Maltese vs Icelandic food & cuisine

Maltese food focuses on fresh seafood, seasonal vegetables, olives, capers, citrus, herbs, good bread, and practical meats. The cooking is simple and honest, with flavors shaped directly by the land and sea.

What makes it stand out in a global contex is that you get touches of Sicily, North Africa, and the broader Mediterranean, yet it still feels distinctly local. Dishes are more rustic than refined, built from everyday ingredients, slow cooking, and clever preservation.

Bread and pasta are supreme among grain foods in Malta. Ħobz, a crusty loaf available in white or brown varieties, accompanies meals for soaking up olive oil or sauces. Pastizzi — flaky pastries filled with ricotta cheese or mushy peas- are everyday street food. The strong Sicilian culinary heritage is evident in plenty of pastas  –  penne, rigatoni, and macaroni paired with tomato or pesto sauces. Unlike bread and pasta, corn and rice are relatively minor in traditional cooking.

Vegetables play a bigger role in Maltese cooking than many people expect. Simply grilled, roasted, or steamed vegetables are common. Salad is dominated by tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, bell peppers, and capers; olives also find their way into salads for a salty and briny flavor.

Dishes often center around vegetable in minestra (a hearty vegetable soup), kapunata (a cooked vegetable dish with eggplant, tomatoes and capers), bean stews, and vegetable pies.

Maltese cuisine is balanced around traditional meats – beef, pork and poultry consumption is very similar. Rabbit evolved from a historical staple for the poor into a national meat, famously prepared as stuffat tal-fenek (Maltese rabbit stew), a rich, slow-cooked dish with wine, tomatoes, garlic, and herbs.

The quality and variety the fish and seafood in Malta is outstanding. People rely on the daily catch, dishes feature seasonal lampuki (mahi-mahi or dorado), octopus, swordfish, and small coastal fish. To flavor, cooks use tomatoes, olives, capers, garlic, herbs and good olive oil.

Milk consumption numbers bounce around from year to year, but overall consumption stays pretty high. Ricotta appears everywhere, British cheddar is popular along local gbejna, small round cheeses made from sheep’s or goat’s milk. Traditional soups often get enriched with eggs and a chunk of gbejna melting into the broth. For breakfast, people reach for plain yogurt, sometimes drizzled with honey or mixed with fresh fruit.

The numbers tell a pretty clear story: Malta consumes more sugar and sweeteners than almost anywhere else in Europe. A big chunk of that comes from soft drinks. In fact, Malta ranks second in per capita soft drink consumption, which explains a lot about where all that sugar is going.