Halloumi and the Cave Church
Yesterday we went to visit a lady who makes halloumi (Cypriot cheese) in her home. The first thing we saw lining the driveway was a huge spread of little cakes that kind of looked like sugar cookies drying in the sun. I am glad I didn’t try one of these cookies because it turned out that they were actually sour milk wafers. She dries them out to be added to water later to make soup.
These are not sugar cookies
We were filming the cheese making process for our documentary, and since my group wasn’t filming, I was able to relax a little and take in the sights. The back of the woman’s house was a courtyard area that had a huge grapevine growing over a pergola that provided a nice shaded sitting area. There were olives laying out on a table drying, and her grandchildren ran around rollerblading and jumping off of the steps.
I ate an olive and it was really good
She made the cheese in a little building next to the house that looked like a garage. The whole process start to finish takes over 3 hours. She heats up goat’s milk and then lets it sit until it gels together. Then she takes this mixture and presses it into a tray to make it into a square shape. It was pretty gross to see this because pressing the cheese curds creates a lot of runoff, which she uses to make another type of cheese later. The halloumi basically has to sit and dry for a while, and then she boils it.
She presses the cheese curds together to make a solid
Everywhere we go people feed us, and this lady was hospitable as well. She gave all of us a glass of juice and set out trays of cheese and raisin bread, cucumbers, and of course, halloumi.
Halloumi is a "squeaky" cheese
After we finished shooting here, we stopped by a church that is in a cave in the side of a mountain. The priest was there and he let us inside to look around. He told us that the cave had been used by monks way back around the 300s. He didn’t speak English very well but I think he said that the monks died off and everyone pretty much forgot about the existence of the cave.
The "Golden Cave" church
Years later the people in the village below the mountain saw a strange light coming from the hills above. They climbed up the mountain and discovered the cave. Inside was an icon of the Virgin Mary holding a baby Jesus. People now visit the cave to pray and he told us about some miracles that people have experienced. They pray, kiss the feet of Mary, and cross under the picture.
This isn't the real icon, they only bring that one out once a year