Cypriot Village Bread

A lot of our dishes as you will hear us say are ‘hunk of bread food’. Well there is no bread better than our traditional Cypriot Village bread. No matter what was being served, this was always on the table at Stede’s.

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CYPRIOT VILLAGE BREAD

SERVES: .. Well depends on who is eating 😉

PREP TIME: 20 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30-35 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/4 tsp ground Mahlep seeds (meglebe)

  • 1/4 tsp ground Gum Mastic (mastihi)

  • 450g white bread flour

  • 7g sachet of instant yeast

  • 1/2 tsp table salt

  • 300ml water

  • 3 tbs olive oil

  • 1 heaped tablespoon sesame seeds

  • 1 rounded dessert spoon nigella seeds

METHOD

Grind the Meglebe and Mastihi (can be bought ready ground)

Put the flour into a bowl and add the yeast, spices and salt but don't let the salt and yeast come into contact with each other. 

Add the water and the oil and mix till they come together. 

Turn out onto a lightly oiled surface and knead for about 7-10 mins until smooth. 

Put dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film or a clean tea towel and leave to rise until doubled in size (can take up to 3 hours depending how warm the room is). 

In the meantime put the sesame seeds and nigella seeds into a cup and just cover with hot water and leave to swell. 

When the dough is ready, put onto a lightly floured surface and knock the air out by punching with your knuckles. 

Now keep folding it until you have a thick square then, with the join underneath, keep turning it around with your palms turned upwards and pushing the dough under itself until you have a ball and a nice round, smooth top. 

Press the damp seeds over the dough and put it on a baking sheet lined with grease proof paper. 

Place it in a clean large plastic bag and allow to double in size (about one hour). Preheat oven to 200C. 

When it has risen, take a sharp knife and make a shallow cut all around the middle and a couple of cuts on the top and bake for about 30 minutes until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. 

Tip: The dough can also be shaped into a long loaf and cuts made across the top at about 3cm interval.

N.B. We have tried this recipe using regular plain flour instead of bread flour and it works.

Sam Thomas