November is blue, sunshine and.... breeziness.... or at least so far. The weather really is beautiful and perfect for gardening and jobs which is just what we've been doing. A couple of years ago we installed an automatic watering system to help keep the plants going through the summer. Now that we have planted out new trees and shrubs we need to ensure they are going to survive. Bob has installed a third watering line to the pumped system to just cover the new "orchard". Adding a new line has also made a big difference to the water delivery on the other lines which are now under less strain. The mornings are clearer now with the extreme heat passed. One benefit is that the sea haze has cleared away and we can see Turkey very clearly across the sea. The pictures left were taken from my bedroom balcony. We had an interesting visit this week from some escaped donkeys which seem to have come down the valley from the village. We heard them clip-clopping and Bob went outside and there they were. Followed within minutes by a man with a lasso to take them home. This morning Bob ate one of the grapefruit from our tree for breakfast. Hopefully next year our guests will be able to pick oranges, grapefruit, figs, almonds, myrtle berries, lemons.... oh.... yes.... and the melons growing by accident from washing up water!!!! |
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The weather here continues very hot and dry. It's been a long dry summer and you can see it in the parched look of the countryside. Cyprus has long suffered from water shortages which leads to rationing over the summer months and large areas of the island being made unsuitable for agriculture. In particular the Mesaoria Plain, the huge area of land which lies between the Troodos and the Besparmak Mountains is a dry, arid flatland currently. The water rationing does not affect our house because we have an enormous (20 tonne) holding tank fed by the mains which protects our supply during the 3 days off/1 day on summer period. However, in a small way, compared to the benefits to farmers, having water for irrigation would make a massive difference to the garden. We have installed a grey water irrigation system but this is often not enough during the long dry months of summer.
That is hopefully all about to change! On Saturday an amazing engineering feat came to fruition with the opening of the water pipeline linking northern Cyprus to Turkey. The huge pipeline runs 50 miles under the sea at a depth of 250m and delivers 75 million cubic metres of water a year to the reservoirs here on the north east coast. There is enough to maintain this supply for the next 50 years. The water which has already started to flow will be divided roughly 50/50 between domestic users and for farmers' irrigation. In particular, Mesaoria will be irrigated giving thousands of acres of new agricultural land. Named the Pipeline of Peace, the water will also be available to the south of the island on any re-unification, that has always been part of the promise. We can in any case look forward to a far better supply both of domestic water and range of vegetables and fruit - already fantastic. The irrigation of previously unusable farming land will create a possible surplus for export. Of course there are some political quibbles. The management procedures had been agreed in 2011 when the work began but very recently a group of Cypriot mayors who traditionally control water allocation here decided they would like to manage the pipeline as well. Understandably, the Turkish consortium who built it are very much less than enthused by this idea. Frankly most of us who experience the "expertise" of the Cypriot local government system would also rather the Turkish consortium ran the pipeline LOL! No doubt a feelings-saving compromise has been agreed. In any case, the water is flowing. And of course, there have been howls of protest from politicians in the Greek south who view the entire project as a further Turkish incursion. No matter that the water will benefit the island and has been promised - publically promised - to all areas after re-unification. But then, we must remember that a couple of years ago, in the summer, when the Republic blew up its only power station by allowing a ship carrying illegal arms to be moored next to it for some years, the Archbishop refused all air conditioning to be allowed because it would mean buying electricity - on offer - from the "Occupied". This is akin to condemning people, say in Siberia, to live without heating: the old and vulnerable die. Sigh...... So, let the water flow on..... the Green Island is going to get greener.
So.... this is the difference between a holiday in Villa Rockheart and our stays in the villa :) Yesterday we had to run off and spend the morning doing admin things..... Today, we had to do housework and clean ready for new guests arriving tomorrow night. I have a large store of bed linen and towels so first of all a complete bed change, towel change, bathmats etc. When I'm here I can wash the towels in the washing machine. Bed linen goes off to the laundry. Not because I couldn't wash and dry it, but because I draw the line at the ironing :) Everyone likes nice crisp ironed bedding but it's a pain to do. There are lots of laundries here who do a much better job of it than me so...... Then vacuumed and mopped through. Bob emptied the bins, swept the terraces, tidied the loungers and pool toys. Rick, the pool guy came up and did his Tuesday clean and treat. It was hot so we had a lot of breaks in between all of this. And swims. And reads.... but by about 4 everything was ship shape.
