Filenews 22 January 2022 - by Dora Christodoulou
The object of a European gastronomy program is one of the most traditional dishes of Cypriots - frumenty. At the same time, the Development Company of Pafos "Aphrodite" has promoted the preparation of a scientific study on the Pafian Frumenty, admittedly the most famous internationally, in order for this traditional food to enter for good the gastronomy of modern Europeans and to be included in the register of protected products of the European Union.
Referring to these developments, the director of the Pafos Development Company, Marios Ioannou, stresses that Frumenty has been for centuries one of the most beloved foods of Cypriots, especially during the winter months. Frumenty has been associated since ancient times with the gastronomic identity of Cyprus and survives to this day as one of the familiar elements of the nutritional everyday life. To the point, he points out, that the contemporary researcher William Woys Weaver recognized that "Frumenty is a national dish" of Cyprus and it is impossible to separate it from the Cypriot identity.
"Although in various regions of Cyprus there are small differences in the preparation details, the Cypriot Frumenty remains unchanged as to its basic recipe", says Mr. Ioannou. "It is a dried food product that results from the mixing of coarsely ground wheat (konarin, as it is called in the Cypriot dialect), with goat (more rarely sheep) milk that has been fermented. Frumenty is minimally processed, without the addition of preservatives or other substances, that is, it remains a pure product made with the same recipe and process that we inherited from our grandmothers, since it was, and remains primarily a female art of rural communities. The Pafian Frumenty is perhaps the most famous and is highly regarded in the market due to its special quality and taste, elements due to the raw materials and the manufacturing process. Here, goat milk is mainly used, which comes from flocks of the region which graze in the particular environment of the semi-mountainous Pafos. The Pafitiko Frumenty is usually more "milky", rich in milk, so the soup has a full flavour with good acidity that gives nice intensity to the food. Through the centuries, the Paftikos Frumenty managed to acquire a special identity which it maintains unchanged until today within the community of Statos - Agios Fotios maintaining the first place in the production of pure and traditional Frumenty, just as it was made in the older years".
A recent study, which was funded by the Pafos Development Company in the framework of the transnational project "Rural Flavours", has sought through the bibliography the origins of Frumenty and the historical connection with Cyprus. The historical documentation, according to Marios Ioannou, seems to confirm that Frumenty was a delicacy of Cypriots since ancient times and is not related to any gastronomic influence by the various conquerors of Cyprus:
"The study has also highlighted the nutritional value of Frumenty which it owes to its individual ingredients. Wheat makes Frumenty rich in carbohydrates, which is the main source of energy, while its fibres positively affect the health of the intestine, contributing to the maintenance of normal cholesterol levels. Sour milk is a source of useful bacteria, i.e. probiotics that are part of the normal human flora. Frumenty is also rich in useful minerals and trace elements such as selenium which is a powerful antioxidant and contributes to the proper functioning of the immune system and thyroid gland, potassium that works in the body as an electrolyte and helps in a number of basic functions of the body. In addition, Frumenty offers iron in a form that is better absorbed by the body and thus helps reduce fatigue. It also contains significant amounts of chromium (10g per 100 g of dried) that participates in the metabolism of glucose and lipids."
The study concludes with specific suggestions as to the prospects for the registration of Pafitiko Frumenty, mainly the one that comes from Statos - Agios Fotios in the Register of Protected Names of the EU. The primary research in combination with the reference to previous scientific works forms a framework of peculiarity, especially in the frumenty Statos - Agios Fotios that focuses on the know-how of manual cutting, the use of milk from livestock units whose animals graze freely in the particular microflora of the area of the valley Diarizos - Xeros and the ideal drying conditions that contribute to the preservation of colour and aromas of the product.
