Halloumoti

Halloumoti is a very traditional village bakery bread, which everyone bakes today. But only some village bakeries do it the best, old-fashioned, and incredibly delicious way. The first one I tried was just outside Limassol where everybody stops to get freshly baked bread. Just slightly warmed up, one third was my lunch and another third my dinner with local avocado and walnuts. I got this bread from local composer and chef Jeannette Orphanides. I thank her for that.

Ingredients

60 ml grape seed oil
60 ml extra virgin olive oil
250 ml warm water
30 ml orange juice
1 tsp honey
8 g fresh yeast or 6 g dry yeast
500 g bread flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
250 g halloumi cheese, cut into big pieces*
1.5 tsp dried peppermint

Prepare

Pour both oils into a bowl. Add orange juice, honey, and yeast. Mix until the yeast has dissolved. Add flour and salt and knead with hands or a mixer (using the bread hook) until the dough is still a bit wet but does not stick to your hands. Add the halloumi cheese and peppermint and incorporate into the dough. Try to fold in as much halloumi as possible so that just few pieces stick out. Make a ball and put it in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest until doubled (1-1.5h).

Heat the oven to 240°. Cover a pan with baking paper, put the dough on the pan (shaping it into a nice round loaf), and place it in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to 220° and continue to bake for another 30 minutes. Take the bread out of the oven and let it rest on the pan to room temperature – it tastes better warm than cold. The next day you can heat the bread again and eat it nice and warm.

* You can substitute halloumi with olives and herbs (as you can see in picture).

Recipe "adaption" (I did change few things) and photos: Signe Meirane
Photos taken with Sony alpha 7s