Our nice man from Gunray car rentals came up and dropped us off the letter we need to take the hire car over the border tomorrow. We have to buy a special insurance at the border and this letter is necessary. It gives us permission basically. The insurance will be good for a month so we will have a few trips south to make it worthwhile. Downloaded more from BBC and ITV tonight and watched on the tv. Great to be able to keep up to date. Can't get Sky programmes. To get SKY in Cyprus you need a 1.8m dish and frankly I draw the line..... Houses that have them look like Jodrell Bank. So tomorrow we are driving south across the border and will visit ancient Kourion and have a day around Limassol before picking Mick and Maureen up at Larnaca in the evening. We British have never taken easily to outside cooking. Even when we lived in caves and then huts, we stubbornly smoked out our living space with cooking fires. Let’s face it. Our weather isn’t very conducive to slaving over an open fire, much of the year. In Mediterranean lands, the opposite has been the case: historically, the Romans, Greeks and other peoples sited their kitchens outside as a protection against fire and to make a more pleasant cooking environment. In any case, they spent much of their time outside in the fresher air of the garden or countryside rather than huddling round the fire hiding from the rain like us. Anyone who’s tried to cook in the normal 40C heat of a Cypriot summer will appreciate the benefits instantly. In Cyprus we still see this tradition with many of the older houses displaying outside (as well as inside) kitchens, communal village bakeries and of course the ubiquitous bbq grill. The domed shaped wood burning oven can be seen all over the island in all sizes. Bakeries will have an array of them. So, in the spirit of “when in Cyprus” …… we made part of our garden terrace an outside kitchen area with a large brick built bbq and a traditional wood burning oven. One of the huge pleasures of living in this part of the world is the ability to be able to eat all meals outside nearly all year. It only makes sense that the cook can also share in this pleasure!!! Whilst we are all now familiar with bbq cooking even in Britain, most of us have no experience with the delights of the traditional oven. I know Jamie’s got one and is passionate about it but have you seen the price of them???? Thousands of pounds….. For us the good news was that because all the Cypriots have one, the price in Cyprus starts at about £100 delivered. Wood can be had for the gathering or you can buy it. Of course no self-respecting Cypriot would buy it. All my enquiries of where wood could be purchased met with a look of utter confusion and bemusement, then, outright laughter….. “Just go to the woods” or “Pick it up along the road”. They didn’t actually say “DUH….” But it was right there…. Teetering on their grinning lips, peeking through the twinkle in their eyes. So, we do occasionally buy a load but we also have turned into ardent foragers, stopping the car and filling the boot with dead wood from the roadsides. Somehow this makes it even more fun! So, what do we use the wood burning oven for? Well, you can use it for everything, even grills. We tend to use it for bread, pizza, roasted meats and casseroles. I can’t tell you how utterly brilliant it is to remove a wonderfully aromatic, garlic studded leg of lamb from the confines of the oven, its meat flaking off in melting lusciousness with just a little hint of smoke in there with the herbs. Or to make fresh pizza in literally 2 minutes and then sit down and eat it poolside. It’s a thousand times better than what you can make in your normal home oven even if you make it from scratch there. Why? Well, the wood burner gets much hotter than your oven ever could and so the pizza base goes crisp almost immediately sealing itself against sogginess while the top melts very quickly, keeping maximum flavour and juiciness. Wait till you see the kids’ faces! And it’s so easy! Best of all, the only slightly difficult bit i.e. building and tending the fire is something that all men love doing. It brings back that caveman thing or something. So….. let them do all that over a beer while the sun sets, you can just prepare the pizzas which is a matter of minutes (or can be) and then….. bish bosh in they go and out they come! After dinner, there is no oven cleaning (not that you’d do much of that on holiday anyway but still…..). Next time He-Who-Builds-the-Fire goes to light it, he just sweeps the ash out and puts it on the garden. Any grease or debris just carbonises to ash in the heat of the oven. It’s genius. See…. That’s the Jamie coming out…… So, how to make your own pizzas for the family and become even more of a goddess than you already are: first, you could make your own pizza bases, it’s easy and fun and delicious and I do that always….. but…. You’re on holiday…. Maybe you don’t want to do that…. So, in the supermarkets they sell pizza bases or sometimes they call them pide bases. They’re the thin and crispy sort. If you’re a deep dish sort of family….sorry….you’ll have to make your own. Get a selection of toppings you like: sausage, pepperoni, olives, vegetables, leftover chicken, tuna, fresh herbs. You will need some tomato paste (more on this in a minute) and cheese. I tend to use two sorts of cheese because I like A LOT of cheese on my pizza. Firstly, the really melty sort which is going to turn into oozy puddles on top – mozzarella traditionally. Now you can use mozzarella, it’s available but much better is to use the halloumi or hellim from Cyprus. Almost as melty as mozzarella and much, much cheaper because it was made up the mountain, locally. Then I often sprinkle over another cheese on top. It could be grated cheddar but again, when in Cyprus…. So I use the white cheese which is like a cross between goat and cottage cheese and sold in rather anonymous plastic bags in the supermarket. It’s what the Cypriots use in everything from pizza to a cheese roll or pie. They call it White Cheese! Now about the tomato paste…. You could buy a tin or jar of passata in the supermarket but, hey, we’ve got an electric juicer in the kitchen and tomatoes are just fantastically flavourful and so, so cheap in Cyprus. Honestly, like 10p a kilo most of the year. So, what I do is, I run a whole load through the juicer to make tomato juice which my husband loves and is very good for him. All men over 40 should have a daily tomato juice to keep their prostate gland healthy. The juicer will also produce loads of tomato pulp as a by-product. Don’t throw it away! I put it in Tupperware in the fridge or freezer and then it is the perfect pizza topping. Fresh, flavourful, ready and free! I also use it as the basis for Italian style pasta sauces or in stews or on toasted bread as bruschetta. So, out with the base, on with the paste, sprinkle over the toppings ending with the cheese and herbs. By now the oven should be heated up (it takes about an hour to get it super-hot for pizza). It should blast your face when you open the door and the roof should show white ash inside. Push all the wood and ash back to the edges of the oven leaving a space in the middle. Don’t worry about any fine bits of ash dust left on the oven floor, they are fine and won’t affect your pizza at all. The extreme heat sterilises it all. The oven will be at about 600-700 degrees F. Put the pizza onto the pizza paddle. Open the door of the oven and slide the pizza onto the oven floor. Shut the door. Wait literally 1.5 to 2 minutes. Open the door and take the pizza out. Enjoy the rapture! |
AuthorThe Boler family love travel, food and drink. Not necessarily in that order! The villa is our home from home which we love to share with our friends, old and new. Archives
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