- Soutzoukos
Soutzoukos (Greek: σουτζούκος) is a popular traditional sweet of
Cyprus . The main ingredients used to make soutzoukos are grapemust ,almonds or in some caseswalnuts and flour.Preparation
The process of making soutzoukos involves basically two steps. The first step is to make the must jelly. First, must is extracted from good quality grapes. As soon as the must is extracted, it is placed in a large bronze container (called "chartzin" or "kazani") which resemble a big cauldron. The must is then heated slowly. A special kind of white soil, called "asproi" is then added to the boiling must to assist in the removal of impurities from the must. A very small amount of "asproi" is added in the boiling must, causing the impurities to rise on the surface where they are collected and removed. Once the cleansing process is complete the must is left to cool down. Next, the flour is added to the must while stirring and heating the mixture. When the mixture gets the right consistency, judging from the rate of steam bubbles and the fluency of the mixture, is removed from the heat. The mix, called "palouzes", is now ready for dipping the almond strings and make soutzoukos.
The next step is the making of soutzoukos involves the creation of strings of almonds (or walnuts), which are dipped in the "palouzes" mixture and are then left to dry. Firstly, the nuts are shelled and dipped into water in order to become softer. Once soft enough they are stringed using threads of about 2-3 meters length. The strings are dipped in the "palouzes" mixture until completely covered. This process is repeated several times (usually three times) until soutzoukos has the desired thickness. Soutzoukos strings are then left to dry for 5-6 days. It then ready for consumption or storage, even though some people like to eat soutzoukos fresh.
Consumption
Soutzoukos is eaten as is or to accompany wine and
zivania .Name
It is possible that the name comes from the word
sujuk (turkish sucuk, which is a type of sausage) because of its shape after it has been prepared.ee also
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Churchkhela
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*Turkish cuisine External links
* [http://www.letymbou.org/english/traditional.shtm Letymbou Village]
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