Sheftalia
Cypriot sausage wrapped in lamb’s caul fat rather than a casing. This choice of container brings it closer to the French crépinette and sets it apart from all the neighbouring sausages of the Levant.
| Lean lamb shoulder | 500 g |
| Lean pork shoulder | 300 g |
| Pork belly (fat) | 200 g |
| Fresh onion, finely chopped | 100 g |
| Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped | 40 g |
| Fine salt | 18 g |
| Ground black pepper | 3 g |
| Ground cinnamon | 1 g |
| Lamb’s or pig’s caul fat | — |
- Preparing the caul: Soak the caul fat in warm water for 30 minutes. Rinse gently, then spread on a work surface.
- Mincing: Mince the meats through the 6 to 8 mm plate. The texture should remain slightly coarse.
- Mixing: Add the raw chopped onion, the parsley, the salt, the pepper and the cinnamon. Knead vigorously for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Resting: Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Shaping: Cut the caul into squares of 12 to 15 cm. Form oval balls of 80 to 100 g. Wrap each ball in a square of caul, folding the edges in.
- Resting before cooking: Refrigerate for 1 hour so that the caul adheres well.
- Cooking: Grill over charcoal (souvla) or on a plancha for 10 to 12 minutes, turning regularly.
The origin of the name is debated. The strongest theory attaches it to the Turkish şeftali, the peach, probably in reference to the rosy tint of the meat cooked in the caul, or to the plump shape of the preparation. The word itself derives from the Persian şaft ālū, ‘fat berry’, which refers to the caul. The sheftalia developed during the Ottoman period (1571–1878), when Greek, Turkish and Levantine culinary practices mingled in the island’s kitchens. Its technical resemblance to the French crépinette, attested from the thirteenth century, is notable, though no source allows a link to be established with the Frankish presence in Cyprus (1192–1489).
The caul fat, panna in Cypriot Greek, is what makes the sheftalia possible. This peritoneal membrane holds together a forcemeat rich in raw onions and fresh herbs during cooking over charcoal. As it cooks, it melts progressively, basting the meat with its fat and creating a golden, crisp surface. The onion goes in raw, not sautéed: it releases moisture during grilling and helps it stay juicy. The cinnamon, at one gramme per kilo, is the spice that separates the sheftalia from all the continental Mediterranean crépinettes.
Since the island’s division in 1974, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots have prepared near-identical versions under related names: sheftalia on one side, şeftali kebabı on the other. The composition is the same on both sides of the Green Line, the only variation being the tendency of Turkish-Cypriot producers to exclude pork for religious reasons. This culinary continuity across a sealed frontier is noted in several ethnographic studies.
The sheftalia is inseparable from the foukou, the Cypriot charcoal barbecue, and from weddings. Tsiknopempti, the Thursday before Orthodox Lent, is the occasion for collective consumption across the country.
It has been entered in the European programme of Traditional Specialities Guaranteed since 2016, a protection that applies to the whole island, without distinction between the communities. Outside Cyprus, it is chiefly present in London, home to the largest Cypriot diaspora community.
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