Byzantine cuisine

Wine-drinking vessels, bowls, and animal bones were found inside it.

Cyprus' Minister for Agriculture Petros Xenophontos told the European Union's Agriculture and Fisheries Council on Tuesday that halloumi cheese should be exported to Australia duty-free. He was participating in a discussion on negotiations toward an EU-Australia Free Trade Agreement.

A traditional Turkish seafood dish called "Sinop lakerda," which reflects thousands of years of marine and fishing culture of the northern province of Sinop, has become the first seafood product ever to receive a geographical indication.

"Sinop lakerda" is a pickled dish prepared by slicing toric or large bonito fish, native to the Black Sea region.

Greece lost a fight to set a lower excise tax on two traditional spirits tsipouro and tsikoudia versus imported products after Europe's top court on Thursday backed the European Commission's view that such preferential treatment would breach EU laws.

An illegal distillery has been discovered in Fthiotida, central Greece, the Financial Crimes Squad (SDOE) said Tuesday. The distillery, which produced the grape-based tsipouro spirit, was located in a warehouse. Some 1,700 liters of tsipouro were seized at the site.

Officers also arrested the local owner of the distillery and two Albanian men who were working there.

Vast underwater Roman ruins have been discovered off northeast Tunisia, apparently confirming a theory that the city of Neapolis was partly submerged by a tsunami in the 4th century AD.

"It's a major discovery," Mounir Fantar, the head of a Tunisian-Italian archaeological mission which made the find off the coast of Nabeul, said.

Traditional Greek spirits like raki, ouzo and tsipouro are attracting more drinkers in Greece as they are more affordable for those struggling financially due to the crisis, according to recent research which found that the cheaper spirits have also become the preferred drink among those suffering from alcoholism.