Cyprus Today - readers letters

[banjo]

* 'Lobster? You must be ...'
British humour at it's best, so thank you L. Clement, Ilgas. You really made me smile

[Jonnie]

for those of you that missed it. It is in reply to last weeks letter where some "well travelled" person was praising carveries and Toby Inns but I am not sure that was not a piss take either!

Reading a letter in Cyprus Today recently about the poor food on this island, I must say that I can only wholeheartedly agree. I just cannot comprehend why supermarkets simply refuse to stock such fundamental items as fresh Norwegian lobsters, and more importantly parsnips, I even start to believe there is a conspiracy to completely outlaw turnips from the vegetable shelves; tasteless tomatoes with that unique watery taste so popular in northern Europe are also shining by their absence. Don’t get me started about the peppers here, none of them have that identical, shiny plastic look and taste here, a grave mistake made by the vegetable retailers here on the island. Once I spend 4 full days looking for fresh sauerkraut, as you can guess...nowhere to be found!
As for the restaurants I was shocked to notice during recent visits that there is no ready supply of Searsons Malt vinegar and marmite on any of the tables, items without any meal is virtually inedible. During my last visit to a local restaurant I noticed that there is absolutely no Tennents Superbrew or even a bottle of Old Peculiar on the wine list, as it was my birthday I decided to spoil myself with a bottle of Blue Nun, as you can guess this most delicate wine was also missing from the list, completely spoiling my chip butty.
We should all learn a lesson from the UK where the restaurants and supermarkets have all managed to ban food like tender kleftico, molohiya, charcoal grilled seftali, home pickled olives and helim just to name a few. The supermarkets wisely made all vegetables shiny and uniform, with just the right amount of pesticides and artificial fertiliser, thus totally eredicating any possible hint of flavour, just the way the consumer is supposed to eat it. The high streets are a pleasing combination of McDonalds’ Burger Kings, Pizza Huts and cheap, msg-loaded take-away Chinese; so we don’t have to worry that we will, mistakenly, order any of that ‘foreign muck’ that seems to be so popular here in North Cyprus.
Take note North Cyprus, we are getting tired of smuggling life-saving items like turnips and brown sauce over the border in the spare tires of our cars! On a positive note, I noticed to my delight that all day cooked breakfasts are flooding the establishments here, but I think there should be a new law requiring all restaurants to introduce Sunday Roasts (with all the trimmings) on a daily basis.

[cyprusishome]

Not only were there 2 other letters having a go at last weeks letter writer, the editorial also had a go.

If last weeks letter was not a wind up then the writer will be in seclusion for the next week or three for his/her stupid comments.

[anyfir2]

Great British humour, Leon from Holland will love that!!!

[dippersgirl]

Loved it!!!

[Babutsa]

We also had a good ol'giggle as a family. I do miss British humour.

[banjo]

Thank you so much Jonnie for rewriting the readers letter in Cyprus Today, some, 2, weeks ago.
I forgot after 'British humour'. For all I know it could be a Dane writing. The name Clement is well known in many other countries than Uk. But a Dutch! So much better. And since there is more in Cyprus Today, weekend, I am not just smiling, I am
p.s.
I miss buchwurst and sauerkraut, but have not, yet, given up. I will find it here some day if I am really 'unlucky'

[BLUE BUTTERFLY]

My pal came back from the UK with the promised english butchers beef sausages, 2 packs of 8 for 3stg at Sainsburys.

My TC hubby, is a born and bred village Cypriot, with the opinion that anything not grown or killed in the village or cooked by Anne ie [mam] is poison.

I froze 1 pack and served the other, oven cooked, with cauliflower cheese, and chopped salad to my hubby, thinking there might be a couple spare for a sandwich the next day, sorry but I like cold sausage with piccalilli.

Not a chance, having manners, I eat slowly, by the time I had eaten 2, the other 6 had rapidly disappeared with the request, can we have the same again next week?

There is no problem with the food here, if you have an open mind.

[MoBry]

I've actually been telling everyone how great the food is here, after the tasteless offerings in Autralian supermarkets. I'm eating a lot more healthily in North Cyprus, love the hospitality and I've found if you're friendly and polite in shops, you get the same back. We are guests in this country, you wouldn't walk into someone else's home and start criticising. It is not up to the locals to change for us, but for us to learn to live in harmony with what is available in this small island, and if we have suggestions for improvement, to offer those suggestions in tactful ways which don't offend.

[carolhm]

Well said MoBry

[Mel7348]

Good on you MoBry.

[jayceebee]

I remember reading on Cyprus44 or similar a while ago a post put on by someone who complained about the tasteless tomatoes in Cyprus and the amount of dirt on the potatoes. No doubt they are one of the "many" who are now leaving the island...GOOD!

[Soner]

jayceebee, that's a bit harsh, lol.... but made me laugh

[Marions]

Have to disagree with Mobry. I LOVED the supermarket sin Australia, -woolworths, and Mo will know the fab shop in Mount Lawley with a delicatessan the likes of which does not exist here. So cannot agree about the tasteless supermarket food. Even 80kms south of Perth where I stayed with friends, the grub was great in the supermarket. I am onnot complaining about food here - i am more than happy as i live on salad and fruit, but take meback to Australia anyday.
Alan says ' all food is tastless is you don't cook it properly, but the selections in Australia were every bit as good as elsewhere, if not better. The produce was fresh, and in many cases superior to that which is available here.Woollies had a great selection of fresh fruit, fish and meat " Maybe over East in Oz was different.
But i am here and happy with what I have because I cannot have what I had before.
As always the phrase 'if you don't like the heat in the kitche, then get out' must apply.

[MoBry]

Have to agree to disagree, Marion, since I've used supermarkets in the east and on the west coast. The fruit and vegies in Coles and Woolworths were sprayed and modified so they'd last in the long distance transportation they travelled to destination. Fruit and vegies were available all year and that does affect taste and quality, whereas living seasonally is being in rhythm with wherever you're living. Produce was bland, unjuicy and tasteless compared to the fruit and vegies you get here. I've lost count of the number of dry apricots and inedible peaches I've had the misfortune to buy in Australia. Bananas of course were cheap unless the plantations got wiped out by cyclones in which case prices hit $15/kg, about TL8/kg. Potatoes were expensive. The only thing I really miss are blueberries. People complained bitterly about rising prices and poor quality in fruit and vegies. Produce here is affordable and just tastes so much better because it doesn't travel long distances and it's seasonal. The price of groceries was going through the roof in Australia due to the monopoly of the two major supermarkets, and the cost of meat was astronomical. At least here I can afford to eat good-tasting, seasonal food without twitching about what I could afford to buy or not buy, particularly on an age pension.

[Royalcorpsoftranspor]

I remember reading on Cyprus44 or similar a while ago a post put on by someone who complained about the tasteless tomatoes in Cyprus and the amount of dirt on the potatoes. No doubt they are one of the "many" who are now leaving the island...GOOD!

Is this a case of the pot calling the Kettle jayceebee.

Your quote(Bells are a bit pricey...but they do have goodies in that one can enjoy from time to time as you can't get them anywhere else.)

[sophie]

I was in Tempos a couples of weeks back (Karaoglanoglu branch) and was trying to purchase vegetables other than about 10 different shapes and sizes of pepper, when I notice quite a smartly dressed TC in his mid 60's talking to himself by the tomato counter. When I had given up on the veg I walked towards to toms. and realised that he was filling plastic bags with what can only rescribed as tomatoes that were unfit for human consumption. By the sixth bag I heard him call to someone and a chap walked up (not the Manager BTW). In no uncertain terms he was told exactly what the man thought of the tomatos and continued to say they were cop (pronounced chup) i.e. rubbish. I was glad I'd seen all this because there is no doubt about it some of the salad (I know toms are a fruit!!) stuff is rubbish and I don't know why we have to feel guilty for saying it.

The lemons were the size of a large walnut and it needed a carving knife to cut a slice.

Celery that appears to be made of green foam rubber (you need a frost for really good celery), tiny cucumbers that last 24 hours and then wither and turn a pale green - even if kept in the fridge.

Why do we have to be so PC, that we can't admit that some of the stuff we're are being asked to buy is rubbish? People tell me, shop in Ya Beles and I do, if and when I can see anything other than endless peppers.

Before anyone says anything I admit I used to visit all the farm shops and farmers markets that I could back in the UK and rarely bought fruit and veg from a supermarket.

[music man]

Sophie.

Don't understand why you are seeing something different to the majority here. I personally think the majority of the salad is very good here and there is more variety than you state. The fact that it doesn't last that long is because it is Fresh. Same goes for the bread. It doesn't get irradiated or injected with preservatives. That's the whole point! Try Supreme or Lemar in Catalkoy, All of their produce were perfectly OK this morning.

[MoBry]

I think, Sophie, it's in the eye of the beholder. We regularly shop at Ya Beles, it's close to us, there's a wide range of fruit, vegetables, herbs and bread, which are always in good nick, and the service is very friendly and helpful. Likewise in the supermarkets. There are no preservatives and things may be an odd shape, but on the whole most of the fruit and vegies on offer are pretty good. I've eaten far less meat here, only chicken mainly, with heaps of fruit and vegies and I've had no trouble finding good produce. I think really from all that I've seen posted by you that you don't see anything good in Cyprus, which is a shame as I've found it a lovely place to live. There's a card in the Tarot, the Hanged Man, which is about looking at the world from a different perspective, perhaps you could try looking for the good in Cyprus rather than the bad.

[Rambling Rose]

Mo is so right! The point about fresh seasonal fruit and veg is it has to be fresh and seasonal. Some of the Supermarkets do keep their produce too long - but who can blame them if people are daft enough to buy it. The trick is either to chose what is fresh and adjust your recepies accordingly, or learn when your local shop gets deliveries - or use the WEdnesday market where you will be overwhelmed for choice.

Lemons are out of season. The first ones are just appearing on my tree. At this time of year the locals accept lemons are only suitable for putting in G & T or garnish , you have to wait till the ripe ones appear . Contact me when they do and I will give you enough off my tree to keep you going (sliced or juiced or made into lemonade and frozen) to last through the short off season. They are so big and juicy you will have to divide the quantity in any English recipe by four if you use them.

Sophie is right about celery - it does need frost. I was in a Supermarket and saw celery large and clean like I used to get in England and a smartly dressed well spoken (in English) Cypriot sneered at it and said it must have been treated with a lot of hormones to get like that! You cant really eat local celery like in England dippingin salt with a tangy cheese, but win some lose some, its fine when fresh chopped up in salads.

I used to get blase about fruit in England when I could have whatever I liked when I liked, albeit tasteless. Now I really enjoy fruits as they come into season , makes such a pleasant change

[jayceebee]

Royalcorpsoftranspor ..........Is this a case of the pot calling the Kettle jayceebee.

Your quote(Bells are a bit pricey...but they do have goodies in that one can enjoy from time to time as you can't get them anywhere else.)

Not at all. The first post referred to people who can't deal with seasonal/naturally grown veg etc. - actually how anyone can think tomatoes here are tasteless I really don't know. I think at the time of the Cyprus44 post people actually asked where such tomatoes were bought so they could ensure they never made the mistake of going there!

Re Bells...the point is that it is not a shop I view as a place to do the major buy-in...that would prove very expensive. It is a place where "goodies" - be it John Dory/Smoked Haddock fillets/sliced black pudding/India Pale Ale - can be obtained for that special dinner or whatever.

[MoBry]

jayceebee - I've never eaten as many tomatoes as here in North Cyprus. They're juicy and tasty and so cheap, as are onions, cucumbers, spuds and the like. As long as you pick the tomatoes carefully, they're really splendiferous. I never bought the commercial tomatoes in Australia, absolutely tasteless, but did buy truss-grown tomatoes which weren't bad. But the scent of tomatoes here and their juiciness is beyond belief.