Afelia

As tradition built it

Marinate overnight, then about an hour covered.

Ingredients

• 1 kg pork, in 4cm cubes
• 240 ml red wine
• 2 tbsp dry coriander seed, crushed
• 120 ml oil
• to taste salt and pepper
• a little water

To serve

• to serve pourgouri (bulgur pilaf), or chips and yoghurt

Method

1. Mix the wine and crushed coriander.
2. Cut the pork into pieces of about 4cm, submerge them in the marinade and leave overnight in the fridge.
3. Next day, drain the meat and keep the marinade.
4. Heat the oil in a saucepan and cook the meat over a low heat until golden brown.
5. Add the reserved wine and coriander, season, and add a little water. Cover.
6. Simmer on a low heat until the meat is tender, about an hour.
7. Serve with pourgouri, or with chips and yoghurt.

Notes

The method is the Cyprus Food Museum's first version; the hour and the 4cm cube are Proto Thema's (Cantina), which uses 2 to 3 tbsp of seed to a kilo. The Museum's second version fries the meat, simmers it in water about 30 minutes, and only then adds wine, coriander and salt, with no marinade.

What a modern chef changes

The coriander ground fresh and toasted, and the marinade's full time respected

Rung 6

Method

1. Toast the whole coriander seed lightly before grinding, a modern refinement not described in any traditional source consulted, but one that sharpens the spice's aromatic oils without changing the dish's identity.
2. Grind it fresh in a dedicated spice grinder rather than buying it pre-ground, which loses its aromatic oil quickly; this is a genuinely testable difference in a dish built on so few components.
3. Do not shorten the overnight marinade. This is a penetration technique, not a surface seasoning, and a rushed version tastes like seasoned pork rather than afelia.