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Meyhanes

Meyhanes

Like Italy’s osterias, Spain’s bodegas and France’s bistros, North Cyprus eating and entertainment houses, known as Meyhanes, are a place to come together over meze and raki and is a tradition dating back thousands of years.

They are the epitome of Northern Cyprus eating and drinking culture, and date to Byzantine time with a slow evolution. A type of drinking den in the Ottoman empire, the name comes from the Persian "mey" meaning ‘wine’ and "khāneh" meaning ‘house’. These joints used to be described as small dark spaces, often underground, with few or no windows, wooden stools and low tables by a bar, and casks filled with wine lining the walls.

Under Ottoman rule, meyhanes were owned by non-Muslims, who were generally allowed to produce and sell their own wine outside of Muslim districts. Although rakı entered the meyhane scene in the 16th century, it played second fiddle to wine until the 19th century.

The meyhane today is where people sit together around tables draped in red or white linen, eat a colossal amount of meze’s, meat or seafood, and sip raki. More than just a place to eat and drink, it's a place where conversation takes centre stage, where hearts are poured out as the rakı flows, and where quenching the thirst of the soul matters more than satisfying the hunger of the stomach. Meyhane culture differs to other counterparts in the Mediterranean. You won't find a menu, and a feast of local delicacies will be brought to the table one after the other, until you say stop. Starting with a spread of cold Meze’s, several plates of different types, no less than fifteen, are the start of the almost banquet serving. Specialities unique to Northern Cyprus include green olives known as Chakistes, pickled Quail eggs, Samarella which consists usually of goat’s meat that's salted and cured for preservation, and Tahin, a sesame paste made from toasted and ground sesame seeds mixed with garlic, lemon juice and olive oil, a staple of any Cypriot meze. If you're drinking rakı, you can ask for Beyaz Peynir (white ewe’s milk cheese matured in brine) to always be accompanied by slices of fresh melon.

Warm meze’s follow, usually with grilled Hellim in pitta bread, Çiğer which is diced liver either grilled or fried, Magarina Bulli, tubular pasta cooked and served with chicken, sprinkled with grated Hellim and dried mint. A meat platter arrives soon after, from Köfte (meatballs) to Lamb and Chicken Şiş (skewered), Chops, to the infamous Seftali Kebab, a type of crépinette, with a lamb filling mixed with finely chopped onion and parsley, seasoned with salt and pepper. If you have room for dessert, you 'll be served mixed seasonal fruit, a type of Macun which is a traditional fruit preserve and inherent part of Cypriot culture, and most meyhanes will also offer a serving of the infamous Kırbaç, which literally translates as “the Whip” – a blend of Nor, a fresh mild whey cheese produced in Cyprus, and cream or milk, drizzled with local honey and topped with walnuts.

Before leaving, you'll be offered a Kahve (Turkish coffee) to help digest the feast. You'll be amazed by the great value for money you receive in meyhanes and you probably won't be able to finish everything served to you. The more traditional concentrations are inland, in Nicosia or neighbouring Gönyeli, but you'll find more than one Meyhane in almost every town, and it's likely any local can direct you to one. Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appétit!

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