Cypriot vs Lebanese food & cuisine

Cyprus

SEASONINGS

Cypriots ground up their flavors with fresh ingredients. They start with ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, lemons, greens, olives, and herbs that grow like weeds in the countryside. When they season seafood, it’s often just lemon, sea salt, and olive oil. Simple. Confident.

Herbs define the cooking style. Fresh mint gets heavy use in Cypriot cooking. It’s mixed into meatballs keftedes, salads, cheese pies. Often used alongside cinnamon. Oregano, parsley, and thyme add aroma to grilled meats.

Spices are used sparingly, except for coriander, which gives a warm citrus note in pork dishes, sausages, and breads. Aromatic onions and garlic form the base of many dishes, and bay leaves are often added to stews and rice. Salt, acid, and fat balance play a big role. Halloumi brings salt and chew. Olives bring punch. Lemon brightens almost everything. Olive oil ties dishes together. Many traditional meat dishes rely on red wine to build flavor.

Mahlab, with its sweet, almond-like flavor, features pastries; sesame seeds and tahini dips are also loved. Honey, preserved fruits sweeten desserts, and rose water provides fragrance.

There’s also a love of contrast. Hot grilled meats with cool yogurt or tzatziki. Crunchy salads next to tender braises. Salty cheeses with sweet watermelon in the summer. That mix keeps the food lively and refreshing.

SAUCES

TAHINI / TASHI sauce –  tahini, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, olive oil and water. This sauce is served with grilled meats.

TALATOURI is Cyprus’s version of tzatziki. The key difference is that it uses fresh or dried mint and lemon juice instead of dill. The base is yogurt mixed with grated cucumber, garlic, and olive oil.

TARAMASALATA rounds out the trio. It’s made from cod roe, milk-soaked bread, potatoes, and olive oil, blended into a puree.

Lebanon

SEASONINGS

A Lebanese flavor profile is fragrant, fresh, and balanced – never overwhelming, always layered. Herbs are less prominent than various spices and their combinations, with the exception of mint and parsley. Lebanese cuisine welcomes not only fresh but also dried herbs, especially mint, which is generously used in beverages.

Compared to other Mediterranean cuisines, Lebanese dishes stand out for its sourness . The sour elements are yogurt, tomatoes, pomegranates, and their molasses, extensive use of lemon juice, verjuice (acidic juice made by pressing unrip grapes), plums, almonds, apricots (even not fully ripened), high-quality sumac. The name of sumac comes from the Aramaic word summaq, meaning dark red. Indeed, dark red berries, once they are fully ripe are harvested, dried, and ground to a texture of ground nuts. Widely used in Turkish, Middle Eastern, and Lebanese cooking, it adds sourness and zestiness and calls out the natural flavors in meats, salads, and dips. Many Lebanese sauces and dressings feature garlic, lemon, and tahini, a paste made from toasted and ground sesame seeds. Sesame, nigella seeds, mahlab are often sprinkled on breads and pastries.  The use of floral waters is extensive: orange blossom water and rose water have been used for centuries and are associated with luxury and refinement.

ZA’ATAR – a fundamental spice mix often used as a topping for bread, meats, and vegetables, or mixed with olive oil. Made of dried thyme, sumac, sesame seeds, salt.

Warm spices are popular: allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, cumin, cloves, and black pepper. Together, they form the BAHARAT spice blend, which is also known as the Lebanese SEVEN SPICE blend.

Though more widely associated with Egypt, variations of DUKKAH are also found in Lebanese cuisine. It blends sesame seeds, coriander seeds, cumin, salt, and black pepper.

KAMOUNEH  spice – used to flavor kibbeh and can be used as a meat rub. This spice mix gives a distinctive earthy flavor: cumin (key spice, hence the name), coriander, cinnamon, pepper, dried mint, allspice, sumac, and basil.

SAUCES

The classy flavor combination of garlic, lemon, and olive oil is also common to Lebanon. It unfolds in TOUM sauce (resembling Spanish allioli and French aioli), where these three ingredients, salt and water, are emulsified to a thick spread in a food processor. Although the ingredients are the same, the feel and texture of the sauce are quite distinct.

TARATOR sauce – tahini, lemon juice, garlic, water used as a dressing for falafel, shawarma, fish, or served alongside kibbeh and roasted vegetables

DIBIS W TAHINI – a traditional sauce made from a mix of tahini and dibis (date molasses).

SUMAC SAUCE – a tangy sauce made from sumac, olive oil, and sometimes mixed with onions and parsley.