Category: Malta

FOOD AND CULTURE OF MALTA

Homer called it “the navel of the sea” and most maps show Malta as a dot in the Mediterranean between Sicily and the North African coast of Tunisia. Actually, Malta is an archipelago of several islands, the three largest and inhabited ones being Malta, Comino (named for the abundance of wild, fragrant cumin-seed plants), and Gozo. History has considered Malta more than a mere dot on the map. Its strategic location and the sheltered harbors lured so many great maritime powers that it is impossible to dismiss either Malta or the Maltese as insignificant.

The Maltese are believed to be descended from adventurous settlers from Sicily who made their home on the islands more than 6,000 years ago. Excavations of animal remains reveal that Malta may once have been connected to Sicily: the animal remains are of European origin, not African. There is no doubt, however, about the later succession of occupations by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, and Romans. It was during the Roman occupation in 60 C.E. that the ship carrying St. Paul to his trial in Rome was reputedly wrecked on Malta’s shores. Deeply impressed by the warmth and hospitality of the Maltese people, St. Paul was apparently equally impressive to them, for it is from that date that the islands were converted to Christianity. Now, with almost 100 percent of the population being Roman Catholic, Malta is often described as being “more Catholic than the Pope.”

Byzantine conquest followed the Romans, but it was the subsequent domination of the Arabs, who held Malta from 800-1000 C.E., that left deep imprints on Malta’s architecture and language. Present-day Maltese is an Arabic dialect strongly etched with the later addition of Italian, Spanish, French, and even English words. It is the only Semitic language written in the Latin alphabet.

The long line of conquerors did not end with the Arabs. Normans and Spaniards took their turn at the strategic islands, but it was the Knights of Saint John who were to leave the next lasting marks upon the Maltese.

It was King Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Spain, who “rented” Malta to the Knights of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem after the Turks had driven them from Rhodes. The “rent” took the form of an annual tribute of one falcon – thus the legendary but mystical importance of the “Maltese Falcon” dating from 1530 and immortalized much later in Dashiel Hammett’s novel of the same name. Both the falcon and the Knights’ eight-pointed cross (the Maltese Cross) remain today as Maltese symbols. Lesser known but of more importance are the many hospitals and charitable organizations that the Knights left behind in Malta and which operate to this day.

Although the Knights of the Order of Saint John were able to help the Maltese withstand a powerful Turkish siege, their rule collapsed in 1798 without a shot being fired. It is believed that Napoleon seized Malta for France with the secret aid of some of the Knights. Nonetheless, French rule was only a brief two years, and was brought to an abrupt end by a Maltese revolt aided by the British. In 1814, the Treaty of Paris officially gave Malta to the British and the 150-year British rule was to leave its indelible mark. Although the British preferred to retain their own traditions, the Maltese cheerfully adapted the habit of “elevenses” and four o’clock tea, bright red postboxes, helpful police officers and driving their cars on the left. They even developed a taste for beer.

Despite the long tiresome hold of so many conquerors, the Maltese have stubbornly retained their distinctive language, their Roman Catholicism, their many traditions and festivals and their national flag. In 1964 they achieved their independence, and in 1974 the international status of a republic.

They have also retained something else. In spite of the successive dominations by so many foreign powers and in spite of the density of population on the tiny islands, the Maltese are known for their courtesy and good humor and they are never too busy to take a stroll or chat with friends. Perhaps these are the very qualities that enabled them to endure such relentless hardships as the incessant bombing raids in World War II. So incredible was the courage of this tiny nation of over 350,000 people living on 122 square miles, that in 1942 King George VI awarded the nation the George Cross for “heroism and devotion” and in 1943 President Franklin D. Roosevelt also presented the nation a special citation.

Perhaps the sunny disposition of the Maltese comes from the moderate Mediterranean climate that basks the islands for most of the year in a pleasant warmth. Two winds occasionally disturb the tranquility of climate: the hot sirocco blowing during August and September, and the gregale, a sharp north-easterly that can whip the sea to a froth and cause problems for fishermen.

