Maltese Food - Rich in Flavor and Tradition

Malta and its sister island Gozo lie in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea, some 93 km south of Sicily and to the east of Tunisia and north of Libya. The cuisine is seasonal, rustic and colourful, with a splash of north African and a hearty helping of southern Italian influence. Pasta, tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, mint, basil, ricotta and pumpkin are all widely used.

The most popular meats are rabbit and fish, especially lampuki (known elsewhere as dorado, dolphin fish or mahi-mahi). Lampuki is only ready from August straight through November and is usually served in a pie with spinach, cauliflower, capers, sultanas, hard-boiled eggs, herbs and a short crust pastry topping.

Breakfast Pizza

Ftira, the Maltese version of pizza, combines anchovy, capers, olives, and potato slices with herbs and tomato sauce. Stewed and stuffed dishes are popular, as are thick, hearty soups, full of roughly chopped vegetables and pasta and served piping hot with grated sheep or goat cheese.

Octopus stew, rabbit stew, ross-il-forn (literally "rice in the oven") and timpana (a macaroni meat pie, topped with pastry) are other customary dishes. Gbejniet, a small round cheese cured with vinegar and spicy black peppe,is served up on galletti (a hard cracker) and washed down with Kinnie, the popular Maltese soft drink made from bitter orange and herbs.

Everyday dessert is usually fruit, like dates or figs. Qaghqa-tal-Ghasel, or treacle ring, is a customary baked Christmas dessert filled with honey or molasses, lemon rinds, anisette and ground cloves. While Carnival Maltese indulge in prinjolata, a dome-shaped, icing-laden sweet cake reserved especially for the occasion. Easter Sunday brings figolla, large sweet biscuits stuffed with almond paste and traditionally shaped and decorated like men, women, fish, lambs and baskets.

Maltese Food - Rich in Flavor and Tradition

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