Halloumi/Hellim Global Markets, European Union Regulation, and Ethnicised Cultural Property
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Abstract
Halloumi/hellim is a cheese that does not belong to any one ethnic group or nation alone. Rather, its messy genealogy mirrors the complicated histories of the peoples of the Eastern Mediterranean. Historically, the multi ethnic and multi-religious population of Cyprus had many food traditions in common, and Peter Loizos in his work repeatedly referred to the importance of commensality and the shared culinary practices of Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Recently, however, Greek Cypriots are laying claim to halloumi cheese as an ethnicised national product. Since the EU accession of 2004, the Republic of Cyprus has become eligible to apply to the European Commission’s programme for protective food labels to be awarded to so-called origin products. When a food item is declared an origin product, it is taken to represent the group‘s history and its distribution is mapped onto the group’s territory. The conflicts that ensued with the Republic of Cyprus’ halloumi application to the EU are evidence of this type of ‘gastronationalism’ (DeSoucey, 2010), but also show how the claim to exclusive cultural property is contested by local actors under conditions of globalising markets and supranational political regulation.
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Keywords
European Union, Cyprus, dairy products, nationalism, heritage
References
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Osam, N. and Kasapoglu, U. (2011) ‘Hellim: Kültürel bir degerin kimlik cösumlemesi’ [Halloumi: The Origin Analysis of a Cultural Entity]: [http://www.millifolklor.com].
Papadakis, Y. (2004) ‘Cyprus Delights’, in 15 + 10. European Identities. Kataloge des Österreichischen Museums für Volkskunde [Catalogue of the Austrian Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art]. Band 84, pp. 86–89.
Papadakis, Y. (2005) Echoes from the Dead Zone: Across the Cyprus Divide. London: I.B. Tauris.
Papadakis, Y., Peristianis, N. and Welz, G. (2006) (eds) Divided Cyprus. Modernity, History, and an Island in Conflict. Bloomington, IND: Indiana University Press.
Papademas, P. and Robinson, R.K. (2000) ‘A Comparison of the Chemical, Microbiological and Sensory Characteristics of Bovine and Ovine Halloumi Cheese’, International Dairy Journal, Vol. 10, No. 11, pp. 761–768.
Papademas, P. and Robinson, R.K. (2001) ‘The Sensory Characteristics of Different Types of Halloumi Cheese as Perceived by Tasters of Different Ages’, International Journal of Dairy Technology, Vol. 54, No. 3, pp. 94–99.
Patapiou, N. (2006) ‘Leonardo Donà in Cyprus. A Future Doge in the Karpass Peninsula (1557)’, Cyprus Today. A Quarterly Cultural Review of the Ministry of Education and Culture, published and distributed by PIO. April–June 2006, pp. 3–18.
Pratt, J. (2007) ‘Food Values. The Local and the Authentic’, Critique of Anthropology, Vol. 27, pp. 285–300.
Raustiala, K. and Munzer, S. (2007) ‘The Global Struggle over Geographic Indications’, European Journal of International Law, Vol. 18, Iss. 2, pp. 337–365.
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. (2002) ‘The Diachronicity of Cultural Traditions: Salvaging and Revitalizing Traditions and Customs as Important Contributors to Strengthening Cultural Identity: The Case of the Paphos River Valleys’, in River Valleys Project, LIFE 99 (1999–2002) Final Report 2002. Nicosia: Cyprus Conservation Foundation, pp. 1–5.
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. (2007) ‘La table traditionelle chypriote’ [The Cypriot Traditional Table], in Bonnet-Carbonell, J. and Fournier, L.-S. (eds), Peurs et risque au coeur de la fête, Paris: L’ Harmattan, pp. 59–76.
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Welz, G. (forthcoming) ‘Contested Origins. Food Heritage and the European Union’s Quality Label Programme’, in Avieli, N. and Grosglik, R. (eds), Food and Power in the Near East and the Mediterranean. Special Issue Food Culture and Society.
Welz, G. and Andilios, N. (2004) ‘Modern Methods for Producing the Traditional: The Case of Making Halloumi Cheese in Cyprus’, in Lysaght, P. and Burckhardt-Seebass, Ch. (eds), Changing Tastes. Food Culture and the Processes of Industrialization. Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Volkskunde/The Department of Irish Folklore, University College Dublin: Basel, pp. 217–230.
Südosteuropa-Handbuch Bd. 8: Zypern. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, pp. 703–720.
Bendix, R., Bizer, K. and Groth, St. (Hg.) (2010) Die Konstituierung von Cultural Property.
Forschungsperspektiven [The Constitution of Cultural Property: Research Perspectives]. Göttingen:
Universitätsverlag Goettingen.
Bérard, L. and Marchenay, P. (2007) ‘Localized Products in France: Definition, Protection and Valueadding’,
in Amilien, V. and Holt, G. (eds), ‘From Local Food to Localised Food’, special issue,
Anthropology of Food. S2 (March). Available from [http://aof.revues.org/index415.html], accessed 23
December 2009.
