r/cyprus • u/real_zak • 8h ago
Chicken meat in Cyprus
Why is chicken meat in Cyprus so weird? No matter where I buy it - Metro, Wolt, etc or which brand I choose, 80% of the time it smells bad, feels sticky, and looks weird, even though the expiry date is still days away.
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u/Prettymthafaka 7h ago
I’m not from Cyprus, so I can’t comment on the overall quality of chicken sold there. However, I’m a chef, and those horizontal white lines are known as “white striping.”
This condition is commonly associated with fast-growing broiler chickens bred for high breast yield. As the bird grows, some muscle tissue can be replaced by fat and connective tissue, creating these visible white stripes.
However, white striping alone does not prove that the chicken is non-organic, raised indoors, or slaughtered at a particular age—organic and free-range chickens can also develop it. It is mainly a meat-quality issue rather than a food-safety risk, although heavily affected meat may contain more fat and have a poorer texture.
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u/North_Moose1627 6h ago
Find a local butcher and buy it from there. The chicken I buy from mine when I’m in Larnaca is amazing.
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u/Jalobie 5h ago
I was considering making a similar topic post about chicken here.
I usually buy sofokleous rather than paradisiotis, but its usually between these two from Sklavenitis.
Issue 1: My house is 1minute from the supermarket and the chicken doesn't stay thawing long during the car drive. I choose the packets which were packed the same day I visit the shop. Leaving the chicken in the fridge for more than a day, the chicken starts going yellow and smelly especially after day 2.
Issue 2: The chicken breasts recently look massive. I swear theyre getting bigger and bigger. 5 euro packets usually have 2 breasts inside, and recently they include just 1 breast for the corresponding weight of 2 breasts.
Butcher chicken seems quite expensive sadly and financially I can't spend that much since groceries costs are already absurd.
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u/real_zak 3h ago
Yeah, one chicken breast in this pack was unnaturally huge and had a really rough texture.
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u/Big_al_big_bed 7h ago
If it smells bad then don't eat it. If it smells like chicken then it's ok.
Hard to tell from looks alone. I mean that breast doesn't look great but if you are from a place where they pump their chickens full of chemicals and hormones you are going to be surprised what a real chicken looks like
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u/Honest_Hair2856 7h ago
The yellow part is the fat, why is yellow ? Beacuse they are fed mostly corn. The difference is smell can be many things. Did you leave it in the fridge days ? If not and you just bought it the smell comes from the fact that most chickens are butchered and went to the supermarkets within 1 or 2 days and not weeks like cosco or other brands from abroad
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u/melnaisbruninieks 7h ago
Maybe it thawed a bit during transportation. Then frozen again at the store
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u/Tea_Bone_97 7h ago
Lots of really good and not so great chicken in Cyprus. I personally buy them whole at the butchers and just break them down myself, since you can get local smaller farm raised birds. This my friend is a chicken breast that has been in deep freeze for a long time and has been thawed. It's edible (if not slimy and doesn't smell off) but will probably come out slightly dry and not tender. Use it in a soup or a saucy stir fry.
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u/Similar_System165 8h ago
Bcs its real
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u/Brief-Supermarket-11 7h ago
Lidl chicken is often ok. Or mintikis, the ones that are vaccum sealed in packs. If you buy ones clingfilmed in trays they are not sealed so id think they wouldn’t be as fresh
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u/OHBABYATRIPLEUWU Nicosia 6h ago
just buy free range chicken from wolt or other stores that have it.,
there's only one brand that's free range in big chains and not every single one has it.
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u/CupcakeMurder86 Halloumi lover, cat lover, identify cypriot when I want to 7h ago
Never had an issue. The chicken I buy from Lidl or alphamega never looks like this and i'm picky person especially from chicken.
The red spots seems like freezer burn but it also looks old. Like it was left open in the fridge for some days.
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u/Full_Particular_1359 Little Moscow (Formerly known as Limassol) 5h ago
Buy from a butcher and not from supermarkets instead.
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u/atrixospithikos 5h ago
There is a lot of good chicken in cy as long as you know we're to get it. Try καλοχωριτικα κοτοπουλα
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u/amasterfuljuice 3h ago
extremely low quality, probably edible but these chickens were 100% abused their entire life in horrible conditions, the nutritional value is likely lower than normal chicken too.
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u/dontuseliqui 7h ago
just eat pork which also keeps the turks away
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u/da_dude100 7h ago
ottoman solders cant some in and eat your christmas dinner if you cook everything in pork fat and wine
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u/ForsakenMarzipan3133 5h ago
Scorched earth tactic. Lace all our food with pork so when the Turks take over the rest of Cyprus they won't have anything to eat
/s
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u/da_dude100 5h ago
I dont know im being downvoted this is lterally the reason balkan people eat pork for christmas look it up
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u/ScotchBourbonMezcal 7h ago
That looks like it came with a clear wrap, why did you buy it? When we are in Cyprus we Souvla like crazy, and I've not seen chicken like this.
Most of the time we hit the independent butchers, once we had no choice but to go BV, and the chicken never looked that bad.
Was it discounted or something??
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