How to make Cypriot bread
I have, in a sense, unintentionally misled you with the title of this post. I’m not going to teach you how to make it, I’ll leave that to our cheeky, Cypriot baker. I will, however, be more than happy to tell you my experience at a Cypriot bread maker’s house. The drive was relatively short from our apartment to her home and we were anxious to get our film rolling for the project. The house was small and quiet in the surrounding area. A big orange tree resided in the beginning of the walkway and what looked like weeds to us, but we later discovered they’re actually herbs to get the flavors she wants in her bread. Next to the house, there was wood and trees that have been cut down, and we saw later on what that was used for. We walked in her home, where she greeted us with a loving and open heart. She was beaming with a smile the whole time while enjoying her opportunity to brag about her expertise. While the camera crew was setting up equipment, our host was busy making us coffee, slicing heloumi cheese and a loaf of her freshly baked bread.
We noticed she had an Asian worker assisting her, who spoke little Greek and no English. They worked quickly and efficiently, the process seems to be the same every time so they are skilled with their hands and follow an order to bake the bread. First, she of course has to make the dough. She has a large mixer, I was very impressed with it because I look at the Kitchen Aid ones in envy but hers will get some serious work done. She starts by dumping large (I mean, large) amounts of flour and water (among other things, my view was only so good) and turning the mixer on. She allows that to knead for a while, but she’s not one to sit around. She already has another batch of dough needing to be kneaded by her skilled hands. After she perfectly molds each loaf, she has metal shelves where she lays each of the loaves to “sleep” as she covers them all with a leopard print fleece material for about twenty minutes.
At this point, those not working with the camera crew were asked to step outside because of the lack of space. I noticed she had a large pile of sesame seeds and answered a few typical questions before I left the room. I know she bakes bread five days a week, Wednesday and Saturday are her days to sell the bread. She developed an interest in the bread making business because her mother baked bread and she followed in her footsteps. The baker has two children of her own, neither of whom wanted to bake bread for a living; however, they help her during holidays.
I sat outside for a while, talking with my friend Emma and our bus driver, John. He is from Greece and was telling Emma about all of his adventures of working on a boat when I walked into the conversation. He has been to America before but was muddled when we told him we are from Tennessee. He inquired about New York and the west coast. After a few times of trying to explain Tennessee is south of New York, he said, “Oh! Florida!” Close. His accent was thick so Emma and I had to team up to try and understand this sweet gentleman. He showed Emma pictures of his adventures and insisted on getting a picture of her under the orange tree. We ate a few more pieces of bread, and enjoyed each other’s company as the camera crew wrapped up the process of kneading bread and getting it to the oven.
I was able to observe a little more by this point. She doesn’t have ovens and she doesn’t have a bread maker. She uses almost like a fireplace and sets the sesame-covered dough inside and puts bricks under the archway. She then set ashes of burnt trees and wood (now discovering what those items were used for) outside the bricks and used a metal cover to contain the heat. After awhile, it looks like the bread is on fire but I believe it’s only the outside where the bricks lay. It doesn’t take too long (probably around an hour) until she is getting the bread out and placing all forty loafs to cool. Her bread is a bit crunchier than I expected, but it is absolutely wonderful.
I’m so glad I got to experience first hand where their freshly baked bread comes from and observe, if only a little, about how it is made. She welcomed us into our home with excellent hospitality and answered all of our questions with complete joy. I enjoyed my experience and am looking forward to our next project.