The climate also helps the scanty topsoil to coax forth enough potatoes and onions for export, but of the other vegetables, fruits, wheat and barley, only enough for local use are grown. Goats are still used for meat and milk but are mostly supplanted by the sheep (lamb and mutton) and the dairy farms of cows Introduced by the British to supply cream, milk, and butter. The island’s main sustenance comes from the sea. Even with skill and ingenuity, almost 80 percent of Malta’s food needs must be imported.

Retaining their identity and cheerful disposition despite a lengthy list of conquerors is a tribute to such a tiny vulnerable nation, and so is their legendary hospitality. Out of a desire to please others, it is actually easier to find cosmopolitan restaurants in Malta than it is to find local cuisine, but the increase in tourism (more than 800,000 visitors annually) and increasing pride in “things Maltese” is changing this.

Malta may be small in population and size but her people are content to stay put; traveling three to ten miles is considered quite a distance and a family living only a few miles from the sea may actually visit the seashore only once or twice in a lifetime. Further, size has nothing to do with the ability to distinguish “local” customs and even varying dialects of Maltese.

The most interesting and notable example of the Maltese view of native differences are the Gozitans. These inhabitants of the island of Gozo are viewed by other Maltese as “the Scotsmen of our islands”; thrifty, industrious, and plain-speaking, the Gozitans can be singled out as leaders in business and church. The island of Gozo is said to be the most fertile because of the persistent and patient toil of her people. And there is a saying that if a fisherman brought in a record catch, he was probably a Gozitan.

MALTESE FOODS

DAIRY PRODUCTS

With fresh milk for drinking, canned milk for tea and coffee and the daily use of cheese with bread or as part of a sauce or casserole (pasta dish), milk is obviously high on the list of priorities. The famed pastizzi or Maltese cheesecakes may be large or tiny and although usually made with puff pastry and a filling of Rikotta, they still retain the same name when they are made with anchovies or even peas and onions. So popular are the pastizzi that they are available everywhere in bars and coffee shops and commonly form a mid-morning snack with tall glasses of tea or coffee. Many varieties of hard or aged cheese are used, shredded or grated for rice or pasta dishes. Gbejniet are the small fresh cheeses made by farmers’ wives and sold fresh, dried, or peppered, and preserved in olive oil and vinegar.

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

If you want someone from Malta to become nostalgic, just mention prickly pears. These are by no means the only native fruit – just the favorite. Also included and eaten mostly fresh and juicy are pampamousse, small round watermelons, dates and figs, oranges and apples and many small berries. Most home gardens grow their own pampamousse and grapes. Fresh fruits are the usual dessert.

Vegetables are more than a garnish or accompaniment; they are cooked in a variety of ways and often form the main dish of a supper. From the Greeks the Maltese adapted a number of stuffed vegetable dishes; from the French they adapted the method of “refreshing” – a brief boiling of the fresh vegetables then a dunking in cold water, thus retaining both color and texture. Favorite vegetables include pumpkin (ripened on Malta’s flat rooftops), aubergines and courgettes (eggplants and zucchini), broad beans and artichokes. Many varieties of squashes and gourds, leafy greens, cabbage and cauliflower and of course potatoes and onions are cooked in satisfying and imaginative ways. These include not only the stuffed vegetable recipes already mentioned but also breading and frying, layering in casseroles, baking as a filling in crispy pastry pies, as patties and fritters and even as steamed, molded puddings to be served with cheese and bechamel sauce.

MEATS AND ALTERNATES

In a Maltese cookbook, the recipes for fish will likely precede the recipes for meats. Not only are there many varieties of fresh fish and seafood and dozens of ways to prepare and serve them, but even with the lifting of the ban of meat on Fridays, most Maltese prefer to make Friday a fish day. Many others also abstain from meats on Wednesdays.

Most famed is the lampuka, also called dorado or dolphinfish, closely followed by varieties of mackerel, tunny fish, mullet, bass, grouper, and many more. Lampuka is poached, baked, fried, stewed, or made into fish soup. Torta tal-lampuka is a meal-in-a-dish: between two layers of pastry is placed a combination of lampuka and a sauce of vegetable chunks surprisingly tasty with olives, sultanas, and walnuts. Salt cod, cuttlefish, turtle, snails, and sea urchins (rizzi) are also enjoyed.

