Page 43 - Erasmus Let's be Eco-sustainAble, towards 2030 Dissemination Activity Photobook
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Activity: Athienou Traditional Bread Making












                                                                                               Athienou has a long bread-making tradition and is famous for the
                                                                                               widely known round “common Cypriot bread”. This bread was
                                                                                               made at home mainly to be consumed by the family members. Its
                                                                                               main ingredients are local flour, from which only oats are extracted,
                                                                                               water and salt. Its preparation starts by making the leaven, in other

                                                                                               words the sourdough which is necessary for the fermentation; to
                                                                                               make the sourdough holy water from the Feast of the Exaltation of
                                                                                               the Holy Cross or water from the first rain was used.





                                                                                               In the 20th century, several Athienou families started marketing
                                                                                               their breads as street sellers in their vehicles or in bakeries, thus
                                                                                               making them known all over the island. However, the importance
                                                                                               of bread-making in Athienou is not restricted to consumption and
                                                                                               trade; the preparation of bread in houses and yards was at the

                                                                                               same time a social practice bringing people from different families
                                                                                               and different generations closer. At the same time, bread-making is
                                                                                               closely linked to religious practices which are still preserved by
                                                                                               women in the communities, as they learned them from their
                                                                                               mothers and grand-mothers.






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