If freshness (see markets, below) is one key to cooking in Cyprus, meze is the other. An abbreviation of mezedes, or "little delicacies," meze consist of as many as 30 small plates of food, from savory dips and vegetables to a wide range of fish and meat dishes. Much more than hors d'oeuvres, the meze often comprise the heart of a meal itself. In some restaurants and tavernas you can choose to order seafood meze or meat meze.

Among the items you can expect to be served are: Loukanika, coriander-seasoned sausages, soaked in red wine and smoked; Koupepia, grape leaves stuffed with minced meat and rice; Lountza, smoked pork, often served in sandwiches with halloumi, a delicious soft cheese, (usually grilled) made from thyme-fed sheep and sometimes spiced with peppermint; sheftalia, grilled pork sausage, afelia, pork marinated in wine and coriander; stiphado, beef or rabbit stew casseroled with wine vinegar, onions and spices; and ofto kleftiko, chunks of lamb cooked in a sealed clay oven and seasoned with bay leaves.

Seafood dishes include calamari, octopus in red wine, barbouni (red mullet), and sea bass. Some common vegetable preparations are potatoes in olive oil and parsley, pickled cauliflower and beets, zucchini, kolokasi (a sweet potato-like root vegetable) and asparagus.

There are also the Greek classics taramosalata, fish roe blended into a creamy pink dip of pureed potatoes with parsley, lemon juice and finely chopped onion; talatouri, cool mint and cucumber flavored yogurt with a dusting of garlic, a variation on the Greek tzatziki;

Greek salad (horiatiki salata) with tomatoes, lettuce, bell peppers, feta cheese, green olives and local herbs; moussaka, the traditional Greek dish of minced meat and eggplant topped with creamy bechamel sauce; and souvlakia, kebabs of pork, lamb and chicken.

Cypriot desserts often consist of fresh fruit, served alone or with a selection of sweet pastries or fruit preserved in syrup. These include loukoumades, Cyprus doughnuts with honey syrup, daktyla, ladyfingers with almonds, walnuts and cinnamon, and shiamali, orange semolina cakes cut into squares. In cafes, popular snacks include kolokoti, a pastry triangle stuffed with red pumpkin, cracked wheat and raisins, and pastellaki, a sesame, peanut and honey syrup bar. There is also galatopoureko, a cream-stuffed phyllo pastry. A traditional sweet treat is loukoumia, cubes of gelatin flavored with rose water and dusted with powdered sugar.

Meze
When you order Meze (or mezedes or mezedakia) in a Cyprus hotel or restaurant, you are served a rich collection of appetizers and savories in up to 20 saucerlike dishes. For example various cheeses, like halloumi, kaskavalli or feta, tomatoes, olives, celery, sliced artichokes or smoked ham, houmous (ground chick peas, with olive oil and garlic), octopus (or squid), shrimps, fresh fish, such as barbouni (the delicious red mullet), succulent snippets of chicken or turkey; cucumbers, green peppers, tomatoes, seftalia (homemade sausage), koupepia (stuffed vine leaves).
The local bread made of homegrown wheat and the village salad with fresh coriander, green olives, olive oil, lemon and feta cheese make the mouth water. So can taramosalata, a delicious dish made from fish roe, olive oil and lemon.
Main Cources
This consists of moussaka, made from minced lamb or beef and herbs covered with layers of sliced potatoes, eggplant and zucchini, or tavas, a veal, onion and herb dish served in little earthenware bowls straight from the oven and sprinkled with "artisia " spices.
Souflakia or Kebab, is either bits of lamb or pork skewered and roasted by slow charcoal fire and eaten with chopped onion, salt and pepper in a ‘pitta', a flat, unleavened bread
This dish is often a meal in itself, especially if served in a big ‘envelope' of bread together with delicious local yiaourti (yogurt). Such a feast is followed by a cornucopia of excellent juicy fresh fruit - oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, melons, lemons, apples, pears, cherries, apricots, figs, pomegranates, bananas, purple plumbs, grapes, dates, almonds, walnuts etc.
Some friendly advice! The rule is "eat a little of each" otherwise you'll find halfway through your meal that you just can't go on to taste what follows!

