IMAGES: ZAMBARTAS WINERY; STOCKFOOD
Five food finds
Winemaker Marcos Zambartas, the owner of Zambartas Wineries, stands among vines
ELIES TSAKISTES
These green olives, doused in coriander seeds, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil, may be hard to pronounce but they’re easy to
consume — especially with a glass of local white wine.
SKAROS
Parrotfish, which the Cypriots grill whole, innards and all. It may sound like an unappetising
proposition, but the slightly bitter taste is truly delicious.
XYNISTERI Cyprus’s most common white
grape produces a lovely aperitif, which is an excellent match for
more delicate fish. It can be fresh and floral or more complex and textured; when made well, it’s dangerously drinkable.
SHEFTALIES
This popular fast food consists of meat (usually pork and lamb) kneaded into meatballs and
wrapped in caul fat. Then it goes into warm flatbread with diced tomatoes, yoghurt and herbs.
MARATHEFTIKO
Not the easiest grape variety to pronounce, nor to produce: the
vines ripen in fits and starts. Still, for winemakers who persevere, this red variety (found only in Cyprus and rich in colour)
can be fabulous: full of cherries and sandalwood.
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nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel
Rebecca’s Viognier (surprisingly austere, for Viognier) makes a wonderful match for the sea bass. Walking off our meal, we head into the resort town of Aiya Napa, where we admire the imposing cathedral and peer into the 16th-century Kebir Mosque, its minaret poking up above the old Turkish quarter. Wandering down shady alleyways past charming shops and cafes, we begin to feel that warm, self-congratulatory glow of travellers exploring another gastronomic world. Just as Cabernet Sauvignon made here doesn’t taste like a Cab from Napa Valley or Bordeaux, so the fish, meat and vegetables that land on our plates have the specific flavours of this place — particularly the fresh sunny tomatoes, unmarred by refrigeration or air travel. In the evening, we drive into the hills
to a village with views over city and sea, to a wood-lined restaurant. Like almost everywhere in Limassol, Agios Epiktitos Tavern offers meze — here, numbering around 20 different plates: a great way to explore the menu. But the quantity is daunting. Instead, we order sparingly: zucchini and eggs; souvlakia (tasty skewered meat); and tender beef liver. A trio of guitar players circulates; the wine, from Kyperounda Winery, whose vineyards are just too distant for our visit, is delicious. Feral cats patrol the wall of the stone terrace, neon-shiny eyes watching for the copious leſtovers they’re no doubt accustomed to.
Back in town, far from such rusticity,
we find Japanese-Peruvian fusion cuisine, conjured up by a chef who found fame in New York. Matsuhisa Limassol restaurant might seem an odd choice for a gastronomic exploration of Cyprus, but arguably chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s elegant sushi and famous black miso cod — which went beautifully with the local Xynisteris and Viogniers and Maratheſtikos — were as much the taste of this island’s complicated history as hummus or souvlakia. Matsuhisa made me think of Cyprus’s
ancient conquerors. Not least, the Byzantines who popularised the use of spices such as cumin and coriander; the Arabs, who surely brought hummus with them and may also have introduced stuffed vine leaves, here called koupepia; and the Persians, whose word for ‘frying pan’, ‘tavas’, has come to name a local dish of slow-roasted beef or lamb. Louvana, a puree of yellow split peas, probably came from Greece; even Cyprus’s tacky egg-and-chips joints owe something to 20th-century holidaymaking colonisers. It seems, then, that gastronomic authenticity, like architectural beauty, is sometimes simply a case of waiting a few hundred years.
Limassol’s nearest airports include Paphos and
Larnaca, which are typically served from the UK by airlines including EasyJet.
easyjet.com. For the latest on safe travel and border restrictions, please see
fco.gov.uk
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