Cyprus is hardly a fast-food nation, but we do have our very own chain. ELENI ANTONIOU speaks to Sami Eid of Sam’s Food
He handed me a letter and told me to read it. The writer was a young boy studying in Japan telling his mother about all the happenings in the big city. One paragraph, however, was dedicated to a popular kebab house in Cyprus. The boy explained how he missed the delicious kebabs and was running low on stock as he had frozen a dozen to take with him to the Far East. Sami Eid, owner of Sam’s Food kebab chain stores, looked up and with a smile said: “This is how and why Sam’s Food is so successful.”
Despite the movie industry’s attempts to slam fast food by picking on the likes of McDonalds, Burger King and KFC with Fast Food Nation and Supersize Me, it seems the world is not ready to let go just yet. Fast food is a way of life for millions of people in the developed world and whether you love or loathe it, there’s a certain permanence about this 20th century phenomenon. Burgers are produced in the blink of an eye although Cyprus seems to be heading in a different direction: kebabs!
Sam’s Food dates back to 1985 when Sami Eid opened the first ‘restaurant’ in Limassol, offering a unique range of cuisine. Kebabs have been around for ages with Turkey popularising them in the UK and the States but Sam’s Food offered something new: it was Lebanese. The variety of eastern products such as aubergines, chick peas, tomatoes, nuts, burghul, sesame and other ingredients soon had Cypriots wanting more and by 2000 Sami had opened seven fast food outlets around the island.
Back to 1985 when the family were struggling. That is, until the Limassol carnival. “Everyone was hesitating before that day pushing aside Lebanese food as they weren’t used to it then,” Sami’s daughter, Olga explained. “But that day changed our lives. The streets were packed with people and they just started wandering in. From making £10 to £16 a day, we were suddenly making between £500 and £600.” Word got around and two years later, Sami opened his first store in Nicosia. By 2000 he was selling 1,000 kebabs a day. “I had put £3,000 into that first restaurant,” Sami said, “I was risking a lot, especially in those days as I was a foreigner and I had to put everything in my wife’s name.”
Sami hadn’t any previous knowledge or experience in cooking or making kebabs but after a couple of months experimenting, he decided to go ahead. “I would have friends and family try my sandwiches and tell me what they thought. After hearing ‘this needs more salt’ and ‘this is too dry’, I came up with my own formula that kids, teenagers, young and old people ended up liking.” What is it? He wouldn’t say but insists that even if he did tell people, they would probably still get it wrong. “Whenever you cook, even if you follow the recipe strictly, you’ll probably still get it wrong,” he said. “It’s all in the way you bring the ingredients together.”
Every Sam’s Food ‘restaurant’ has trained employees who have been personally taught by Sam how a Lebanese kebab should be prepared. His daughter, Olga, works at Sam’s Food central in Limassol. “It’s quite a joy really, especially when you have regular customers. They come in for a chat and a bite and like seeing familiar faces behind the counter.” Sam employees around 25 people and is quick to note the satisfaction his workforce gets. “It’s not at all hot, even though people think it’s torture working in front of the grills all day,” said one employee while another added: “You get to see hundreds of different people everyday, there’s a TV and if you’re tired or there aren’t any customers you can sit down.”
Perhaps the most important step in Sami’s career was the day he broke the Guinness World Record for the world’s biggest doner kebab. In 2001, Sami and his team put together a 1,503 kg piece of raw chicken, which was cooked on a two-metre skewer. In 2005, however, Sami wanted more and broke his own record by cooking a 1,700 kg and 1.7 metre kebab. It was also an attempt to raise money for charity. “People thought I was joking at first but I had given it careful consideration and knew I could do it,” he said shuffling through newspaper clippings on his success from all over the world, including Japan.
Having struggled through the bird flu and “the sudden vegetarian attack that is sweeping through Cyprus”, Sam’s Food is still very much on top of the game. “Well, we’re much cheaper than other kebab restaurants and even souvlakia cost more,” Olga explained, “but we’re not going to change our prices unless we have to.”
Sami sits in the corner of his store just off Makarios Avenue in Nicosia watching the world go by. “Would you like a kebab?” he asks. “Oh, yes please,” I say, watching an artist at work.