Brunori, G. (2006) ‘Post-Rural Processes in Wealthy Rural Areas: Hybrid Networks and Symbolic Capital’, Research in Rural Sociology and Development, Vol. 12, pp. 121–175.
Busch, L. (2011) Standards. Recipes for Reality. Cambridge/London: The MIT Press.
Cegarra, M. and Verdeaux, F. (2005) ‘Introduction’, in Bérard, L., Cegarra, M., Djama, M., Louafi, S., Marchenay, P., Rousell, B. and Verdeaux, F. (eds), Biodiversity and Local Ecological Knowledge in France. Paris: INRA/CIRAD, pp. 19–26.
Constantinou, C. and Hatay, M. (2010) ‘Cyprus, Ethnic Conflict and Conflicted Heritage’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 33, No. 9, pp. 1600–1619.
Cook, I. and Crang, P. (1996) ‘The World on a Plate: Culinary Culture, Displacement and Geographical Knowledges’, Journal of Material Culture, Vol. 1, pp. 131–153.
Creditt, E. (2009) ‘Terroir vs. Trademarks: The Debate over Geographical Indications and Expansions to the TRIPS Agreement’, Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 425–459.
Cyprus Chamber of Commerce (2012) ‘Halloumi. The Flagship of Cyprus Authentics’, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Republic of Cyprus [http://www.cyprusfoodndrinks.com/].
DeSoucey, M. (2010) ‘Gastronationalism: Food Traditions and Authenticity Politics in the European Union’, American Sociological Review, Vol. 75, No. 3, pp. 432–455.
Dikomitis, L. (2012) Cyprus and Its Places of Desire. Cultures of Displacement among Greek and Turkish Cypriot Refugees. London/New York/Melbourne: I.B. Tauris.
Feagan, R. (2007) ‘The Place of Food: Mapping Out the ‘Local’ in Local Food Systems’, Progress in Human Geography, Vol. 31, pp. 23–42.
Filippucci, P. (2004) ‘A French Place without Cheese: Problems with Heritage and Identity in Northeastern France’, Focaal. European Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 44, pp. 72–86.
Gibbs, P., Morphitou, R. and Savva, G. (2004) ‘Halloumi: Exporting to Retain Traditional Food Products’, British Food Journal, Vol. 106, No. 7, pp. 569–576.
Grasseni, C. (2005) ‘Slow Food, Fast Genes: Timescapes of Authenticity and Innovation in the Anthropology of Food’, in Hirsch, E. and Macdonald, S. (eds), ‘Creativity or Temporality’, Cambridge Anthropology, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 79–94.
Guide to Community Regulations (2004) Protection of Geographical Indications of Origin and Certificates of Specific Character for Agricultural Products and Foodstuffs. Working Document of the Commission Services. European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture, Food Quality Policy of the European Union. 2nd edition, August 2004. Available from [http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/publi/gi/broch_en.pdf], accessed 1 January, 2010.
‘Halloumi’, in Virtual Museum of Cypriot Food and Nutrition, University of Cyprus [http://foodmuseum.cs.ucy.ac.cy/web/guest/home].
Hatay, M. (2006) ‘The Levantine Legacy of Cypriot Culinary Culture’, The Cyprus Review, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 129–142.
Hobsbawm, E. (1992) ‘Mass-Producing Traditions: Europe, 1870–1914’, in Hobsbawm, E. and Ranger, T. (eds), The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 263–307.
Hylland Eriksen, T. (2004) ‘Keeping the Recipe: Norwegian Folk Costumes and Cultural Capital’, Focaal. European Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 44, pp. 20–34.
Jepson, A. (2004) ‘New Wineries in Cyprus: Aspects of Tradition, or Facets of European Entrepreneurial Innovation?’ Unpublished paper presented at the SIEF/ADAM Congress 2004 Marseilles at the workshop ‘European Products’: Distinctiveness and Standardisation in Food Cultures’ (Convenor: Gisela Welz, University of Frankfurt).
Loizos, P. (1981) The Heart Grown Bitter: A Chronicle of Cypriot War Refugees. Cambridge, London: Cambridge University Press.
Loizos, P. (1998) ‘How Might Turkish and Greek Cypriots See Each Other More Clearly?’ in Calotychos, V. (ed.), Cyprus and Its People. Nation, Identity, and Experience in an Unimaginable Community, 1955–1997. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, pp. 35–52.
Loizos, P. (2008) Iron in the Soul. Displacement, Livelihood, and Health in Cyprus. Studies in Forced Migration, Vol. 23. New York/Oxford: Berghahn Books.
Navaro-Yashin, Y. (2012) The Make-Believe Space. Affective Geography in a Postwar Polity. Durham/London: Duke University Press.
