Freshwater fish
Name - Origin
Αβραμίδα, χανί, λέστια ή λέστικα (Great Encyclopedia of Cyprus, vol. 1, entry αβραμίδα,η, 28)
It is a freshwater fish, living in lakes and rivers. It is 30-50 cm long and weighs 0,5-1 kg (Great Encyclopedia of Cyprus, vol. 1, entry αβραμίδα, 28; Vida 2007, entry κυπρίνος). It has a small head, oval body, forked tail and silvery colour. It moves in shoals and feeds on small fish and aquatic plants. It breeds in April and May (Great Cyprus Encyclopaedia, vol. 1, entry αβραμίδα,η, 28).
Scientific name: Abramis brama (Lat.), common or bronze bream (Eng.)/ Cyprinidae-Carps (Great Encyclopedia of Cyprus, vol. 1, entry αβραμίδα, 28; Vida 2007, entry κυπρίνος)
It belongs to the family Cyprinidae, genus Abramis (Abramis brama) (Wikipedia. The free encyclopedia, «Αβραμίδα»).
Cooked in the pan. Its eggs are used to make taramás (Great Encyclopedia of Cyprus, vol. 1, entry αβραμίδα η, 28).
Functional and symbolic role
Its meat is white and soft but with many bones, avramida is, therefore, considered as medium quality fish (Great Encyclopedia of Cyprus, vol. 1, entry αβραμίδα, 28; Vida 2007, entry κυπρίνος).
Additional information and bibliography
It is a European species of fish, belonging to the Cyprinidae family. Today it is considered the only species of the genus Abramis (Wikipedia. The free encyclopedia, «Αβραμίδα»).
Bronze bream was recently introduced in Cyprus by the Department of Fisheries in the framework of the fish enrichment programme of the aquatic fauna (Great Encyclopedia of Cyprus, vol. 1, entry αβραμίδα,η, 28).
Pavlides A. (ed.) (1984), Great Cyprus Encyclopedia, vol. 1, Filokypros, Nicosia. Vida A. (2007), 365 fish, Eleftheroudakis. Web source: Wikipedia. The free encyclopedia, «Αβραμίδα», https:// el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Αβραμίδα.
Kyriaki Panteli, Argyro Xenophontos
Foods
Fishing and fish dishes
In recent years, in Cyprus, fish was served as follows: oftá (chargrilled), fried, hoglastá (boiled), savóro (marinated), plakí (in the oven) and yahní (in tomato sauce).