This is an incredibly rich and sweet orange liquour from Cyprus. It has been described as "bottled springtime" and invokes memories of heavily laden orange trees gently waving in a warm Cyprus breeze.
At one time, the recipe for Filfar was at one time only known by one person - Takis Philippou, who was working for the British Army in Famagusta in the 1940s, making in the cookhouse a range of jams and marmalades. As a young lad he had watched his grandmother making the orange liqueur that her ancestors had learned how to make from the monks at Kantara. Years later, he decided to have a go at making the liqueur once again, and failed miserably, but after many more 'hit & miss attempts' that were eagerly watched eagerly by his mother, he had success!
This time he wrote down the recipe rather than committing it to memory!
Takis did not know what to call his liqueur and used to tell everyone that in the end the name had come quite by accident! Takis had to register his company and decided he would use ‘Fil Fab’ - an abbreviation of ‘Phillipou Fabrique’, but it was only when he had signed the form that he realised the clerk had made an error and had written ‘Fil Far’! His friends soon convinced him that it sounded far better so a delighted Takis decided to keep the name!
By 1991 Demos Aristidou had begun manufacturing Filfar after purchasing the recipe from Takis Phillipou. Takis took an active interest in the new manufacture of Filfar, and gave Demos plenty of encouragement. He was justly proud when the first bottles appeared on the shelves of local supermarket. Sadly he died a couple of years ago.
The recipe for Filfar remains a closely guarded secret, although Demos will divulge some statistics like 17 -18 Cyprus oranges of two different varieties are used to make every bottle. Two or three different local wild herbs are used too, and these are mixed with the orange juice in a process called ‘maceration’. This mixture is then matured for up to three months. The entire process for making Filfar is still done by hand – and all the oranges have to be carefully peeled! The production time for making the Filfar is about four months. During the months of production, the three permanent members of staff are joined by another seven or eight seasonal members of staff.
Recipes
Filfar Long
Use a tall glass
Pour in 1/3 filfar (mandarin or orange)
2/3 Sprite I
ce Cubes
A fresh slice of lemon
stir & Enjoy
Less