Now is a good time to enjoy fish
The drawing that graces this article may take older readers back to the time when you could sit by the seaside in Cyprus with hardly a tourist in sight and watch the fisherman bring their catch in to the taverna, where after a modest wait the mullet, tsipoura, bream or octopus might adorn your plate. I remember it well – a Cyprus pound for salad, tahinisalata, olives, pickles, fresh bread, good grilled fish, potatoes and wine. Perhaps you still can (not for a Pound, of course!), but I can think of places where “Fresh Fish” is advertised and what you get was freshly frozen in Thailand some months ago. Not that there is anything wrong with frozen fish – it’s often marvellous. This is about being honest with the public. Generally, it’s the tourist who gets ripped off, although local chefs tell me about a few fish traders who pass off imported as ‘local’ and, sometimes, de-frosted as fresh.
This may make you think I am off on another ‘grumble’. Not so. If you want to eat fish and seafood in Cyprus, there has never been a better time to do so. Mind you, you need a good sized wallet. Today, the modest and seasonal catches from around our coasts are supplemented by the farming of fish and shrimp (45% of all fish consumed in the world today is farmed), and the importation of fresh and frozen fish and seafood, literally from all over the world (France, Italy Greece, Scotland, Scandinavia, New Zealand, Thailand, Indonesia, to name but a few sources).
Go for a Fish Mezze to a simple taverna by the sea and it is quite possible that nothing you eat has come from the seas around Cyprus. Step up a little, to small specialist fish restaurants like Ladas and The Old Neighbourhood, both near the old port in Limassol and you will find owners who buy fresh whatever and whenever they can from fisherman or fishmongers, but they too use chiller and freezer to augment their menus. They need to, because some days the catch is small.
Up-market further and you come across state-of-the-art freezers and other kitchen equipment designed to store and cook the best that the Fjords of Norway, the Lochs of Scotland and the rivers of North America can provide. Many deal with the merchants who are flying in salmon, lobster, crab, shrimp, oysters, mussels, scallops and lots more from Europe and elsewhere. A number of restaurants come into this category – those of leading hotels, many of whom like the Enala at Le Meridien and the Limanaki at Limassol Amathus are specialist fish eateries, and ‘independents’ such as the big Varashiotis in Larnaca, Pyxida in Nicosia and Neon Phaliron in Limassol. They trawl the world for quality ingredients. To this category, we can now add the six month old ‘baby’ of the Hadjistlyianou brothers.
