Malta's national cuisine is a bizarre mixture of Maltese, Italian, Greek and Arabic dishes. Perhaps the most vivid sign of the "Arabianness" of the Maltese cuisine is huge portions: one portion of the salad is enough for three or even four, and the fish (any size!), Especially baked, are served in full. Also very tasty coffee is prepared here.
From the Italian cuisine here came pizza and all kinds of pastas, and the pizza very much resembles the traditional Italian, and the pasta has a "national flavor" - for example, the paste with octopus ink sauce is very popular here.
Among the traditionally Maltese dishes, many are prepared by the way of extinguishing. The popularity of this particular method is very simple: it is the least expensive option in terms of the amount of firewood, and there have always been problems with timber on the island. In ancient times, in many villages, dinners of different families were cooked in the same common oven. By the way, the technology of cooking bread "on coals" has survived to this day.
National Maltese cuisine combines both very simple dishes, which do not require special efforts for their preparation, and the dishes are quite complex, in the manufacture of which you must carefully observe the technology.
Dishes from fish and seafood
The most popular fish in Malta is the lamp - fish, which resembles tuna taste. It is "seasonal": it is not caught all year round, but only during migrations from late August to late November, sometimes to the beginning of December and only in a certain part of the sea. However, when it comes season, the Maltese cook with her a lot of dishes. It is simply fried in oil, baked, Aljotta soup is brewed (in principle it is prepared with other kinds of fish, also having dense light meat) - with garlic, tomatoes, rice and marjoram. Popular lamps in a spicy sauce - with chili, garlic, onion, trade wind, basil and capers, as well as a cake filled with a lamp.
It is worth trying and swordfish - it is also cooked in many ways. The most popular seafood is the octopus - it is stewed and fried, boiled and stuffed. Very popular with the Maltese cinnamon mimli - an octopus stuffed with spaghetti.
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Meat dishes
The main Maltese national meat dish (and simply the main dish of the Maltese cuisine) is a fennel, a rabbit stewed in red wine with the addition of vegetables and seasonings. If you happen to visit not only in Malta itself, but also on the island of Gozo , be sure to try the rabbit and there, because the rabbit is in Gozian's very different from his Maltese counterpart.
Smoked bacon is added to many dishes, including ... in dried form. It is specially dried and ground, and then used as spices for meat dishes or for pasta.
Beef and chicken are also popular. Traditional roast beef is called brajioli; it is made from chopped meat in combination with hard-boiled eggs, greens, garlic and bread. The mixture is rolled up and roasted. But the chicken is often cooked stew - either with potatoes and cumin, or with cauliflower and chestnuts, and sometimes just in wine sauce.
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Dairy
Dairy products are also often used in cooking. The most popular dairy product is ricotta - soft cheese, reminiscent of the familiar cheese mass. Ricotta is used as a filling for pies and pies, as well as for preparing creams for cakes and pastries, as well as for making first and second courses. This traditionally Italian dish, like ravioli, is not prepared with meat filling in Malta, but with ricotta and parsley filling; Ready-made ravioli served with tomato sauce and grated Parmesan cheese.
Another popular cheese in Malta - zhbeina, made from sheep or goat milk with different fillings, the most popular cheese with black pepper. Prepare it on the island of Gozo, it is used for cooking first and second courses.
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Vegetables
Vegetables - one of the most important food products of the inhabitants of the island. Especially popular are pumpkin cream soup, bean soup kuksu with tomatoes and lots of onions. Cold and hot salads with eggplant and green pepper are popular.
Traditional beigella - pasta from beans, olives, garlic and red peppers - in many cafes and restaurants is served before the first dish, as we have bread with butter or Italians - bruschetta. Bigilla is the traditional beginning of the Maltese dinner.
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Desserts and pastries
Maltese eat relatively much bread. Maltese bread is called Hobz, the dough is prepared for it by yeast; until now in each city there are several bakeries, where in traditional ovens bread is baked - ovens are heated by firewood, and bread and rolls are baked on charcoal.
The Maltese cuisine is characterized by the popularity of a variety of pastries - pies and pies here are made with a wide variety of fillings: fish (very popular is a pie with fish lamps), meat, ricotta, vegetables (peas, beans, beans, cauliflower, sweet pepper, spinach and other vegetables). Especially popular are pastry - small pies made of puff pastry, with ricotta filling or lentil paste. They are inexpensive (they cost about 25 cents) and you can buy them almost everywhere - from pizzerias and pastiges to grocery stores.
Another famous Maltese pie is tympanum, which is baked from puff pastry with meat and pasta; also pie with cauliflower and sheep cheese is popular.
Sweet confectionery is also very popular: for example, almond cookies biskuttini tal-lews, baked rings with almond stuffing, cannoli - tubes of crispy wafer dough with sweet ricotta, as well as fried in butter pies imqaret with date stuffing.
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Fragrant essences
Various essences - floral, berry and fruit - are widely used in the Maltese cuisine. They are added to desserts (including baked goods), non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks and even coffee. Perhaps, the most popular of them is the essence of orange blossoms. Such essences are sold everywhere in grocery stores.
Spices
Malta's cuisine is characterized by the use of a variety of herbs and spices: marjoram and basil, saffron and tarragon, parsley and celery are popular, vanilla, cinnamon, lemon peel, black pepper are often used, and just a little snack or a second dish does without garlic. The pickled onion is also popular, which is added to soups, snacks, and even to sandwiches and capers.
Beverages
The most popular non-alcoholic drink on the island is called kinni; it is made from bitter oranges with the addition of a large number of various herbs; to taste resembles a mixture of cola and orange juice.
Maltese wines taste not inferior to Italian ones - both red and white. They are prepared from local varieties of grapes and by local technologies. Also worth a try is Maltese liquor, cooked on the basis of one of the varieties of cactus - prickly pear. It has a gentle color and amazing taste.
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