Cypriot cuisine
Grilled halloumi with watermelon
Χαλλούμι
Cypriot cheese seared to a crust, with cold watermelon and mint. The island's summer plate.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 10 min
- Total
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
Ingredients
- Halloumi400 g
- Watermelon — chilled, in cubes800 g
- Mint20 g
- Olive oil50 ml
- Lemon1
- Honey1 tbsp
- Rocket80 g
- Black pepperto taste
Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.
Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.
Method
- 1
Soak the halloumi in cold water for fifteen minutes, drain it and pat it completely dry.
18 min
- 2
Cut the cheese into centimetre slices — thinner and it dries out, thicker and it will not heat through.
5 min
- 3
Cut the chilled watermelon into large cubes and keep it in the fridge until serving.
8 min
- 4
Heat a dry pan hard and sear the halloumi two minutes a side, to dark stripes.
8 min
- 5
Whisk the olive oil with the lemon juice, honey and pepper.
3 min
- 6
Arrange the watermelon, rocket and hot cheese, spoon over the dressing and scatter with mint. Serve at once.
4 min
About the dish
Halloumi does not melt: its protein is set by high heat during manufacture, and in the pan the cheese keeps its shape to the end.
The salt has to be washed out of the cheese or the dish is inedibly salty. Fifteen minutes in cold water is enough for ordinary halloumi, half an hour for aged.
The pairing with watermelon is not decorative: sweet and cold against salty and hot is the commonest Cypriot way of eating halloumi in summer.
Worth knowing
- — The pan must be dry and very hot. In oil the halloumi will not crust; it just soaks up fat.
- — Dry the cheese thoroughly. Surface water stops a crust forming however long you leave it.
- — Five minutes cold and halloumi turns rubbery. This dish does not wait.
Nutrition
Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.
- Calories
- 380 kcal
- Protein
- 22 g
- Fat
- 26 g
- Carbs
- 16 g
More from Cyprus
- Souvla — Large pieces of pork or lamb on a spit, turning slowly over coals for two hours.