Kolokasi "defeated" the halloumi!

Screenshot 2018 12 20 12.56.29 Kolokasi

The loss of the halloumi brand in the United Kingdom proves for the umpteenth time our ability to "agree that we disagree" on every matter of concern to this place. And, especially, when it comes to the spearhead of Cypriot gastronomy and traditional products, one can easily understand that things are more serious.

The struggle to secure the halloumi is long. Nevertheless, the envelope "stuck" in the quota of the product with cow's or goat's milk. Although the traditional halloumi recipe with goat's and sheep's milk seems to be historically correct (according to the data, before 1950 there were no dairy cows in Cyprus), nevertheless the efforts made were to secure the file with elements or raw materials that did not characterize it as "traditional".

This interpretation of the "traditional product" is recorded in Implementing Regulation 668/2014, Article 6, which clearly states that "the description of the production method referred to in Article 19 (1) (c) of Regulation (EU) No 1151 / 2012 includes only the applied production method. Historical practices are mentioned only if they are still applied. Only the method necessary for the production of the specific product is described in a way that makes it possible to reproduce the product anywhere ".

Therefore, the efforts made to establish a product as traditional - which is anything but - essentially result in an attempt to establish a hybrid, for which there is no historical record. If one takes into account that in the last six -at least- decades, halloumi is made with different from the historical milk mixtures, in which the cow is predominant, then the submission of a dossier could be done with the aim of maintaining the commerciality of the product and not its preservation. as an element of cultural or gastronomic heritage.

In addition, in order to secure a portfolio of a Designation of Origin (PDO) or a Product with a Geographical Indication (PGI), existing production practices are taken into account, which emphasize its particular characteristics, despite the effort to create a product from the depths of history. .

The example of mozzarella

The example of the Italians, who completed the patenting of mozzarella cheese in 1998, is well known, and in fact, in a way that can only serve as an example for halloumi. The Italian example was highlighted in a recent article by Nobel Prize-winning economist Christoforos Pissaridis. The Italians' disagreements over the famous soft cheese quota vanished when it was patented without mentioning the ingredient product. After all, as is the case with goat's milk, in Italy today there are more cows than buffaloes, whose milk has historically been the main ingredient in mozzarella. In addition, the Italians proceeded with the registration of a second envelope with the promotion of the traditional character of the cheese with the name "Mozzarella di Bufala Campana".

Encouragement of EVEA

Last week, the Famagusta Chamber of Commerce and Industry, through its announcement, called on the local authorities of the province of Famagusta to proceed with the registration of the Kokkinochorion Salt Meat product as a Product with a Designation of Origin. EVEA, on the occasion of the developments with the halloumi, wanted to encourage the handicrafts of the province of Famagusta for the registration of Pastes.

Which products were patented

The province of Famagusta has to show the important example of Kolokasios Sotiras, which was promoted and registered as a Product with a Designation of Origin since 2016, as the first Cypriot product certified as a PDO. In fact, the Municipality of Sotiras and the Cooperative Society for the Sale of Agricultural Products Sotiras proceeded to the registration of two products, the Kolokasios Sotiras and the Kolokasios-Poules Sotiras (Fak. No. CY / PDO / 005/01309). With this certification, the indirect benefits for the producers of Sotira have already started, since the conclusion of an agreement for the distribution of the product in Greece was recently completed.

Other Cypriot products, which received patent, are the Geroskipou Turkish Delight, the Geroskipou Almond Candies, the Paphitiko Sausage and the Sweet Field Rose. Under consideration are Lountza, Hoiromeri and Sausage Pitsilias from the Association of Traditional Sausage Producers of Pitsilia, as well as Rodostagma Agrou from the Cooperative Society of Rose Field Producers and Spaghetti Smilas and Tertziarolthos Sylloukia

Source: SIMERINI newspaper of Sunday (16/12/2018)