Nützenadel, A. and Trentmann, F. (2008) ‘Mapping Food and Globalization’, in Nützenadel, A. and Trentmann, F. (eds), Food and Globalization: Consumption, Markets and Politics in the Modern World. Oxford/New York: Berg Publishers, pp. 1–16.
Ohnefalsch-Richter, M. (1913) Griechische Sitten und Gebräuche auf Cypern [Greek Ties and Customs in Cyprus]. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag.
Osam, N. and Kasapoglu, U. (2011) ‘Hellim: Kültürel bir degerin kimlik cösumlemesi’ [Halloumi: The Origin Analysis of a Cultural Entity]: [http://www.millifolklor.com].
Papadakis, Y. (2004) ‘Cyprus Delights’, in 15 + 10. European Identities. Kataloge des Österreichischen Museums für Volkskunde [Catalogue of the Austrian Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art]. Band 84, pp. 86–89.
Papadakis, Y. (2005) Echoes from the Dead Zone: Across the Cyprus Divide. London: I.B. Tauris.
Papadakis, Y., Peristianis, N. and Welz, G. (2006) (eds) Divided Cyprus. Modernity, History, and an Island in Conflict. Bloomington, IND: Indiana University Press.
Papademas, P. and Robinson, R.K. (2000) ‘A Comparison of the Chemical, Microbiological and Sensory Characteristics of Bovine and Ovine Halloumi Cheese’, International Dairy Journal, Vol. 10, No. 11, pp. 761–768.
Papademas, P. and Robinson, R.K. (2001) ‘The Sensory Characteristics of Different Types of Halloumi Cheese as Perceived by Tasters of Different Ages’, International Journal of Dairy Technology, Vol. 54, No. 3, pp. 94–99.
Patapiou, N. (2006) ‘Leonardo Donà in Cyprus. A Future Doge in the Karpass Peninsula (1557)’, Cyprus Today. A Quarterly Cultural Review of the Ministry of Education and Culture, published and distributed by PIO. April–June 2006, pp. 3–18.
Pratt, J. (2007) ‘Food Values. The Local and the Authentic’, Critique of Anthropology, Vol. 27, pp. 285–300.
Raustiala, K. and Munzer, S. (2007) ‘The Global Struggle over Geographic Indications’, European Journal of International Law, Vol. 18, Iss. 2, pp. 337–365.
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. (2002) ‘The Diachronicity of Cultural Traditions: Salvaging and Revitalizing Traditions and Customs as Important Contributors to Strengthening Cultural Identity: The Case of the Paphos River Valleys’, in River Valleys Project, LIFE 99 (1999–2002) Final Report 2002. Nicosia: Cyprus Conservation Foundation, pp. 1–5.
Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou, E. (2007) ‘La table traditionelle chypriote’ [The Cypriot Traditional Table], in Bonnet-Carbonell, J. and Fournier, L.-S. (eds), Peurs et risque au coeur de la fête, Paris: L’ Harmattan, pp. 59–76.
Statistics Department of Ministry of Finance (2012) Cyprus Exports of Halloumi Cheese 2003–2007 Data provided by Statistics Department. Website ‘Cyprus Food and Drinks’ created by the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry [www.cyprusfoodndrinks.com], accessed 26 March 2012.
Sycallides, G. (2004a) ‘Flaouna–Pilavuna: A Common Pastry for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots’. Documentary film prepared for the NGO ‘Eurotoques – Cyprus office’ Nicosia: Intercollege Radio and TV Unit.
Sycallides, G. (2004b) ‘Halloumi–Hellim: The Indigenous Cheese of Cyprus’. Documentary film prepared for the NGO ‘Eurotoques – Cyprus office’ Nicosia: Intercollege Radio and TV Unit.
Welz, G. (2012) ‘The Diversity of European Food Cultures’, in Kockel, U., Nic Craith, M. and Frykman, J. (eds), A Companion to the Anthropology of Europe. Malden/Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 355–371.
Welz, G. (forthcoming) ‘Contested Origins. Food Heritage and the European Union’s Quality Label Programme’, in Avieli, N. and Grosglik, R. (eds), Food and Power in the Near East and the Mediterranean. Special Issue Food Culture and Society.
Welz, G. and Andilios, N. (2004) ‘Modern Methods for Producing the Traditional: The Case of Making Halloumi Cheese in Cyprus’, in Lysaght, P. and Burckhardt-Seebass, Ch. (eds), Changing Tastes. Food Culture and the Processes of Industrialization. Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Volkskunde/The Department of Irish Folklore, University College Dublin: Basel, pp. 217–230.
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“Halloumi/Hellim:/Global/Markets,/European/Union/Regulation,/and/Ethnicised/Cultural/Property”. 2017. Cyprus Review 25 (1): 37-54. https://cyprusreview.org/index.php/cr/article/view/120.