FLAVOURS OF CYPRUS IS A CELEBRATION OF WINE AND HIGH QUALITY CUISINE.FULL COLOUR PUBLICATION WHICH IS MORE THAT A RECIPE BOOK, ALTHOUGH WITHIN  ITS PAGES ARE MORE THAN 180 RECIPES FOR READDERS TO TRY.

SUBTITLED ‘’ EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE ISLAND AND ITS FOOD’’,IT TAKES AN IN-DEPHT LOOK AT THE FOOD OF CYPRUS AND ITS ORIGINS FROM THE ISLAND’S UNIQUE GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION AND THE MANY DIFFERENT PEOPLES WHO HAVE MADE IT THEIR HOME OVER THE CENTURIES.

SOME OF THE ISLAND’S LEADING CHEFS HAVE LENT THEIR EXPERTISE TO THE BOOK, PROVIDING THEIR OWN RECIPES-DEVELOPED FROM THEIR EXPERIENCE BOTH ABROAD AND IN CYPRUS-FOR READERS TO TRY THEIR KITCHENS.

THE  BOOK ALSO  TAKES TOUR OF SOME OF THE LEADING WINE MAKERS OF THE ISLAND,CELEBRATING THE HUGE PROGRESS THAT HAS BEEN MADE IN THIS FIELD IN RECENT YEARS.THE UNIQUE FLAVOURS OF ‘’ ZIVANIA’’ AND ‘’COMMANDARIA’’ HAVE  A SPECIAL PLACE IN ITS PAGES.

SUGGESTIONS ARE ALSO GIVEN FOR TOURS OF THE ISLAND,TO LEARN ABOUT ITS FOOD AND TRADITIONS AND SHOWING THAT THIS PLACE HAS FAR MORE TO OFFER THAN JUST BEACHES AND SUN.

‘’CYPRUS CUISINE IS FAR MORE THAN SIMPLY SOUVLA AND MEZE,ALTHOUGH WE CELEBRATE THESE IN THE BOOK AS WELL ‘’.THE FOOD AND DRINK TO BE FOUND HERE REFLECTS THE FASCINATING HISTORY OF THIS PLACE AND DESERVES TO BE APRECIATED AND TREASURED.

THIS IS AN IDEAL BOOK FOR THOSE WHO LIVE HERE AND MAKES THE PERFECT GIFT OR SOUVENIR FOR THOSE COMING FROM ABROAD WHO WANT TO LEARN SOMETHING OF CYPRUS.

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The Agriculture Ministry has expressed ‘’deep disappointment’’ over a decision by cheese manufacturers to withdraw an application to register halloumi as a Protected Designation Product (PDO) with the EU.

Speaking to the media, Minister of Agriculture Sophoclis Aletraris said that although the decision was to be regretted it was not the end of the road.

‘’We are obliged to respect their wishes and will inform the European Commission that the application is to be withdrawn. It is a shame that after so many years of efforts and geing just steps away from having the PDO approver that we should have this result.’’

Aletraris added, however, that registering halloumi is a Cypriot prototype was not entirely up to the CMA and that the ministry was willing to meet other organisations wishing to apply for a PDO.

‘’A group of sheep and goat farmers have contacted the ministry and expressed interest in registering the same PDO again with the EU, but nothing is official yet,’’ said the Minister.

The withdrawal of the application comes after longstanding efforts to reach an agreement over an official halloumi recipe, which cow, goat and sheep farmers as well as dairy producers have been unable to see eye to eye on.

The Cheese Manufacturers Association, in an announcement said the decision to withdraw the PDO was due largely to the types of milk and ratios stated in the PDO, which the association claims would cause the overall price of the local cheese to increase and export sales to decrease.

According to president of the CMA Athos Pittas, their other main objection was over the Ministry of Agriculture’s decision to change the recipe so that fort he period of December to June halloumi will contain 35% sheep and goat milk while fort he July November period it would contain 23%.

‘’No cheese manufacturer wants to miss the opportunity to register halloumi as a Cypriot prototype but actions must be taken to safeguard the interests of everyone involved.’’

‘’Significant changes were made to the original application for halloumi, after it was published in the state gazete, without the approval of the association which is the reason for  the withdrawal,’’the announcement said.

Meanwhile, spokesman for the sheep and goat farmers coordinating committee, Panayiotis Constantinou confirmed that farmers were ready to apply for another PDO based on the original prototype.

‘’It is unfortunate that the PDO is going to be withdrawn at this stage but the sheep and goat farmers committee is ready to reapply to ensure that halloumi is not registered by another country.’’

Registering halloumi as a PDO carries numerous benefits for Cyprus, including the producers’ exclusive rights to use a registered name and EU logos on their packaging, protecting product names from misuse and helping producers obtain premium price.