Meat in any quantity is usually reserved for a Sunday or festive dinner with the best and largest cut going to the father, head of the household. The rest of the family round out their meal with potatoes and other vegetable dishes, bread and cheese. Maltese homemakers value meats and nothing is ever wasted. Not only are bits of meats and bones used to flavor casseroles, stuffed vegetables, and soups, there is also a long list of appetizing dishes prepared from offal, including tripe, brains, liver, and tongue. Zalzett ta’ Malta (Malta sausages) are composed of a mixture of fat and lean pork seasoned with garlic and coriander and stuffed into pork intestines and hung for two to three days. Beef and pork, lamb and rabbit, chicken and game birds add variety to the menu.

Eggs and legumes are not a special part of the Maltese menu. Eggs are used occasionally as a light meal or snack but most often as an ingredient in other dishes. Dried legumes are seldom used except for the large brown lentils which are popular in soppa tal-ghazz, a thick lentil soup simmered with vegetables and pig’s feet.

BREADS AND GRAINS

Bread and pasta, the staples of the Maltese diet, are both prepared from wheat. But the Malta bread is memorable because it is baked from a sourdough starter which gives it a particular taste and coarse texture. The crispy crust is enhanced by the traditional baking of the bread on the floor of the oven rather than on a pan. This bread is not only part of every Maltese meal, it is also the main dish for lunch or even a light supper when hollowed out and stuffed with tomatoes, anchovies, and cheese, and drizzled with olive oil. Rubbed with a pungent clove of fresh garlic and sprinkled with salt and olive oil, Malta bread makes a quick savory snack.

And every Maltese is familiar with hobz biz-zejt, thick slices of bread rubbed with fresh tomatoes, sprinkled with olive oil, salt and pepper, then topped with any combination of sliced onions, garlic, herbs, capers, olives, or anchovies. This quick snack satisfies laborers’ appetites for lunch, children for “elevenses” (mid-morning snack) and whole families as an easy light supper served with local wine. Galletti, krustini, and biskutelli are small breads sometimes made at home.

Pasta dishes abound, but most are complex. Timpana is really a version of a similar Sicilian dish where puff pastry forms the outside layer of a center filled with layered cooked macaroni, bits of brain, liver, and pork seasoned with tomato paste, Parmesan. and onion. Carefully baked, the dish is unmolded and served in slices. (Today timpana is a main dish; in previous times it was merely an appetizer.) Ravjul (ravioli) and many types of pasta cooked to perfection and topped with delicate sauces of cheese, vegetables, or fish are a part of every Maltese menu.

Close in importance to both bread and pasta is rice. Rice is used in stuffing for meats and vegetables and in many dishes in the same way as pasta. One of the classic Maltese dishes is ross fil-forn, literally “baked rice.” It is made from a mixture of ground meat, seasonings, raw beaten eggs, and tomato paste blended with stock or water and raw rice. The whole mixture is slowly baked in the oven to a golden crustiness.

It should be noted that while few Maltese cooks bother to bake their own bread, it would be difficult to find one who was not an expert maker of light flaky puff pastry (the downfall of cooks elsewhere) and who did not possess an old treasured family recipe for filling pastizzi.

FATS

Maltese use many fats for cooking, baking, and as a spread. Lard, margarine, and salt butter are used widely for cooking and baking. Margarine is used at the table but fresh Rikotta cheese is the favorite spread. Olive oil and a variety of vegetable and seed oils are also used.

SWEETS AND SNACKS

The popular Maltese dessert is usually fresh fruit and sometimes cheese. Sweets in the form of pastries, candies, and rich desserts are usually reserved for special occasions and most often purchased from the confectioner’s rather than prepared at home. A listing of specialty sweet dishes sounds like an international roll call of sweetmeats because it includes the many specialties known in other countries: chestnut fillings, almond, chocolate and nougat, sesame seeds, dates and treacle, trifles and steamed puddings, pine nuts and crunchy meringues.

