#17 Malta
- Jen
- Jun 14, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 4, 2022
More sunny islands!
The Republic of Malta is a group of islands (Malta, Gozo and Comino being the only inhabited islands) in the Med. very close to Italy.
People have been living on the islands of Malta and Gozo since 5900BC and they came from all over: the Levant region, north Africa, Europe…Romans, Byzantines and Arabs have all had a turn at taking over.
Malta was part of Sicily for a few centuries and was handed over to the Knights of St John until Napoleon did his thing in 1798, which didn’t go down too well with the locals and they requested assistance from the English, who saved the day two years later by blockading France out. Ha.
Malta gained independence in 1964 and remains a member of the Commonwealth.
Maltese language is unique in that it’s the only official Semitic language in Europe. That means it’s the only official language in Europe that’s derived from Arabic. It also contains a lot of vocab. taken from Italian, French and English and parts of it can therefore be understood by Arabic speakers and also by anyone successfully reading this blog.
Maltese cuisine
Maltese cuisine has been shaped by the people who have travelled through or lived there for millennia: Romans, Greeks, Arabs, French, other Mediterranean types and the British.
Considering its Mediterranean position and historic ties with Italy, it’s not surprising that tourists today can sit down on a sunny terrace and sip local wine whilst nibbling at platters of cured meats, cheeses, such as gbejniet, made from sheep milk, sun-dried tomatoes and olives. Retirement goals.
No doubt another Italian influence, pasta is eaten quite a lot:
- Minestrone is known as minestra.
- Macaroni, with bolognaise sauce and cheese, is baked in shortcrust pastry to make a pie called a timpana. WTF?! That’s “what the fat”.
- I’m not really on my high horse about the timpana BTW; we all know it sounds incredible!
Traditional Maltese bread is a sourdough and is served with most meals and also with olive oil and toppings, bruschetta-style.
Stuffat tal fenek is a slow-cooked rabbit stew, cooked in tomatoes and red wine, and is the national dish. It can be served with roast potatoes, spaghetti or simply some crusty Maltese sourdough to mop up the juices.
Malta has been a Christian country since St Paul (not to be confused with one of the Twelve Apostles Paul) got shipwrecked there and introduced Christianity and it’s thought that the olden day Maltese population used food to symbolise their difference from their Muslim neighbours, hence the popularity of pork in traditional dishes such as:
- Maltese sausages, which are often flavoured with coriander and taste quite different.
- Aubergines stuffed with minced pork (I can’t get enough of vegetables stuffed with meat - see Moldova).
The most popular snack appears to be pastizzi, which are little pastries filled with either curried mushy peas or ricotta and they’re sold all over.
Seafood is popular, including swordfish, tuna and sea urchin(!). Torta tal lampuki is a fish pie made with what we would call dorado (which is the Spanish name for the fish) and it’s actually a pastry pie rather than what we think of as ‘fish pie’ with mash.
Stuffat tal chicken
Sourcing rabbit in lockdown proved tricky!
This stew is so simple. Marinate the rabbit (chicken legs) in red wine with plenty of garlic and bay leaves. Brown the meat. Fry some onion. Add tomatoes and the winey marinade. Throw in carrots and potatoes. Cook slowly until the meat is tender and falls off the bone. Serve with fresh crusty bread. So simple. So delicious. So happy.
Despite sourdough being both the bread of Malta and lockdown, I had supermarket sourdough to go with my stew…please don’t judge me!
Race you to...EGYPT!
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