CYPRUS GOURMET: A Happy Return

During our 21-year sojourn in Cyprus, my wife and I came busily engaged in Cyprus life. After consultancy work in the Middle East had been thwarted by the first Gulf war in 1991, I turned to writing about the food, wine, places and people of Cyprus. About the same time, an unwanted donkey was given to us and inadvertently founded the Cyprus Donkey Sanctuary which my wife ran until 2007, in which there were invariably more than 120 residents. Through these twin activities we came to know the country and people of all walks of life well.
So, although Mary and I had been fully occupied during our residence in the village of Vouni, it was very much with the feelings of a tourist that we flew into Larnaca last month. In common with many others, we had gone on-line and bought a package of flights and two weeks B&B hotel accommodation. Our choice was a hotel we had known well over many years, Le Meridien, where we had booked in entirely “incognito”.
By the time we had checked in, unpacked, freshened-up and taken our seats in La Nautile restaurant, it was 9.00 p.m. As we studied the four-course Table d’Hôte menu, the restaurant manager came over with a broad smile of recognition on his face.
This was the first of dozens of similar, friendly encounters of the following two weeks: neighbours and friends from the village, wine-makers, caterers, people who worked with is at the donkey sanctuary and many others. It seemed we had slipped seamlessly from one home to another.
Had things changed? Superficially, not much. But the sureness, confidence and ebullience of Cypriots seemed to have taken a hard knock. Among business people, attitudes ranged from very cautious optimism to downright pessimism for the future.
I wanted answers to questions.
• Had the economic crash caused a change in attitudes? Like working together, for example?
• Had the crisis had a catalytic factor in tourism? Like making Cyprus a brand backed by a marketing strategy?
After talking to dozens of people I know and had worked with for many years, the answers to both questions was NO. For example, I didn’t hear one word in support of the CTO, whose “message” failed to reach me both before I came and whilst I was in the country, or for any other group or business association.
Rugged individualism prevails in the hotel and catering business, as it does in the wine industry. Less charitable people might call it “bloody-mindedness”. Few people have awareness of or interest in what their competitors/colleagues are doing and many are openly dismissive of them. The tourism “experts” still write about the attractions old and new that make Cyprus a place for the world’s tourists when they ought to be examining what’s on offer elsewhere and planning accordingly.
Cyprus is just as much the country of the plastic bag as ever it was – they blow about everywhere from city street, to motorway and mountain path. Walk outside many 5-star hotels and you will encounter dust and grime on the street, broken and uneven pavements and a feeling of mess. Well known – famous even – hotels, restaurants and public places look tired and shabby. In contrast, resorts and amenities in Cyprus’s nearest competitor look good, and they are less expensive by 40% or more.
To a visitor from Britain, Cyprus is now expensive. A cup of coffee may be had in a lovely sea-side location, but at anything from four to seven Euros a time it’s not on.
In the good days when the millions came for their time in the sun, making the people rich, the Cypriots were strongly individualistic and opinionated, certain of their worth and their place in the world. They are still individualistic, but they are now uncertain, about present conditions and of the future. They find the new realism unpleasant. Leadership is required, as is a strategy for each sector of the economy. Cyprus must become a brand that is skilfully marketed.
Nevertheless I have positive feelings about the visit. It was good to be back among friends, like…
• Professionals: Rob Shipman, supremo chef at the Annabelle and Almyra Paphos, back for a second stint in Cyprus; former somellier now restaurants manager at Le Meridien, Miroslav Kalinic; the man I called The Old Vic, the doyen of wine importers, Victor Papadopoulos… and, of course, the marvellous mistress of Cyprus cooking, Ariadne at Vasa.
• Some of the people who voluntarily gave their time to help at the donkey sanctuary my wife set up in Vouni village in1994, so creating greater awareness of and interest in animal welfare.
• Just a few – time was limited – of the winemakers whose start-ups and careers I have followed and reported on since 1993.
• The patient, open-all-hours car hire gentleman at Erimi, the famous George of George’s Taxis.
• Cyprus food – super! Cyprus wine – progressing well!
Having driven hundreds of kilometres in the two weeks, I have to praise the wonderful – and so often almost traffic-free – motorways and roads, surely a jewel in the crown for the tourism planner?
More about all of this next week.