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Cheese from Cyprus, Akanthou village

Akanthou cheese (Akanthiotiko tyri)Ακανθιώτικο τυρί

Akanthou cheese was a raw goat-milk cheese from the village of Akanthou in Cyprus, made during the 50-day fast before Easter. The rennet curd was pressed by hand into moulds, heated twice in hot whey and salted over several days. Some was then dried over lentisk smoke or dipped in beeswax, and could keep for three to four years.

Fully documentedCheese3 daysnone (traditional; historical)Family: Whey-cooked rennet curd family (halloumi type)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sources give no amounts and no temperatures; the method was a village practice.
Raw goat milkFrom goats grazing the area's aromatic plants[cy2022][cy2025]
Rennet[cy2025]
Salt[cy2025]
Lentisk wood smoke, or melted beeswaxFor cheese meant to keep[cy2025]

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 days

Start
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Milk proteinGel (curd)

What changes: Rennet goes into goat milk heated in a cauldron over the fire

Step 1 of 7
Heat the milk and add rennet
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The fire is put out once the rennet is in, so the milk can set. Output: rennet curd.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Akanthou cheese was a raw goat-milk cheese from the village of Akanthou in Cyprus, made during the 50-day fast before Easter. The rennet curd was pressed by hand into moulds, heated twice in hot whey and salted over several days. Some was then dried over lentisk smoke or dipped in beeswax, and could keep for three to four years. Made in 7 steps over 3 days. The longest step, salt over several days, takes 3 days (Republic of Cyprus).

Key numbers
Main step3 daysReported[cy2025]Salt over several days

What makes this one different

Like halloumi the curd is heated in hot whey, but here twice, and the cheese is then salted over several days and aired at night. For keeping, it was dried over lentisk smoke or sealed in beeswax.

Season
Made during the 50-day fast before Easter
Keeping time
Dried this way, the cheese could be kept for the next 3-4 years
Status
The sources describe the cheese in the past tense

Related ferments

Variants

  • Fresh, for flaounaUsed after salting and airing, with no smoking.
  • SmokedDried on straw over burning lentisk.
  • Beeswax-coatedDipped in melted beeswax.

Safety

The cheese was made from raw goat milk. The CDC says people at higher risk, including pregnant women, people 65 or older and people with weak immunity, should avoid raw-milk cheese unless it is heated to 165 °F (74 °C) or until steaming hot.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The Cyprus gastronomy booklets say the cheese was exported to neighbouring countries. The Cyprus Food and Nutrition Museum quotes Archimandrite Kyprianos (1788) on "many excellent types of cheese" from the village of Akanthou and some villages of Paphos, and lists a local cheese called tyrin akathkiotiko, cheese from Akanthou.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Temperature, salt and pH
The sources we found give no temperature, salt or pH figure for any of its steps.
  1. [cy2022] Republic of Cyprus 2022, gastronomy map booklet (publications.gov.cy, publication 2022_040), item 34 'Akanthou cheese (Akanthiotiko tyri)'gov
  2. [cy2025] Republic of Cyprus, Gastronomy in Cyprus (publications.gov.cy, publication 2025_91), pp. 44–45, 'Akanthou cheese (Akanthiotiko tyri)'gov
  3. [cfm] Cyprus Food and Nutrition Museum, Dairy products (Archimandrite Kyprianos 1788, p. 547, quoted; food entry 'Tyrin akathkiotiko - cheese from Akanthou')web
  4. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov