Take a dash of Calcutta. Add a sprinkle of Lahore. Season it with a touch of Colombo. Spice it all up with a squeeze of Manila and a dash of Warsaw.
Cyprus is now home to more nationalities than at any other time in its history. And for food lovers that means Nirvana.
Here are some of the mouth-watering tastes now available on the shelves of ethnic supermarkets.
Nicosia
Alaaedin Halal
In old Nicosia, fancy shops and cafes now exist side by side with little supermarkets, butchers and kiosks, their goods displayed in a whole variety of languages: Tagalog, Polish, Russian and Arabic.
“There are so many Arab people in Nicosia and in Cyprus, the fact that we need these places to feel closer to home, cannot be ignored,” said a customer at the Alaaedin Halal butchers.
Situated near the Oxi roundabout, the halal butchers is one of many which have recently opened in the old town. “I opened the butchery two years ago because I knew there was a need for something like this. We now have around 50 to 60 customers a day coming in,” says owner Nabbel Sakkal.
The butchers, which boasts a range of meat including lamb, beef, chicken and fish, is where most Muslims in Nicosia come to buy fresh meat after praying at the mosque located near by.
“The meat is from Cyprus. They come here because we prepare it in various ways with herbs and spices,” says Sakkal.
Customers can choose how they want their meat prepared. Spices are imported from Syria. “The spices, I can’t get here in Cyprus so I travel to Syria and buy them from there.”
Where: Alaaedin Halal Meat. Trikoupi Street, Nicosia
The Polish Supermarket
When a small Polish mini-market opened in Nicosia nearly two years ago, it was seen as a necessity. The Poles who had flocked to the island in search of work needed feeding.
Ilona Skordi, who has lived in Cyprus for years, is the owner of two Polish supermarkets on the island.
“I had thought of opening a market specialising in Polish food years ago but there weren’t that many people to cater for,” she says. “However, ever since Cyprus and Poland joined the European Union, there were suddenly all these people who were requesting something like this and thankfully, I was able to do it.”
The mini-market, which is located in central Nicosia, is a hotspot for many Polish people but also attracts Russians, Austrians, Germans and Serbians. “All these countries boast similar foods, recipes and products and because we have such a vast range imported straight from Poland, a lot of foreigners from a number of countries prefer us.”
Indeed, the market’s shelves are packed with all sorts of products including cold meats, juices, vodkas, spices, sausages and even Polish baking powder. “We even have specific Polish dairy products such as yoghurts, which aren’t sold anywhere else on the island,” explains Ilona.
Where: The Polish Supermarket. 4A Ayia Eleni St, Nicosia
By Eleni Antoniou
Paphos
MP Centre
The MP Centre chain supplies all the essential culinary needs of our Filipino, Sri-Lankan and Indian residents. If you like cooking spicy food, this is quite simply an excellent place to visit.
The small shop in Paphos is alive with the scent of chilies, ginger, coconut and tamarind. The herbs and spices stocked here range from mild to incredibly strong. In this house of flavours, you can choose from a wide variety of dried fish, chutneys, pastes, flour, lentils, snacks and noodles. One of the best buys has to be the Thai Pride coconut milk in the convenient mini 165ml tin, for 30 cents, 50gm packet of dill seeds at 60cents and soya sauce for 50 cents. There’s proper malagkit rice flour, bargain bags of basmati rice, packets of dried shrimp, curry leaves, roasted curry powder, bottles of spicy banana ketchup and thick anchovy sauce.
It’s a truly wonderful shop with a huge range of goodies waiting for those who would rather hunt down a decent level of authenticity than lazily unscrew the cap on a mass-produced ready meal sauce jar.
There’s also a wide range of indigenous beauty products, soaps and coconut hair oils.
The staff is incredibly friendly and more than willing to help the confused culinary shopper by taking the time to help you track down a specific ingredient or suggest a recipe.
Hot Shrimp Pickle.
20 large shrimp
2 large onions chopped fine
2 cm fresh ginger chopped fine
5 cloves of garlic chopped fine
2 green chilies chopped fine
3 tsp turmeric powder
3 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
½ tsp mustard seeds
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp vinegar.
Heat oil in pan. Add shrimps, chili powder, pepper and salt.
