PDO · 2021Cheese & dairy
Cyprus's best-known cheese is a semi-hard white cheese made mainly from sheep's and goat's milk, sometimes with cow's milk added, which is heated in its own whey, folded and stored in brine. Its high melting point means it browns rather than runs when it meets a hot pan or grill.
Cheese & dairy
Anari is a whey cheese made by reheating the liquid left over from halloumi making until the remaining proteins float up as soft white curds. It comes fresh and crumbly, a little like ricotta, or salted and dried into hard balls for grating.
Cheese & dairy
A soft to semi-hard white cheese from the Tillirias area in the north-west of Cyprus, made from goat's milk and left to mature in salted whey for at least forty days. Its name comes from its likeness to smooth white sea pebbles, and it has a crumbly, open texture.
Cured meats & sausages
Lountza is a cured pork loin from the mountainous Pitsilia area of the Troodos. The meat is salted, soaked in dry red wine, often rubbed with ground coriander, then smoked slowly and left to dry, giving a lean, aromatic cold cut.
Cured meats & sausages
These pork sausages from Pitsilia are made from meat steeped in local dry red wine and seasoned, then stuffed into natural casings, smoked and left to age. The wine soaking and slow smoking give them a deep colour and a firm, chewy bite.
Cured meats & sausages
The traditional sausage of Paphos district is made from pork marinated in dry red wine with salt and spices, then filled into natural casings and cured. Each village producer has its own balance of seasoning, so the flavour varies pleasantly from batch to batch.
Cured meats & sausages
Hiromeri is a whole leg of pork that is salted, soaked in red wine, smoked and then pressed and dried for several months. The result is a dark, intensely flavoured ham, firmer and saltier than most cured hams found elsewhere in Europe.
Cured meats & sausages
Tsamarella is goat meat that is salted, coated generously with dried oregano and left to dry in the sun until hard, a mountain preserving method from the days before refrigeration. It is lean, strongly savoury and pleasantly chewy, and each village has its own way of seasoning it.
Sweets & preserves
Loukoumi is a soft, chewy sweet made from sugar, water and starch, cooked slowly and then flavoured with rose water, bergamot, mastic or nuts and dusted with icing sugar. The version from Geroskipou near Paphos was the first Cypriot food to gain EU protection.
EU PGI · 2012Sweets & preserves
These are roasted almonds coated in layers of hard white sugar shell, made in Geroskipou in the same tradition as its loukoumi. The crunchy, slightly glossy sugar casing contrasts with the toasted nut inside, and the craft has been passed down through the village's confectionery families for generations.
EU PGI · 2016Sweets & preserves
A spoon sweet from the mountain village of Agros made from the petals of Damask roses, which are cooked gently in sugar syrup with a little lemon. It is deep pink, fragrant and very sweet, capturing the scent of the village's rose fields.
EU PGI · 2024Sweets & preserves
Rose water from Agros is distilled from Damask rose petals gathered in the village each spring. It is clear and highly perfumed, and the same harvest also yields rose oil, cosmetics and the village's rose spoon sweet.
Sweets & preserves
Soutzoukos is made by threading almonds or walnuts onto string and dipping them repeatedly into thickened grape must until a thick, chewy coating builds up. The long strings are then hung to dry for several days.
Sweets & preserves
Palouzes is a soft grape-must pudding made by cooking fresh must with flour until it sets into a glossy jelly. It is the same mixture used to coat soutzoukos, enjoyed straight from the pot while it is still warm.
Sweets & preserves
Carob syrup is a dark, thick syrup made by soaking and pressing ripe carob pods and boiling the juice down. Carob was once so valuable to the island's economy that it was called Cyprus's black gold, and its syrup has a deep, cocoa-like sweetness.
Sweets & preserves
Spoon sweets are whole or sliced fruits, and sometimes vegetables, preserved in thick sugar syrup. Favourites include green walnuts, bergamot, figs, cherries and baby aubergines, each candied slowly over several days so it keeps its shape, colour and a gentle bite.
Sweets & preserves
Cypriot pastelli is a hard, glossy bar made from carob syrup cooked down until it sets, often with sesame seeds or almonds added. It is darker and less sweet than the honey-based versions found elsewhere in the eastern Mediterranean.
Bread, pasta & bakery
Tertziellouthkia are small, ring-shaped pasta made by hand from durum wheat flour mixed with village or wholemeal flour, semolina, water and salt. The name refers to their ring shape, and their size and texture depend on the maker's traditional skill.