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EU presidency  secretariat technocrats  say Cyprus will rise to the occasion on the cultural front, but insiders fret over washed time and a halved budget.

“Maybe it’s in our blood to work better under pressure, but some proposals for various big cultural events just received official notification this week, and others are still waiting for the cultural services’ go ahead.” Insiders told.

“July 1^st is just around the corner, the budget for cultural events was cut in half and it’s going to be a real challenge to have everything fall into place,” they added.

However ,Elena Stavrou  of the Secretariat’s  Logistic Unit  argues that Cyprus will ‘win the bet’ because the team working on the cultural preparations is strong, enthusiastic and hands-on.

“We did not begin preparations today or yesterday even though the budget approval was delayed and is almost half of what we had asked for,” she told.

“Big festivals and big exhibitions-especially those aboard- began preparations two years ago, we were working in parallel with budget approval”.

“We just  had to make a lot of adjustments,” she added.

The overall budget for cultural affairs is  around euro1,7m and some 130 submitted proposals have been evaluated by a committee which held eight ‘very long’ meetings.

The proposals are there big festivals-like Cypria and Nautilus- have been enriched and municipalities are coming up with ‘ideas’ including small but ele’ catching ones, she said.

“It Could be a saxophonist at a street corner, or a children’s chair or group of artists paints their city…the cultural welcome and exposure of our traditions will begin from airports,” she said.

Pavlon Paraskevas who heads the island’s Cultural Services is confident the pieces will fall into place but doesn’t hide his anxiety.

The  presidency’s opening ceremony, expected to be a memorable  event since the College of Commissioners will be present, will take place at  ancient Curium on July 5.

It’s music performance that a lot of talented people are working on right now.

Tradition has it that it’s classical music but in our case it could be more than that.

“Allow me to say no more,” said  Stavrou.

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Nominations are being invited for the award for the preservation and promotion of the archaeological heritage of Cyprus.

Awarded biennially to individuals or foundations who  “ have demonstrated excellence in the preservation, protection and promotion od archaeological heritage “ it is the highest level of recognition on a local and regional level.

The competition is open to members of the local and regional archaeological community. Besides foundations it is open to individuals who meet the above standards of excellence, with the expection of Cypriot archaeologists working in the Public Sector.

To date, the prize has been awarded to the following Institutions: In 2002 the award was won by the AG Leventis Foundation, in 2004 it went to the Pierides Foundation, in 2006 the Swedish Archaeological Mission was honoured, while in 2008 thwe winner was the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation. The deadline for nominations is May 31, 2011.

Nominations may be submitted by post to: Chair of the Selection Committee for the Award for the Preservation and Promotion of the Archaeological Heritage of Cyprus, PO Box 27456 1645 Nicosia Or by e-mail to: president@cyi.ac.cy

For further details contact the President of the Committee, Costas Papanicolas, at 22208700, or any of the Committee Members: Aristodemos Anastasiadis – Ministry of Education and Culture: Maria Hadjicosti – Director of the Department of Antiquities: Vassiliki Kassianidou – University of Cyprus: Maro Theodosiadou – Archaeologist, Director.

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Cyprus has won a Europe  Nostra award  for  research into the architectural heritage of the buffer zone within  the walls.

It is   among 27  2011 cultural heritage award winners announced in Brussels yesterday.

The research, part of the bi-communal Nicosia Master Plan  project (NMP), was “unanimously acclaimed by the jury as a fine and comprehensive study of all the buildings within the UN protected  buffer zone.”

Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mavrou  welcomed the distinction and said she hoped it would contribute towards a better future for the city as a whole and its inhabitants.

According to the Europa   Nostra website, the study aims to enhance the rich architectural heritage within the strip of land that divides the walled city, identified by the Master Plan as the most important area within the historic centre and crucial for the future unification and integration of the city.

The overall result includes historical analyses, surveys of buildings and public spaces, studies for emergency support of buildings and restoration proposals.

The project will enable the conservation of the architectural heritage within the buffer zone and the revitalisation of the historic centre of Nicosia as a whole.

The award falls under the heading of research in category 2 of the Europa Nostra  awards.

Greece is also among the winners in the first category of conservation for the Messene Project, situated in the Peloponnese at present day Messinia.

The large scale restoration interventions have revealed the qualities and the significance of the administrative and religious centre of this outstanding Hellenic city of the 4^th century BC, thus considerably enriching the classical heritage of the whole of Europe.

A total of 140 projects were submitted from 31 countries.

The prizes will be awarded at a special ceremony at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam on June 10 by EU Education and Cultural Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou, and Placido Domingo, world renowed tenor and President of Europa Nostra.

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