Show the Working

Apohtin

Kept submerged under wine rather than dried, so it never hardens and stays damp enough to slice thick.

Pork. Not vegetarian — contains pork.

Ingredients

Method

  1. IT IS KEPT SUBMERGED UNDER WINE RATHER THAN DRIED, so it never hardens. This is the opposite arrangement from the lountza on the previous page, which spends a week in wine and then comes OUT to be smoked and hung. Apohtin goes into the wine and stays there -- three weeks, topped up whenever the level drops -- and is lifted out piece by piece as it is wanted. Nothing evaporates, so the meat stays soft and damp and is sliced thick, almost like a cooked meat; and the wine goes on working the whole time, so a piece taken out at three weeks is noticeably deeper in colour and sharper than one taken at two.
  2. THE MEAT MUST STAY UNDER THE SURFACE OR IT SPOILS. A plate or a scalded stone on top, and the level checked every few days. Any part that rises above the wine will darken and go off, and it will take the piece with it. Topping up with fresh wine is normal and expected.
  3. IT IS SHOULDER AND NOT TENDERLOIN, AND THE CUT IS WHY THE METHOD WORKS. Shoulder is fatty and well marbled; months of drying would make it greasy and strong, which is why lountza uses the lean tenderloin. Kept wet, that fat stays soft and is the best of it.
  4. THE SALT STAGE IS LONGER THAN THE LOUNTZA'S AND IS NOT RINSED AS HARD. Forty-eight hours in coarse salt, then a quick rinse rather than a thorough one. Because nothing dries afterwards, the salt left in the meat is doing real preserving work for the whole three weeks.
  5. IT IS NEVER SMOKED. No smoke at any point, which with the wine and the softness is what makes it taste quite different from anything else on this list. The coriander goes into the WINE rather than onto the meat, because there is no dry surface for a crust to stick to.
  6. The pork shoulder cut into two long pieces and rubbed all over with the coarse salt.
  7. Covered and refrigerated 48 HOURS, turned once. A good deal of liquid will come out.
  8. Rinsed BRIEFLY -- not scrubbed -- and patted dry.
  9. Put in a narrow non-reactive crock with the cracked coriander, bay and peppercorns.
  10. Covered COMPLETELY with the red wine and WEIGHTED with a plate so nothing floats.
  11. Kept in a cool place or the fridge 3 WEEKS.
  12. CHECKED every few days: nothing may rise above the surface. Topped up with more wine as the level drops.
  13. TESTED at 3 weeks: a piece should be deep red through, firm but yielding, and still DAMP -- not hard.
  14. Lifted out piece by piece as wanted and the rest left submerged.
  15. Sliced THICK, about 5 mm, across the grain -- it is soft enough to take it.
  16. Patted dry before serving. Keeps in its wine 2 months; a piece once lifted out keeps 5 days.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Cyprus · All recipes