SEASONINGS

Maltese food may be simple and hearty but it is seldom subtle. Strong flavors are enjoyed and these often include the pungency of garlic and onions cut with the bright acidity of tomatoes. In fact one of the most basic seasonings is actually an all-purpose sauce of fried onions, garlic, and tomato paste known as toqlija. Freshly ground pepper, spicy hot curry blends, and fresh aromatic herbs are all used with a generous hand. These include mint, parsley, marjoram, basil, and rosemary

BEVERAGES

Beer was introduced by the British, but local wines are still the favorite accompaniment for the evening meal. Coffee and tea with canned milk is taken by adults for breakfast and lunch, for “tea” at four and for “elevenses” in mid-morning. Children drink milk except at the evening meal when they will often have a glass of wine.

MALTESE DOMESTIC LIFE

DOMESTIC LIFE

Density of population brings with it both noise and a lack of privacy. Neither of these appear to bother the Maltese. Only in their own home do they treasure quiet and privacy. Once outside, they bask in the crush of cars and people and the cadenza of horns, noisy talk, and church bells. The Maltese have an extended home; the city streets are part of their living room and they are friendly and gracious to everyone (the Maltese have a phenomenal memory for names and faces). The church is their second home, a place for help and prayer, thanksgiving and consolation.

Maltese cooking and hospitality is probably best symbolized by sourdough Maltese bread and white fresh Rikotta cheese. Simple and honest, these foods are a part of almost every meal and form the edible centerpiece of the table. They are not only sustaining in themselves but also represent a blend of tastes and textures that would cause a Maltese mouth to water anywhere in the world. The crusty white sourdough bread shaped in a gentle golden oval, eaten with creamy mild Rikotta cheese, may form the appetizer, the main dish or merely a side dish of any meal. Add a glass of Maltese wine and you have the quintessence of hospitality.

The delicious aromas that pour forth from Maltese kitchens belie their tiny size. Sideboards and open shelves store groceries and utensils, while a small refrigerator holds perishables. Maltese enjoy fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables and prefer to shop daily in nearby stores for their needs. Although supermarkets and a wide range of prepared mixes are slowly changing old ways, the pot of soup simmering on the small petrol stove is so much a part of the meal pattern (and the aroma of Malta) it is difficult to visualize it being preempted by a cold sandwich for lunch. Freezers for the home and small kitchen appliances such as blenders, pressure cookers, and so on, are not common in Malta. Baking is usually done in commercial communal ovens, carefully watched over by the local baker.

MALTESE MEALS, CUSTOMS AND FOODS COMMONLY USED

MEALS AND CUSTOMS

Maltese restaurants, snack bars, coffee shops, and street vendors satisfy the taste whims of most tourists, but the Maltese prefer to eat hearty simple, well-seasoned food at home. Breakfast for most is a small light meal of bread and cheese, honey and ham accompanied by coffee and milk. If that seems a light beginning for the day a snack of tea or coffee and pastizzi around eleven will hold any Maltese till lunchtime.

Maltese homemakers begin early in the morning to prepare the ingredients and simmer their soups over small petrol stoves. Soup for lunch is a tradition broken only by the laborer who cannot get home for the meal. Then a bundle of hobz biz-zejt (bread rubbed with tomatoes, drizzled with oil and seasonings, and topped with garlic, sliced onions, and herbs) and a glass of wine will ease their hunger till evening, when a hot meal – probably a pasta dish or a meat and vegetable stew – will be savored.

Homemakers, businesspeople, laborers and children all stop their day’s routine for a short break at four for tea and small cookies. The tea break is especially important for those who customarily take their evening meal between nine and ten. Villagers usually have a light evening meal at around seven.

Regardless of the meal, in Malta men are served first, and they usually receive the largest and choicest portions. But Maltese meal service is generally pleasantly casual; enjoying food takes precedence over formal manners. Thus there are no frowns when succulent bones are eaten with the fingers.

