Brief description: Glyka tou koutaliou are traditional, homemade sweet fruit preserves, served as a gesture of hospitality in both Cyprus and Greece along with a Cypriot/Greek coffee and a cold glass of water. Glyka tou koutaliou are called spoon sweets due to their small size and the fact that they fit in a spoon. Sugar is used as a natural preservative and no other artificial sweeteners or preservatives are added. The most common sweets are made of figs, cherries, watermelon rind and citrus peel, walnuts, apricots, grapes, bergamot. When visiting the island, you may be offered a sweet spoon as a dessert after a meal. Although the portion may appear small, you won’t be able to manage a second serving as they are very sweet and most of the times you will be unable to identify exactly which fruit or vegetable has been candied!
Recipe:
Ingredients:
3 kg cherries
2.5 kg sugar
5 cups of water (for the syrop)
1 cup of lemon juice
Arbaroriza (Pelargonium graveolens)
Instructions:
- Wash thoroughly the cherries, remove the stems.
- Prepare the lemonade (half cup of lemon juice in 1-2 litres of water).
- Place the cherries in a bowl with the lemonade and leave them for 6 hours.
- Drain the cherries and remove the pits from them by using a cherry pitter.
- When done, place the cherries again in the lemonade for approximately 2 hours.
- In a pot add sugar, water, and a spoon of lemon juice. Place the pot on the stove and let it boil until the syrup thickens. Remove the pot from the heat and let it to cool down.
- Drain the cherries, mix them with the syrup and place them on the heat.
- Add the arbaroriza and let the mixture cool down.
- Place into jars and cover. Store into the fridge.
- Wiggle the pot occasionally (5-6 times), to help the cherries puff and become bigger.