Bread, pasta & bakery
Trahanas is made by boiling cracked wheat in soured sheep's or goat's milk, then shaping the thick mixture into pieces and drying them in the sun. The result is a tangy, long-keeping store-cupboard staple that once saw village families through the winter months.
Bread, pasta & bakery
Flaounes are Easter pastries filled with a special cheese mixed with eggs, mint and often raisins, folded into a yeasted dough and sprinkled with sesame. Families gather to bake them in large batches on Good Friday.
Bread, pasta & bakery
Village bread is a dense, crusty loaf traditionally baked in wood-fired ovens, and koulouri is a round loaf heavily coated with sesame seeds and often flavoured with mastic and mahlepi. Both keep well and are central to everyday Cypriot meals.
EU PDO · 2016Fruit, vegetables & nuts
Kolokasi is taro, a starchy root grown in Cyprus for centuries, and the protected variety comes from the Sotira area in the red-soil east of the island. The small offshoots, known as poulles, are especially prized for their tender texture.
Fruit, vegetables & nuts
The Kokkinochoria, or red-soil villages, of the south-east grow potatoes in iron-rich red earth that gives them a firm texture and a thin, easily scraped skin. They are a major export crop, much of it heading to northern Europe in spring.
Fruit, vegetables & nuts
Hazelnut trees grow along the streams and terraces of the higher Troodos villages, including the Pitsilia area. The nuts are small and full-flavoured, and growers harvest them by hand before selling them raw or roasted, in shell or shelled.
Fruit, vegetables & nuts
Peanuts are grown on the fertile coastal plain around Paphos and are roasted in their shells soon after harvest. They are known locally for their sweet, fresh flavour and tender texture, quite different from the imported salted peanuts sold in packets.
Fruit, vegetables & nuts
Mandora is a citrus variety grown widely in Cyprus, prized for its deep orange colour, juicy flesh and easy-to-peel skin. Cyprus citrus growers export much of the crop, but the freshest fruit stays on the island.
Olive oil & olives
Olive trees grow across almost every part of Cyprus, and the island's oil is often pressed from the local Cypriot olive variety, sometimes blended with Koroneiki. Freshly pressed oil is green and peppery, mellowing over the months that follow.
Olive oil & olives
Cypriot green olives are traditionally cracked with a stone, soaked to remove bitterness and preserved with garlic, lemon, coriander seeds and olive oil. Black olives are often cured in coarse salt and then dressed with oregano and a little olive oil.
Wine & spirits
Commandaria is a rich amber dessert wine made in designated villages on the southern slopes of the Troodos from the local Xynisteri and Mavro grapes. The grapes are dried in the sun to concentrate their sugars before pressing, and the wine is aged in oak for at least two years.
Wine & spirits
Zivania is a strong, clear spirit distilled from the pressed skins and seeds left after winemaking, using marc from traditional Cypriot grape varieties. It has a clean, dry taste and a long history as both a drink and a home remedy.
Wine & spirits
Winemaking in Cyprus stretches back thousands of years, and the island's vineyards, largely spared by phylloxera, grow native grape varieties found almost nowhere else. Xynisteri gives crisp, citrusy whites, while Maratheftiko and Mavro produce deeply coloured, characterful reds.
Since 2021 halloumi has been a Protected Designation of Origin in the EU, so cheese sold under that name must be made in Cyprus following the registered specification for its milk and method. Look for the red and yellow PDO logo on the pack.
Loukoumi and koufeta from Geroskipou, Agros rose products, carob syrup, a bottle of Commandaria or zivania and a good local olive oil all travel well. Vacuum-packed lountza or halloumi also work for short trips if you keep them cool.
Commandaria is a sweet dessert wine from a group of villages in the Troodos foothills north of Limassol, made from sun-dried Xynisteri and Mavro grapes and aged in oak. It is a protected designation of origin and is often called one of the oldest named wines still made today.
Weekly farmers' markets, village shops and women's cooperatives in the Troodos are the best sources, along with the many village festivals held through summer and autumn. Supermarkets increasingly carry small-producer ranges too.
Zivania is Cyprus's traditional grape-marc spirit, distilled from what is left after pressing grapes for wine. It is clear and strong, protected as a geographical indication in the EU, and usually drunk very cold with meze.
Checked 2026-10. PDO = Protected Designation of Origin, PGI = Protected Geographical Indication (EU labels).
