Skip to content

Food Culture and Tradition

Resources for world's food, people and culture.

Meals, Customs and Foods Commonly Used in Malta

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.

Recent Posts

  • Ukrainian Traditional Desserts
  • Ukrainian Traditional Dish – Varenyky, Kholodets, Nalysnyky, and Forshmak
  • Ukrainian Traditional Food
  • Ancient Egyptian Food
  • African Dishes – Explore the World’s Cooking History
  • Evolution of African Food and Beverage
  • African Traditional Dishes
  • African History & Literature
  • The Horn of Africa – Somali
  • The Horn of Africa – Ethiopia

Countries

Copyright © www.Food-Links.com - All Rights Reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
This website is using cookies. More. CLOSE
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT