With Easter round the corner we have a lot of breads for Easter. So also
in We Knead To Bake #16: Aparna set us baking Flaounes (Cypriot Savoury Easter
Cheese Pies)!
Her write up
with the Flaounes is as below,
“Flaounes
are savoury cheese pies baked for Greek Orthodox Easter, traditionally made on
Good Friday, and are part of the fast-breaking meal after Lent when meat and
cheese are not eaten. The cheese that is traditionally used in these pies is
called “Flaounes” cheese which is cheese that is produced locally by Cypriot
shepherds, and very difficult to find outside the country.
Flaounes
cheese can be substituted with a combination of Cheddar or similar hard cheeses
and a softer, milder one like Halloumi. The cheese filling tends to be salty so
choose one cheese which is quite salty.
Some of the
cheeses suggested as substitutes for Flaounes cheese are Cypriot/ Greek cheeses
like Kefalotyri, Kefalogravier or Kaskavali. Other cheeses include Halloumi,
English Cheddar, Italian cheeses like Parmesan, Romanelo or Pressato (mild),
Pecorino (salty) or French Cantal cheese.”
Apparently Mahleb
and Mastic are used as flavouring agents in making of Flaounes. Mahleb is made
by powdering the dried pits of a wild Mediterranean cherry. Mastic is the dried
resin of a kind of shrub. Both these spices are quite common in Greek and
Middle Eastern cuisine, there’s no real substitute for the flavours.
As in
European cuisine these pies are quite heavy on eggs as in Aprana’s case as we
don’t like the “eggy” flavour I have followed Aparna’s method to make these
Flaounes. You can leave that out too if you don’t use eggs. For those of you
who like eggs, eggs are used in the bread dough as well to bind the filling. Also Black pepper or chilli flakes are not
traditionally used in these Easter pies but I added them. We could actually do
with more that what Aparna has added also remember to grate your cheese coarse
rather than fine.
I used
processed cheese, mozerarella and paneer. I have hardly changed the wording
from Aparna’s so if it sounds like her you know why!
