Maltese food is undeniably scrumptious and is always bursting with flavour. MICHELIN Guide has shared quite the video that brought to light the local gastronomic scene and local trades and customs involved in bringing dishes to life.
“Malta is a very attractive cultural destination with a unique cuisine style which beautifully combines European influences and local traditions”, explained Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the MICHELIN guides. The video interviews a bunch of locals who are experts in their fields - and will definitely have you craving all these delish local foods!
“Our food is like our language. It’s very difficult for many people to understand because there is a lot coming from different countries, different influences,” Chef Rafel Sammut from Briju Restaurant starts off. “There’s a variety of flavours, of intensities, colours. There is a lot to understand. Many people know very little about traditional Maltese food.”
MICHELIN also spoke to Ray Sciberras, a knowledgeable and humble beekeeper. “The origin of the word ‘Malta’ is derived from ‘melita,’ which is from the Greek word ‘miel,’ which means honey. So, Malta is the ‘island of honey.’ The taste of our honey is an explosion of tastes, coming from the plants. It’s something unique. It’s Malta in a jar.” And if you’ve tasted Maltese honey, or ghasel as it’s called, you’ll definitely know what he’s on about.
“The Maltese gbejna is a very small cheeselet,” says cheese maker Emanuel Agius who fondly remembers his mum and grandparents making the cheeselets. “We don’t know how far back it goes, probably centuries back,” he says of the tradition. “There is a secret ingredient which actually is passion.”
MICHELIN Guide also heads to Malta’s sister isle to pay a visit to the iconic Mekren bakery which has been in “family hands” for the past 130 years. “We are doing the traditional ftira. It is filled with gbejna cheese mixed with eggs, some peppers and potatoes and then closed with the bread dough,” says baker Julia Hering. “You have the bread, you have the cheese, it fills you up, it makes you happy.” Indeed, it does!
“When I started pressing olives, nobody was pressing olives in Malta,” says olive oil producer Samuel Cremona. “And one fine day I had an old man coming over and he said, ‘will you press my small olives?’ And I said, ‘yes, what kind of olives are they?’ And he said the name was bidny. The trees he brought these olives from are so old that if they could speak, they would remember the arrival of St Paul in Malta! The taste of bidny has a strong beautiful smell, of a Maltese garden. When you have it, you salivate so much that you become addicted. It becomes something you can’t live without.”
And of course, they also chatted to salt producer Josephine Xuereb who spoke about the islands’ tradition of salt harvesting. “Every summer we harvest the gift of the sea. This type of salt is the best because it’s just pure; it’s just seawater and the sun which do the magic. I have very beautiful memories here. I used to come every summer with my parents witnessing them harvesting the salt,” she says, noting she’s the fifth generation of salt harvesters. “Now it was time for me to continue this trade.”
Watch the video here:
Hungry, yet?