FOODS COMMONLY USED

The foods of the Maltese table are simple and satisfying. Unquestionably, many dishes can trace their origins to foods introduced by historic invaders: Greeks, Romans, Arabs, French, and British. The latter left a taste for beer, mutton, lamb, turkey, Christmas pudding, and probably also the custom of a “roast joint with potatoes” for Sunday dinner. Crunchy Maltese sourdough bread and Rikotta cheese are certainly staples but these are well rounded with hearty soups, stews, and pasta dishes that deftly spin out the flavors of meats and fish. Vegetables are preferred cooked; salads are few and usually seasonal. Local fruits are relished as snacks or desserts but are expensive. Wine is the commonest beverage and knows no age limit.

MALTESE SPECIAL OCCASIONS

Together with special family occasions such as weddings, christenings, birthdays, and funerals, the Maltese calendar includes Roman Catholic festivals, national holidays, and many local festas. It would be difficult to spot a time of year when nothing exciting is happening.

Special occasions are the time for sweet treats more than special main dishes. They are made extra-special because they are served or prepared only for specific festivals. Some of these include the following:

Christmas: Roast stuffed turkey and steamed plum puddings are the Christmas specialties. The Christmas pudding is usually made near the beginning of November then soaked with rum each following Sunday till the festive day. Hot chestnut soup (mbuljuta), flavored with cocoa and tangerine peel, and specially baked treacle rings (qaghaq talghasel) are also made. The latter is a white pastry filled with a rich treacle and semolina filling and shaped to form a round “sausage.” Small slits in the white pastry reveal the rich filling beneath.

Carnival: Loud bands, winding parades, and costumed figures mark the three-to-seven-day celebrations preceding Lent. Prinjolata, a rich pine nut cake, almond chunks, and qubbajt (nougat) are the special sweets.

Lent: Lenten restrictions have been considerably relaxed. Usually no meat is eaten, but dairy products and fats are now allowed. Kwarezimal, a Lenten cake containing no eggs or fat but made from minced almonds and flour, sugar and citrus zest, is still a tradition.

Easter: It wouldn’t be Easter without figolli, which are human and animal shapes cut from sugar-cookie dough filled with almond paste and brightly decorated with colored icing. Too good to save only for Easter and often made at other times are the tiny Rikotta-filled tartlets called qassatat.

Birthdays, Christenings: Biskuttini tal-maghmudija or christening biscuits are rich cookies shaped into rounds or oblongs. Biskuttini tal-lewz are delicately crisp almond meringues. Both are specialties of all christenings and most family gatherings and festas. But no Maltese birthday would be complete without xkunvat, fried twisted strips of rich pastry scented with orange-flower water and served in a golden crispy pile drizzled with Maltese honey (thyme-flavored) and colored “shot” (tiny pinheads of colored candies used for cake decoration).

MALTESE FOOD GLOSSARY AND FOOD TERMS

Aljotta: the least expensive and least appealing fish is poached in a court bouillon, reserved and kept warm to be served as a second course. This fish broth (court bouillon) is then enriched with well-fried chopped onion and garlic, and seasoned with tomato paste and fresh marjoram. A handful of raw rice is thrown in twenty minutes before serving. (There is no limit to how much garlic can be added.) This is a meatless Friday specialty. Bread, cheese, wine and it is a meal.

Bragoli: thin pounded slices of beef are stuffed with chopped hard eggs, crumbled bacon, and fresh bread crumbs all lightly seasoned. The beef is rolled over the filling, tied with string, and browned in fat. Wine, browned onions and garlic simmer with the beef rolls. The dish may be served with canned peas or freshly cooked shelled peas.

Brodu: designates a hearty soup with visible chunks of meats and vegetables.

Brodu Tat-Tigiega: a whole chicken is slowly simmered in water with vegetables then removed and browned separately. Rice is added to the rich stock and finally a few eggs are beaten and slowly added. The Brodu is served with rice and chopped vegetables while the chicken makes the second course. This is an efficient way to cook an entire meal when ovens are tiny or not available. A similar Brodu includes the simmering of a whole chicken which has first been stuffed.

Brungiel Mimli Fil-Forn: Brungiel is eggplant, mimli means stuffed, and fil-forn means baked in the oven. This then is a dish of baked, stuffed eggplant, a varied combination of grated cheese, bread crumbs, capers, olives, and ground meat.

