The Mediterranean · Volume 03, The Aegean and the Contested Table
Afelia
Cyprus
An illustration of the dish, not a photograph of it cooked.
- Time
- Hands on 20 minutes · Waiting 8 hours
- Researched
- 11 sources cited
- Reviewed
- Not yet reviewed from inside the tradition
- Cooked
- Not yet cooked and reported
As tradition built it
Serves 4. Overnight marinating, then 20 minutes.
Ingredients
- 800 g pork shoulder, cut into 4cm cubes
- 300 ml red wine
- 1 tbsp whole coriander seed
- to taste salt and pepper
- for frying oil for frying
- to serve pourgouri, cracked bulgur, to serve
Method
- Combine the pork with the wine, coriander seed, salt and pepper.
- Marinate overnight in the fridge, reserving the marinade.
- Drain the pork well, pat dry.
- Fry in hot oil until well coloured on all sides.
- Add a little of the reserved marinade to deglaze and finish the sauce.
- Serve with pourgouri.
What a modern chef changes
The coriander ground fresh and toasted, and the marinade's full time respected
Rung 6
Method
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.