Island Dining

           The food was, in a word, excellent. For one, it was so much fresher than most American food. Cyprus is a small island, but it has a thriving agricultural sector and a climate perfect for growing potatoes, olives, tomatoes, and melons. So when you went to a restaurant or the supermarket, there was a good chance that the fruits and vegetables were grown locally. Like many Mediterranean cultures, there was also more of an emphasis on homemade dishes rather than the junk food drowning in preservatives that is ubiquitous on American street corners. Unsurprisingly, this diet is thought to be partly responsible for the longer life expectancy of the region.
            Meats and cheeses were also a staple of the Cypriot cuisine, however, the selection differed from what I was used to in America. Seafood was much more common, particularly fried squid and octopus. Lamb was a staple of every gyro and sandwich shop you might set foot into. I was also a particular fan of the small salty sardines that were served at the hotel we stayed at the first week. One of the most drastic differences was the prominence of goat-based dairy products. In fact, our local tour guide informed us that cow milk was unheard of on the island until English soldiers based there during World War II demanded cattle be imported for them. The traditional Cypriot cheese called halloumi is made from a mix of goat and sheep milk and was eaten with every meal of the day. 
            When it came to eating out, there were a few big cultural differences. The first, of course, is tipping. America is relatively unique in that it has a social expectation to add a gratuity of 15-20% to a bill at a restaurant as additional compensation for your servers. The practise varies throughout Europe. Where we were in Cyprus it was common to have the tipping already factored on the bill as a service charge or reflected in the menu prices themselves. Conveniently, the displayed prices also took taxes into account. This meant you had to adjust your mindset while reading the menu as prices would look a little higher than you were used to because tip and tax were already included.
            Another significant difference was tap water. In American restaurants, tap water is almost always available free of charge to the customer. You’ll say to your waiter ‘We’ll have four waters’, and it will show up on your bill as $0.00. In Cyprus, almost all drinking water comes in bottles, and so if you ordered water while eating out, you’d be looking at an extra charge of two or so euros for your meal. The university we were staying at had a water fountain for us to use, but otherwise we had to rely on purchasing water from corner stores to keep us hydrated throughout the day.
            The last difference that I’ll mention is splitting the bill. As students in Pittsburgh we’re pretty spoiled. Go with friends to any sit-down restaurant down Forbes and your waiter will usually ask you if you’d like to have separate checks, which is very convenient. On our first night eating out in Cyprus as a group we tried asking our server to split the bill and got a very confused look in return. After some explanation, he told us that to do that we would have to walk back to the register, give the number of our table, and then settle one-by-one. The whole process was rather protracted, and so we learned it was easier to have one person cover the whole bill on their own and then settle up between ourselves when we returned home.
            Overall, the dining experience was one of my highlights of the Cyprus trip. The food there was consistently delicious. There were a variety of new flavours, but they never felt too wild of a departure from what I’m used to here in Pittsburgh. And no matter where I went, the people were friendly and happy to offer suggestions of dishes to try in order to make sure I got an authentic taste of Cyprus.