h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My love of good food means that Cyprus is an excellent choice of country. When it comes to eating, the Cypriot people know exactly how things should be done. Go to any festival (of which there are many throughout the year) and you'd be pleasantly surprised by the eating arrangements.

One of my favourites is the biennial strawberry festival in Dherynia. Held at the local football stadium, the entire pitch is covered with row after row of trestle tables and chairs. Up to 5,000 people will attend each night, over three days, to celebrate the existence of the humble strawberry. How nice is that?

It's not only the strawberry that is exalted; similar praise is also bestowed upon peanuts at the Mandria festival, flowers at Anthestiria, wine at Koumandaria and cherries at Pedoulas. While each festival promotes a different aspect of Cypriot culture, the dining habits remain the same and are, undoubtedly, the primary reason for the huge attendances. These are times of great social interaction; 5,000+ people dining together, sharing food, drink, stories, laughter and unbroken community spirit. Like most Cypriot cuisine, the food is simple in appearance yet masks sophisticated tastes and flavours. It is also plentiful and thoroughly gratifying. Wash it all down with a few pints of Keo, soak up the atmosphere and conviviality, and you'll have just voyaged upon a life-defining hedonistic excursion.

The event that tops them all, however, is Clean (or Green) Monday - the beginning of Lent. Being a public holiday, the day is enjoyed and celebrated across the island but the largest crowd amasses at Cape Greco. It's by no means unfortunate that I live just a few moments away. Cape Greco is a protected country park and an area of outstanding natural beauty. Preparations begin the day, or even the week before, with attendees delivering tables, chairs and foukou (charcoal grills), thus claiming their pitch. On the day, every square inch of available land is inhabited by entire families (sometimes covering four generations) who will dine all day and into the early evening. Respect for Lent and the fasting traditions offers a complete menu contrast to the week before when meat would have been consumed ravenously. Now bread, vegetables and shellfish are the order of the day. In excess of 20,000 people simultaneously experience the carnival-like atmosphere while all around a similar number of kites are flown, lofted high into the clear, blue skies. It's customary to visit and receive travellers from neighbouring quarters, to share in their food and hospitality, and to leave with friendships that will be further reinforced by future chance meetings.

There's an abundance of simple morality in Cyprus that is eagerly shared with all. I'll take it when offered and gift it when needed. It makes for such an enjoyable life.

Hmmm, was this a test to make sure we were reading these then DDD?

>similar praise is also bestowed upon peanuts at the Mandria festival, flowers at Anthestiria, wine at Koumandaria and cherries at Pedoulas.<

They eat flowers in Cyprus?

Actually, they do. There's very good use of all the plant-life on offer and very little goes to waste. If it's edible, it's eaten.

It's not so much the flowers of the plants which are used; prickly pears, colacasia, summer purslane and dandelion leaves all make it onto the table to cite just a few examples. Having said that, they just don't create the same spectacular visual effect on the festival floats so they are substituted by the prettier things which do.

The essence of the flower festival remains the same, however - appreciation of life and the gifts from the land.

When it comes to animals and their bodily parts, there's not a lot that doesn't pass muster. Sheep's brains, snails, boiled tripe and various intestinal tracts of numerable animals all have a place in the Cypriot cuisine.

Not everything takes my fancy, though!