Cypriot cuisine and nuts. The best-known spices and herbs include pepper, parsley, arugula, celery, fresh coriander (cilantro), thyme, and oregano. Traditionally, cumin and coriander seeds make up the main cooking aromas of the island. Mint is a very important herb in Cyprus. It grows abundantly, and locals use it for everything, particularly in dishes containing ground meat. For example, the Cypriot version of pastitsio (locally known as "macaronia tou fournou" or "makarna fırında") contains very little tomato and generous amounts of mint. The same is true of "keftedes" or "köfte" (meatballs), which are sometimes laced with mint to provide a contrast with
Parsley Parsley Parsley or garden parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to the central Mediterranean region (southern Italy, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Malta, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia), naturalized elsewhere in Europe, and widely cultivated as a herb, a spice, and a vegetable. Where it grows as a biennial, in the first year, it forms a rosette of tripinnate leaves long with numerous leaflets, and a taproot used as a food store over the winter. Parsley is widely used in European, Middle Eastern, and American cooking. Curly leaf parsley is often used as a garnish.