Greek Desserts · Cyprus · Fried · Name Days
Cypriot Semolina Custard Pastries (Shamishi)
Σιάμισι SHYAH-mee-shee · Shamishi
In short
Shamishi are Cypriot fried pastries filled with a thick semolina custard scented with orange and mastic, folded into parcels, deep-fried until golden and dusted with sugar and cinnamon. They are strongly associated with Kataklysmos, the Cypriot festival of the flood, sold from stalls and made at home across the island around that time.
Cypriot Semolina Custard Pastries
- Prep
- 45m
- Cook
- 25m
- Total
- 1h 10m
- Serves
- 6
- Level
- Intermediate
Ingredients
For the filling
For the dough
To finish
Tick ingredients off as you go. Quantities rescale with the buttons above.
Method
- 01Warm the milk with the sugar, orange zest and ground mastic, if using. Rain in the semolina, whisking, and cook, stirring constantly, for 6 to 8 minutes, until very thick.
- 02Off the heat, beat in the egg. Spread the custard out on a tray and cool completely until set firm.Cool the custard until firm.Yiayia
- 03Work the flour, olive oil, salt and orange juice into a soft, smooth dough. Rest for 30 minutes.
Flour - 04Roll the dough out thinly and cut into squares or rounds.
- 05Spoon set custard onto each, fold over and seal the edges firmly into parcels.
- 06Heat oil for deep-frying to 170C, and fry the shamishi in batches for 3 to 4 minutes, until golden.
- 07Drain briefly, dust heavily with the cinnamon sugar while warm and serve.
Cinnamon
Nutrition, per 2 pastries
- Calories
- 286
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 42 g
- Fat
- 10 g
- Sat fat
- 2 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
These figures are calculated estimates based on the ingredients listed, not laboratory analysis. Actual values vary with brands, cuts and portion size.
Shamishi are the Cypriot fried pastry of summer festivals, filled not with cheese like the bourekia but with a thick, set semolina custard scented with orange and mastic, folded into parcels, fried until golden and buried in sugar and cinnamon.
They are tied above all to Kataklysmos, the Cypriot festival of the flood celebrated around Pentecost, when they are sold hot from stalls along the coast, but they are just as much a home sweet, made in batches and handed round warm.
The semolina custard is the heart of the dish and it needs to be cooked thick and then cooled properly until set, since a loose, warm filling will slump and leak the moment the parcel meets the hot oil.
Key preparation steps
- Cook a thick semolina custard and cool it until set.
- Make a thin, workable dough.
- Fill and fold into parcels.
- Deep-fry and dust with sugar and cinnamon.
The semolina custard
Cook milk, semolina, sugar, orange zest and a little mastic together, stirring constantly, until it thickens into a smooth, heavy custard, then beat in an egg off the heat and spread it out to cool completely. It must set firm before it goes near the pastry, or it will slump and leak in the oil.
The dough
Make a soft dough from flour, a little olive oil, salt and orange juice or water, rested so it rolls thin. As with the other Cypriot fried pastries, a thin shell is what fries up crisp rather than bready.
Filling and frying
Roll the dough thin, cut it, spoon on the set custard, and fold and seal into neat parcels, then deep-fry until golden and crisp. Dust them heavily with sugar and cinnamon while still warm, the way they come off the festival stalls.
What matters in this dish
Cool the custard until firm
A warm or loose filling will slump and leak as soon as it hits the hot oil. Cook it genuinely thick and let it set completely before filling.
Do not skip the orange and mastic
The orange zest and mastic are what give shamishi their distinctive Cypriot scent. Without them the filling is just a plain semolina custard.
Keep the oil steady
Around 170C is right. Too hot and the shell browns before the parcel heats through, too cool and the pastry drinks up oil and turns greasy.
Questions people ask about Shamishi
What is Kataklysmos, and why is shamishi tied to it?
Kataklysmos is the Cypriot festival of the flood, celebrated around Pentecost, with gatherings by the sea. Shamishi are one of the sweets traditionally sold hot from stalls at these celebrations, which is how they became so linked to the festival.
What does mastic do in the filling?
Mastic is a resin from the mastic tree with a distinctive pine and cedar aroma. A tiny amount, ground, gives the custard its characteristic scent. It is optional, but it is part of what makes the filling taste traditionally Cypriot.
How is shamishi different from bourekia?
Both are Cypriot fried pastries dusted with sugar, but the filling differs: bourekia are filled with sweetened fresh anari cheese, while shamishi are filled with a set semolina custard scented with orange and mastic.
