Global Food Discussion
Food and Eating Habits
Malta
Maltese cuisine is the offspring of a centuries-long relationship between the indigenous people of the islands and many foreign dominations. Maltese food is rustic and is based on seasonal produce and the fisherman's catch. Although many vegetables and fruit are grown locally all year round, the average Maltese cook takes advantage of seasonal gluts to stock up and feed the family economically. Perhaps he or she is unconsciously following previous generations of ancestral cooks, who combined thrift and creativity to satisfy the appetites of their large families.
Pastry of all kinds is used to encase vegetables, cheese, fish, meat, rice, and pasta, producing tasty and filling dishes. These recipes include delicate combinations of young cauliflower florets, sheep or goat cheese, and eggs, contained in a crisp pastry. The dishes are similar in taste to quiche or to the stronger taste of lampuki pie, which is filleted dorado mixed with spinach, cauliflower, chestnuts, and sultanas (raisins) in shortcrust pastry. Lampuki pie has an unusual and delicious taste. Spinach and anchovy pies have a stronger taste but are very popular, as is timpana, an everyday concoction of pasta in a meat sauce topped with a layer of pastry.
The most universally eaten Maltese pastry will not escape the notice of the visitor who explores the streets, taking in the sounds, sights, and scents of Malta. It is pastizzi, a small (four mouthfuls) boat-shaped delicacy–probably Turkish in origin–of ricotta cheese and egg wrapped in a thin crisp pastry. One may also try pastizzi filled with peas, or a larger version filled with meat or anchovies. Pastizzi are sold on street corners and in villages everywhere and are eaten hot. Maltese people normally eat them as a snack with tea or coffee.
Stewed and stuffed dishes are also an important feature of Maltese cuisine. Look for stuffed octopus, squid, and cuttlefish served in a spicy tomato sauce. A dish of stewed rabbit cooked in wine and herbs is popular. Bragoli–parcels of chopped eggs, breadcrumbs, and parsley wrapped in thin slices of beef–are simmered very gently in gravy. Stuffed poultry, roasted on a bed of sliced potatoes, onions, garlic, and herbs, is served crisp and brown from the oven.
Seasonal vegetables such as eggplants, tomatoes, peppers, baby marrows (zucchinis), and onions are very tasty when stuffed with minced meats, fresh herbs, garlic, olives, and other vegetables. Stuffed vegetables make a good antipasto, too, served cold before the main dish.
Seasonal salads and vegetables are important features of the Maltese diet. The best loved and most nutritious dish is probably minestra (minestrone), a thick vegetable soup combining numerous fresh and dried vegetables, which is served with fresh or grated gbejniet ( sheep or goat cheese). Qarabali (baby marrows), similar to though milder in taste than zucchini, are the base of another delicious, thick, and creamy soup.
The Maltese kitchen has much in common with the kitchens of its Sicilian neighbors. The two islands are only sixty miles apart, and their climatic conditions, soil, and fish are very similar. Pasta is a staple food of the Maltese family. Though it is available fresh in every village, many cooks still prefer the laborious job of preparing their own family's favorite ravjul (ravioli). Ravjul are semicircular pockets, made from semolina-based pasta dough, that are filled with ricotta cheese and fresh parsley. They are served with a homemade tomato sauce flavored with celery and fresh basil and then sprinkled with coarsely grated parmesan cheese. Ravjul originated as one answer to the Roman Catholic Church's decree to abstain from eating meat on Fridays.
Due to the lack of firewood ovens in centuries past, a slow cooking method traditionally was used to prepare most Maltese dishes. Food was placed in earthenware pots over little stone hearths called kenur, which needed constant tending and fanning. Later, slow simmering became something of a hallmark of many Maltese dishes. Despite the introduction of gas and electric cookers, slow cooking is still the good Maltese cook's favorite.
Lunchtime cooking aromas can be detected very early in the morning in village streets. Since ovens were so rare in the olden days, the Sunday dish was taken, covered with a clean tea towel, to the bakery, which had the only oven in the village. Here, the family's metal identity tag was attached. The baker then took responsibility for cooking the most important meal of the week for many of the villagers. After the dish was baked, it was carried home piping hot to the expectant family. This tradition is still very much alive in villages. Maltese cooks maintain that many dishes taste much better when cooked in the baker's oven. One of the most common popular dishes cooked this way is ross fil-forn, oven-baked rice, with minced meat and tomato sauce.
When fish are abundant, you will find Aljotta (fish soup) on the menu, a fish stock with plenty of garlic, tomatoes, fresh marjoram, and rice. In late spring, when the broad beans begin to coarsen, a hearty soup called Kusksu is very popular. The beans are left whole to simmer in a liquid containing onion and tomato puree. When the soup is served, a small kind of cooked pasta and fresh cheese are added. In summer, a Maltese version of ratatouille called Kapunata is made from tomatoes, green peppers, eggplants, and garlic. Kapunata goes very well with grilled fresh fish. Needless to say, all these delicious soups are eaten with generous slices of the marvelous crusty Maltese bread (hobza) that is baked fresh daily in old-fashioned and modern bakeries everywhere. Simply follow your nose!
While the subject is bread, one cannot miss mentioning another delicious rustic staple of the national diet, hobz biz-zejt (bread with oil). Once, this was the traditional packed lunch of the farmer and worker. Now, it makes a delightful beach snack. It consists of a large, thick round of crusty bread dipped in olive oil, onto which the pulp of a ripe sliced tomato is dripped. Then a topping of capers, olives, garlic, black pepper, and salt is added. Sometimes tuna or anchovies with fresh mint or basil also are added. Small toasted pieces of hobz biz-zejt are often served in restaurants as an appetiser.
With the start of summer, the variety of locally caught fish increases. Spinotta (bass), dott (stone bass), cerna (grouper), dentici (dentix), accjola (amberjack), sargu (white bream), and trill (red mullet) are served in most restaurants, together with prawns, octopi, mussels, and sea dates. In August pixxispad (sword-fish), lampuki (dorado), and fanfri (pilotfish) are caught daily. By the end of summer, lampuki become plentiful and are sold cheaply.
For those with a sweet tooth, there are a number of unusual treats to sample. Try the deep-fried date-filled pastries called imqaret, which smell marvellous. Look for cake shops selling syrup rings (qaghaq tal-ghasel) and almond macaroons (biskuttini tal-lewz). At Easter, try cutout figurines of icing-coated biscuits (figolli) stuffed with a ground almond mixture.
During the summer, when each village commemorates the feast of its patron saint with a fireworks display, you will find elaborate gilded stalls selling white and dark brown nougat made with sugar and nuts. A favorite delicacy with coffee or tea is kannoli, believed to have originated in Sicily. This is a mouth-watering, tube-shaped confection of deep-fried crisp pastry, stuffed with fresh ricotta cheese, that is sweetened with pieces of chocolate and candied fruit. After dinner, you may be offered helwa tat-tork, a very sweet, sugary mixture of crushed and whole almonds.
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