17 May Maltese cuisine
The Maltese archipelago is a land rich in traditions, aromas and flavours, and all of this is masterfully expressed in their culinary tradition. Raw materials are extremely fresh and full of taste. The typical dish ‘par excellence’ is the pastizzi, namely savoury puffs that are usually eaten during the morning as a snack. You can buy them from the typical “pastizzerie” or in the coffee bars. Traditional pastizzi are small, but they can also be found of larger dimensions.
Another typical dish of Malta is the fenkata, or Maltese style rabbit prepared with tomato sauce and served with potatoes. This dish can be ordered in various restaurants, although they do not serve it everywhere.
Staying on the subject of meat, in Malta they eat a lot of pork.
The salted sausage is delicious. It can be found in the local deli stores or ordered in restaurants that serve it hot, in its classic version or with a sauce, accompanied by roasted bread.
Other typical Maltese dishes are goat milk cheeses known as Gbejniet and a fish soup called Aljotta, prepared with fresh fish and to which they sometimes add rice: delicate but tasty!
If you go to visit the island of Gozo we strongly recommend you stop in a local bakery and buy the local bread and pizza. Here they prepare the traditional ftira, a big flatbread focaccia stuffed with goat cheese and eggs or potatoes, salted sausage, tuna, fish or vegetables.
As for the desserts, in Malta there are many delicacies that recall the Sicilian cuisine, such as cannoli and cassata, which are also easily found in coffee bars. The typical Maltese dessert however remains the Qahhag Tal-Ghasel Moele, the traditional honey ring prepared with molasses (black sugar), cinnamon and figs. Another sweet is the Helwa Tat Tork, also known as the “Dessert of the Turks“, prepared with sesame.