Fenkata: literally, a “rabbit dinner,” so popular that rabbits are specially bred for the purpose, although wild hares are traditional. Jointed and well cooked, the tangy rabbit stew is served over rice or pasta and eaten together with Malta bread and red wine.

Ftira: Maltese sourdough bread baked in a flat round disk. It is often eaten split and filled with sliced plum tomatoes, salt and pepper. Other additions might be sliced onions, anchovies, olives, etc.

Kusksu: not to be confused with the Couscous of North Africa. This one is a pasta similar in appearance, coarse and granular. Fresh broad beans and green peas are added to browned onion (garlic and tomato puree if desired) and simmered with water. The Kusksu is added to cook then the soup is set aside. To serve, a poached egg and some crumbled fresh cheese Gbejna and Rikotta) are placed in the soup bowl then the thick pasta soup with peas and beans is ladled over. Again, just add bread and wine and it is a superb meal.

Laham Bil-Patata L-Forn: a lengthy name but instantly recognized by any Maltese as referring to almost any meat well seasoned with onions, garlic, and strips of lard (if needed), and baked in the oven over a bed of sliced potatoes. In Malta, this is a Sunday dinner specialty usually baked in the communal oven.

Minestra: similar in name to the well-known Italian minestrone soup but this one is usually made with a variety of vegetables and legumes but no meat. At least three types of pasta are added near the end of the cooking and the soup is served with big spoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese. Marrow, pumpkin, gara tork (lighter but similar to pumpkin), kohlrabi, onions and potatoes are some of the usual vegetables included.

Pastizzi: classic Maltese cheesecake served with tea or coffee. Usually it is made with light puff pastry filled with a mild Rikotta cheese filling. Can also be filled with peas, onions or even anchovies.

Pastizzi Tas-Summien: a circle of puff pastry filled with a quail then folded over, sealed, and baked.

Pulpetti Tal-Laham: meatballs prepared from any minced meat, seasonings, and flour. But they are not ball-shaped, they are round, thick and patted flat, then fried in lard. Served with rice, potatoes or spaghetti with or without a sauce.

Ravjul: tiny pillows of noodle dough stuffed with chopped spinach and cheese, well seasoned and served with tomato sauce.

Ross Fil-Forn: the classic Maltese baked rice. A rich blend of onions, garlic, minced meat (or cut-up tidbits), tomato paste, seasonings, saffron, and grated cheese, plus water or stock with raw rice. The whole mixture is slowly oven-baked to a crusty golden goodness. A Sunday or company specialty.

Soppa: the Maltese term for a smooth creamy soup, not the most popular type by far unless it is Soppa Tal-Qara Bali, a variety of zucchini found in Malta cooked with potatoes and onions, soothed to a puree and served with butter and egg yolks whipped in.

Soppa Tal-Armla: a vegetable-stock soup made with only green and white vegetables. Commonly called “widow’s soup.” A poached egg and crumbled Gbejna and Rikotta are arranged in soup bowls and the hot vegetable soup poured over.

Souffle: not really a souffle, nor is it of French origin. This is actually a dessert that could be described as a trifle with a Maltese accent. Sponge-cake fingers are arranged in a crystal bowl, sprinkled with sherry and layered with candied peels, fruits, and chocolate pudding and finished with a custard or an uncooked soft meringue of whipped egg whites, sugar, and flavoring.

Stuffat Tal-Qarnit or Qarnita: fresh octopus, tenderized by beating well and hard till grayish. After cutting in chunks the octopus is stewed and served with spaghetti or cut-up potatoes. The surprise comes in the seasoning: curry powder or a mix of walnuts and currants.

Timpana: classically Maltese, this dish is made with a deep puff pastry pie shell, layered with minced seasoned meats, tomato paste and grated cheese, and lightly cooked macaroni. Sealed with a top crust of pastry, the pie is well baked then served in slices.

Toqlija: a thick sauce made from well-browned chopped onions and garlic blended with tomato paste. A little or a lot is used to season almost anything.

Torto Tal-Lampuka: a dolphinfish pie. Baked in a pastry shell are layers of honed, breaded, and fried lampuka with assorted well-seasoned vegetables.