If all this seems a bit too much for you to eat - and such a meal can cost less than three pounds - you can order a three course meal, which can also be Cypriot food and style. Some of the best dishes are Cyprus raviolis (a pasta dish) or avgolemoni (lemon and egg soup), patcha (a kind of lamb stew served with lemon). Lemons in Cyprus go with every meal and every meat. Kleftiko (lamb roasted in traditional oven) or suckling pig with roast potatoes are delicious. Cyprus grows some of the finest potatoes of the world. Other famous dishes include grilled or fried fresh fish, such as synagrida, fagree, red mullet, vlachos, trout.
For people who like a more simple meal, Cyprus has the national dish of sailors' beans, called "fasolada", or there is the sturdy afelia, which is pork soaked in wine, sautéed with oil, coriander and wine. There's also zalatina (highly seasoned brawn), Cyprus smoked sausages, flavored with pepper and lentisk, or laurel.
Game abounds in Cyprus, including partridge, hare, woodcock snipe and pheasant. And there are specialties like koupes, pourekia, kattimeria - thin semolina paste delicacies filled with meat, almonds or eggs and cheese, etc
Souvla
Barbecues are very popular in Cyprus. „Souvla" can be translated with „skewer". Souvla are mainly pieces of Lam or Chicken, grilled on charcoal grill The Cypriots love their Souvla and there can always be a reason to be invited for.
Shieftalies
Another tasty dish from the charcoal grill are the small sausages of minced meat, called „Shiftalies". Maybe you will try to find out the secret of that special taste, if you try them for the first time. It is not the parsley or the onions that are ingredients, it is ...Why doesn't you try by yourself?
Kleftiko
Nowadays "Kleftiko" is a typical dish for every single celebration. It is a piece of lamb or goat wrapped in foil and baked in special ovens, that in any case must be closed airtight, until the Kleftiko will be baked.
The origin of this dish, as history tells us, goes back to the Cypriot freedom fighters of the 19th.Century that lived in the mountain. They had to prepare their stolen meat, the Kleftiko, neither that some could smell it, nor that it could be seen. Though they baked it closed in special earthenware pottery, that they had buried under the ground...
The mild Mediterranean climate of Cyprus produces rich wheat and allows it to brew light beer (of high quality). There are two breweries in the Republic of Cyprus established: KEO, the Cypriot brewery and the world known Carlsberg brewery.

Some of other popular local dishes found in most restaurants and Tavernas are the following:
Bourgouri Wheat porridge, a substitute for rice
Colocasi Sweet potato, having a gastronomic affinity with the turnip
Feta Cheese made from goat's milk
Glyko Sweet, consisting of fruit preserved in syrup
Halloumi Salty white cheese, made from lambs' milk
Hiromari Local ham, pickled in wine
Kaskavalli Mild cheese
Kephalotiri Cheese like Gruyere
Keftedes Spiced meat balls
Koupes Fried meat rissoles enclosed in pastry
Loukoumades Similar to doughnuts with honey
Lounza Smoked pork tenderloin
Pitta Flat unleavened bread
Tahini Sesame ‘dip' popular in eastern Mediterranean
Talattouri Salad dressing or dip based on yogurt

Sweets
Souzoukko, a favorite at Cyprus festivals and fairs, is made by dipping strings of nuts in heated grape juice until the confection solidifies. Glyko are preserves of almond, date, apricot, cherry, quince or grapes, always served with a glass of cold water.... Loucoumi, or Turkish delight.... Kadeifi and baklava or galatopureko, all rich oriental honey cakes.... Cyprus honey is excellent.... Soumada, made of almonds and a favorite hot drink. And this brings us to a legion of Cyprus fruit juices mentioned above.
WINES
Brandy
However, a good wine makes also a good Brandy. The Cyprus Brandy is popular because of its mild taste. Pure or in long drinks, not only experts will enjoy it. It also makes the famous "Brandy Sour" to the specialty that it is. Did you know that it is tradition to offer Brandy to the wedding guests?
Cypriot Wine
Cyprus wine has been produced for thousands of years and since the time of the Crusades it has also been exported to Europe. ‘Commandaria' has enjoyed a reputation as a fine dessert wine since the 12th century. Today wine is one of the most important exports of Cyprus.