Cover and cook for 15-20mins.
Add onion, green chili garlic and ginger, mix well until onion is browned.
Reduce heat and add vinegar then stir fry for 5-10 mins.
Where: Inside the Titania shopping centre. Apostolou Pavlou St.
Tel 26 912157
Jackie Ma
Jackie Ma was one of the first Chinese restaurants to open in Paphos and a decade later is still going strong.
Sensing a need for quality imported food products from China, Jackie later opened a store with a range of goodies that will transform soulless chicken and meat dishes into true Jackie Ma taste bud delights.
Only the best imported foodstuffs are on display with known brands such as Amoy and Simtom, offering hoisin, plum and chili bean sauces, teriyaki marinade and proper wasabi paste. You will also find roasted seaweed sheets, Japanese mirin and fish sauce, good quality sesame oil and a large range of noodles.
If, like me, you hate those awful wooden rough chopsticks you get with a takeaway Chinese meal, from Jackie Ma you can buy a pack of six smooth wooden chopsticks for a mere 80 cents. Some of the prices are much cheaper than similar goods on sale in supermarkets, so it’s well worth a visit if you want to cook Japanese and Chinese recipes.
Hoisin sauce recipe.
12 chicken wings
1tbs honey
4tbs hoisin sauce
3tbs warm water
? tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1 spring onion (minced)
1 slice fresh ginger (minced)
Marinade wings for ½ hour in mix of honey, hoisin sauce, water, salt, pepper, garlic, onion and ginger.
Heat oven to 350?C. Place wings on baking sheet and bake for 30-35 mins turning and brushing occasionally with the marinade.
Where: opposite the fire station and next to Kentucky Fried Chicken en route to Yeriskipou. Tel 26 930648
By Jill Campbell Mackay
Limassol
TCP Seafood Shops
The Australian seafood store in Limassol is a bit of a misnomer given that its huge variety of frozen fish is sourced entirely through Billingsgate, London. It’s just as famous for supplying Cyprus’ discerning meat lovers with a variety of their favourite products from across the globe.
Fish were originally imported from down under when the Limassol store opened three years ago, hence the antipodean moniker. However, the company now trades as ‘TCP Seafood Stores’ and has added a larger outlet in Paphos, due to feature a ‘Delicatessen Bar’ in the near future.
One of TCP’s partners, Lysandros Papacosta, explains why there was a need for the store. “Ninety-nine per cent of our customers are ex-pats and the idea from the beginning was to bring them products previously unknown to Cyprus. We are dealing with high quality food and it’s expensive; but there are certain products which you cannot get anywhere else,” he says.
Amongst the vast fish range is whole Canadian lobster, Australian Barramundi, fat juicy scallops and numerous cephalopods, whilst the meat freezer is choc-a-bloc with gastronomic treats such as Welsh lamb, free range goose, guinea fowl and traditional – albeit froze
n – haggis, flown straight in from the glens. New products are added if there is sufficient customer demand, although Lysandros says he has not yet bowed to several bizarre requests for British lard, specifically Crisp & Dry.
With Christmas just around the corner TCP is already taking orders for the usual traditional seasonal fare of free-range turkey and goose, the latter in particular demand from Nordic expats. All of which of course would not be complete without the extra touches like high-quality cranberry sauce and condiments.
A tradition of recipe sharing has grown between the shop’s customers and a few ideas are displayed in-store for those adventurous enough to extend their culinary skills beyond fish and chips. Cod loins are the enduring favourite of English customers whilst the Scots yearning for beef from the highlands have made these two of TCP’s biggest sellers.
Fried scallops
serves 4
60ml/4 tablespoons lemon juice
15ml/1 tablespoon cooking oil
5 ml/1 teaspoon salt
2.5 ml/½ teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
8 shelled scallops
2 eggs, beaten
50g/2 oz dried breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons grated cheese
Oil for frying
1 lemon cut into wedges
Mix together the lemon juice, oil, salt, paprika and parsley then add the scallops and marinade at room temperature for 1 hour.
Drain the scallops and dry on kitchen towel before dipping into the beaten egg.
Mix the breadcrumbs with the grated cheese, and then dip the scallops into the mixture.
Deep-fry for 3 to 5 minutes or until deep golden brown. Drain on kitchen towels and garnish with lemon
Where: Limassol, Ap.Petrou & Pavlou Street. Telephone 25334565.
Paphos, Arch. Makariou III, Yeriskipou. Telephone 26960179
Free delivery on orders over £50
The German Bakery
Co-owned by Roland Donath, (appropriately pronounced ‘Donat’ in German), the Germany Bakery in Limassol has a multinational following of customers.
They will go to great lengths to get their hands on the German bread produced in addition to the standard fare of Cypriot products. The key to the bakery’s success is apparently all down to the flour, a special mix imported straight from the Vaterland.
German born Angelika Ioannou has worked for the bakery since it opened and until then had been unable to find products made to the same standard as those of her homeland.
She explains what makes German baking unique. “Greek bread is made just with white flour and it’s not as good for your health. Our products are made with wholemeal or rye, different kind of flours that we can’t get here because they don’t make them that way. It is tastier and healthier.”
A wide selection of wholemeal and multigrain loaves and rolls appear on most customer shopping lists and are sold alongside several permutations of the omnipresent pretzel, including Laugenbrezel milkana-k?sef?llong, a version stuffed with cheese. A staple of the Bavarian breakfast, Angelika suggests the baked snack can be eaten at anytime. “But especially at Oktoberfest and with beer. All the kids, everybody likes them,” she says.
The bakery’s cakes and pastries include diabetic varieties and delicious soft and flaky ‘schweinohren’, or ‘pig’s ears’, so called for their unusual shape.
However, the sweet treat frequently on customer’s lips is the store’s traditional Schwarzw?lder Kirsch torte or black forest gateau, although Angelika refused to reveal the island source of the bakery’s celebrated dessert.
If searching for something a little more exotic than the usual gyro, then a made-to-order sandwich stuffed with German sausage such as knackwurst or mettwurst might hit the mark, or you may prefer to take home a jar of ‘Die Th?ringer’, a concoction of pork meat suspended in liquid fat traditionally spread on German bread.
Following the Limassol store’s meteoric rise in popularity there are plans to open a chain of outlets in other towns making the quest for home-styled products a little less of a hike for the country’s loyal bread lovers.
Romanian store assistant Zena Hajiphani offers a simple recipe idea for Schnitzel using a bag of the bakery’s mix of sweet white and wholemeal German breadcrumbs which she says give the dish an extra edge of flavor.
Take any kind of meat and using a meat hammer beat each portion down to a thickness of 1cm.
Add your favorite herbs and spices to the meat, for example fresh garlic and chilli.
Dip the seasoned meat into flour, coat with some beaten egg and cover with the German breadcrumbs, before frying until golden brown.
Miniature versions make great warm party snacks and are an ideal wintertime alternative to olives and dips.
Where: 90 Griva Digeni Street, Limassol
Telephone 25588787
by Melissa Reynolds
Larnaca
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A stroke of Russian hospitality grabbed me whilst visiting the Russian supermarket located in the centre of Larnaca beside the old market square.
The Russian store has been open for three years but was recently taken over by new proprietor, Elena Panayiotou.
“The store is useful and serves the large Russian community of the Larnaca area,” she says.
It consists of a delicatessen, with conserves, imported fish – not as salty as other types – Russian caviar, and, of course, Russian vodka. Many other things are sold too and upstairs on the mezzanine, there are Russian DVDs, newspapers, magazines and books – and Russian dolls.
I was offered a drink and a taster of a Classic Magija, a frozen glazed bar of cottage cheese with vanillin.
“Most of our customers are Russian, but there are also Greek customers and other locals who visit us. Many ex-students from Russia, Bulgaria and Romania purchase items here that they miss since becoming accustomed to them whilst living temporarily in those countries,” she says.
Russian Salad Vinaigrette
Potatoes, carrots, beetroot, gherkins, onions, Russian peas from jar sold in the shop, salt and pepper
Wash, peel and boil potatoes, carrots and beetroot and cut into cubes.
Cut gherkins and onions into similar sized pieces.
Place all into a salad bowl.
Add Russian peas.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Mix together and serve immediately.
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By Sarah Antoniou
