Maltese food: discover traditional cuisine

ĦOBŻ BIŻ-ŻEJT’ – a traditional sandwich made with thick slices of rustic bread smeared with tomatoes and olive oil and filled with tuna, capers, and onions.

PASTIZZI – flaky pastries with ricotta or mushy peas.

FTIRA – ring-shaped leavened bread, usually filled with sardines, tuna, potato, fresh tomato, onion, capers, and olives.

SFINEG – fluffy and crunchy puff pastry fritters with ricotta or anchovy filling.

TIMPANA – baked pasta dish with meat sauce, eggs, and cheese encased in a pastry shell.

IMQARRUN IL-FORN is a baked pasta casserole (penne or rigatoni) coated in tomato sauce. It has chunks of minced beef, peas, and eggs; the top is browned and crispy.

RAVJUL – traditional homemade ravioli with ricotta cheese in a tomato-based sauce sprinkled with parmesan.

QARABALI MIMLI – marrows (a type of squash similar to zucchini) stuffed with minced meat, breadcrumbs, eggs, and herbs and then baked.

KAPUNATA – salty, sweet, and sour salad from eggplants, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, olives, capers, and pine nuts, served hot or cold with bread.

MINESTRA – Maltese version of minestrone, a thick vegetable soup.

BIGILLA – mashed broad beans dip with olive oil, salt, and chili flakes.

STUFFAT TAL-FENEK – wine-marinated, braised rabbit with garlic, onions, carrots, and aromatic herbs.

BRAGIOLI – are beef olives, which do not contain any olives! A rolled piece of meat stuffed with minced meat, eggs, herbs, and breadcrumbs, similar to a British scotch egg.

ZALZETT TAL-MALTI – Maltese sausage of pork, black peppercorns, coriander seeds, and parsley, short and thin and can be grilled, fried, stewed, steamed, or eaten raw.

KAWLATA – pork and vegetable soup, cooked traditionally from smoked pork shank or bacon and cabbages, broad beans, pumpkins, potatoes, celery, carrots, and other winter veggies.

ALJOTTA –deep and rich flavor fish soup from a small fish’s broth, fish filet, garlic (a must ingredient), onions, potatoes, tomatoes, fresh lemon, parsley, and mint.

ĠBEJNA – small round cheese made from sheep milk, can be served fresh or dried and is used in various dishes, salads, and snacks.

CANNOLI – ricotta-filled fried pastries with candied fruit or nuts.

MQARET – diamond-shaped pastries made with pastry and dates filling, infused with aniseed and bay leaf flavors.

QUBBAJT – traditional Maltese nougat, either a white bar with almonds and hazelnuts inside or hard almond and nut brittle.

CASSATA – ricotta-filled sponge with marzipan.

FIGOLLI – almond stuffed pastries.