There is a particular kind of meze eaten in Cyprus. Not just a meze, actually, but a whole local food tradition, from pickled to smoked dishes, built around a single kind of bird. It is made with a tiny bird called a pulya, smaller even than a lemon. Apparently it is an old Greek Cypriot custom, and these dishes go back centuries. They strangle the birds without bleeding them, then boil and fry them whole. Cypriots, especially Greek Cypriots, are very fond of dishes made with these birds. They fry them without gutting them, beaks and all, and arrange them on a plate. They are so small that there is supposedly no need to open them up. They are eaten with alcohol. Greek Cypriots apparently even pickle them. And yet these little lives are in danger of disappearing. Dig a little deeper and you find Cyprus listed as one of the three Mediterranean countries where these birds are most heavily poached. Restaurants get around the hunting ban introduced to protect them by serving the birds under the counter, giving the meze a kind of underground appeal.
Dear Cypriots, when a species is threatened with extinction, it concerns all of us, because losses like this have knock-on effects in nature. What would happen if you simply stopped turning these finger-sized little lives into snacks to go with a drink? Make your meze from something else. Don’t sell, buy or shoot these birds. I am asking you for a little conscience, a little common sense and a little respect for nature.