Sugar Roasted Almonds from Yeroskipos
‘Koufeta Amygdalou Geroskipou’ are sugar roasted almonds made in the municipality of Yeroskipos, in Cyprus. They have a layer of sugar syrup on their surface that, when chewed, make them comparatively softer than similar products. They melt easily in the mouth and leave behind a pleasant sensation.
‘Koufeta Amygdalou Geroskipou’ were produced for the first time by Sophocles Athanasios in Yeroskipos in 1895. To this day everyone involved in their production have been descendants of Sophocles Athanasios and they use the same traditional family recipe now as they did more than a century ago. The know-how is passed down from one generation to the next and that makes this product one of Yeroskipos’ longest-established traditional products.
In contrast to the production of other sugared almonds, ‘Koufeta Amygdalou Geroskipou’ are made without using any kind of wax to protect or isolate the almond, and, other than the almond and sugar, the process does not involve any raw materials or any additional process for polishing the sugared almonds. For this reason the pores on the surface of the product remain open, rendering the surface singularly rough. The rough surface, the texture and the almond’s sweetness are unique to the product and are not found in any other similar products.
The crucial element in the production process, which is the fundamental key to the end product, is that the producer has to stand by the sugared almond maker during the entire cooking process to supervise the coating process so that he can immediately intervene to adjust the thickness and quantity of the syrup and the temperature whenever necessary.