Carob, hawthorn and local crops of North Cyprus

Harnup pekmezi and its 2016 registration in the TRNC

According to the TRNC Public Information Office (8 August 2016), the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Industry (KTSO) announced at a press conference that "Kıbrıs Harnup Pekmezi" (Cyprus carob molasses) had been registered in the TRNC as a mahreç (geographic origin), after the earlier hellim and zivaniya registrations. The page says a research report was published in the Official Gazette on 6 May, a three-month objection period followed, and registration took effect on 6 August 2016. Northern Cyprus was declared the geographic area, and production must use local carob varieties and the traditional recipe.

Kıbrıs Manşet (5 August 2016) describes the same registration as a geographical indication and says Lipa Danışmanlık prepared the report. It quotes a Lipa Danışmanlık director defining the product as a high-sugar, dark molasses made by evaporating excess water from carob pod juice, and says KTSO's certification unit would inspect producers. Karadağ and Aylanç (2020) say KTSO registered Kıbrıs harnup pekmezi in the TRNC in 2016 as a "mahreç adı". The sources opened describe a registration in the TRNC; they do not say whether it is recognised elsewhere.

On how it is made and eaten, Visit North Cyprus says black carob pods are ground to a powder, boiled in water and reduced to a dark molasses. Karadağ and Aylanç (2020) describe carob pekmez eaten at breakfast mixed with tahini, and thinned with water in winter to make zülbiye. See also Traditional food and sweets.

Kolokas and molehiya in the kitchen

The Cyprus Food Museum entry "Kolokasin" says kolokasi is one of the most common daily foods for Cypriots and is cooked with tomatoes, with or without meat. It lists named dishes: kaourmas, kappamas (which it describes as very popular in the Ammochostos district), a yahni with pork, lemon, onion, celery and tomato, and a fried small-corm dish with lemon juice and dry coriander. Yemek.com (19 November 2014) says the kolakas dish is made with chicken or meat, much as a potato dish is. Yemek.com adds that molehiya is cooked with lamb or chicken and served with pilaf and pickles.

On method, a Cumhuriyet recipe (15 February 2024) describes kolakas cooked with onion, celery, tomato paste and lemon, with olive oil added near the end. It says the pieces are cut rather than broken so that they do not stay hard. A Milliyet recipe (16 December 2022) describes molehiya made from dried leaves soaked in hot water and cooked with onion, meat or chicken, tomato paste and tomato, with lemon over the finished dish. The Costas and Rita Severis Foundation (CVAR, 8 March 2022) says the dried jute leaves are cooked in a tomato-based broth with onions and garlic, with lamb or chicken, and sometimes chickpeas, and are usually served with rice. NORTHEA gives no quantities or times here; the recipes state their own.

On seasons, the Cyprus Food Museum says kolokasi is planted from the end of February (early planting) until May (late planting) and does not give a harvest period. CVAR says the jute is grown and harvested in spring, while Yemek.com says molehiya is dried in summer and stored for a while. The sources opened therefore give different seasons for the plant and none names a month for eating the dishes. Visit North Cyprus, quoted in the previous block, says molohiya is usually cooked at home.

Malta eriği, nar and gollandro

Loquat (Malta eriği, Eriobotrya japonica): the Cyprus University of Technology thesis record by Margarita Hadjipieri (2020) says loquat is grown mainly in Cypriot coastal areas, often under mesh or plastic cover, with 'Karantoki' and 'Morphitiki' as the predominant cultivars, and that output serves domestic consumption. Gregoriou (1995) gives 50 ha of regular plantings, about 330 tonnes, mostly on the south-western coast.

Pomegranate (nar, Punica granatum): Gregoriou (1995) gives about 75 ha of regular plantings and about 450 tonnes, with trees also in home yards and small family orchards all over the island. The Cyprus Food and Nutrition Museum says the tree was among the first cultivated in Cyprus, that women in Agios Ambrosios (Kyrenia district) used sour pomegranate juice in place of lemon juice in summer, and that Trikomo was known for large pomegranates. Cyprus Mail (12 October 2026) reports a wedding custom of breaking a pomegranate on the couple's threshold, with accounts differing on who does it.

Coriander (kişniş, called gollandro or golyandro in Cyprus sources): Hürriyet (18 December 2017) and Yemek.com list coriander seed (gollandro) among the ingredients served with çakıstes, the cracked green olives, and Visit North Cyprus names coriander seeds in the same dish. Aylin Öney Tan's 2014 glossary says golyandro is coriander, used fresh as an herb and its seed as a spice. These are TRNC-oriented food sources; the plants themselves are not described as limited to the TRNC.

Kolakas and gollandro in TRNC price statistics

The TRNC State Planning Organization (Devlet Planlama Örgütü) and, in later releases, the TRNC Statistics Institute (İstatistik Kurumu) publish monthly Consumer Price Index press releases. Copies hosted by the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce (KTTO) show kolakas and gollandro as separately named goods in the tables. The 6 November 2012 release (October results) lists "Gollandro (Taze Sebze)" and "Kolokas (Taze Sebze)"; the 6 April 2020 release lists "Kolakas (Kış Sebzesi)" and "Gollandro".

The 2 October 2020 release (September results) lists Gollandro, and the 4 November 2020 release (October results) lists Kolakas. In the releases opened, molohiya did not appear as a named item. This page gives no price figures and does not state basket weights. Being listed in a price release shows the item is tracked as a separate good; it does not show how widely the vegetable is grown.