Pastizz is Malta's national snack, a phyllo pastry filled with ingredients such as peas, ricotta, anchovies, corned beef, or apples. The thin dough is stretched and rolled with layers of fat in between, which is used to achieve the typical flaky texture of the finished product.
The dough is then filled with any of the aforementioned ingredients, shaped into diamonds or semicircles, then baked until golden brown. Pastizzi can be consumed as a snack or served as appetizers in bars.
Imqaret is a traditional pastry that is filled with a combination of dates, citrus, and spices, shaped into a diamond, then deep-fried in hot oil. The name of the dish is derived from the word maqrut, meaning diamond-shaped, referring to the visual appearance of this flavorful pastry, although it may also be shaped into rectangles in some cases.
Imqaret is often dusted with powdered sugar, and it is sometimes paired with a scoop of ice cream on the side.
Fenkata is the national dish of Malta, a communal meal that is prepared with rabbit as the star of the feast. A whole rabbit is typically marinated in wine, then stewed with aromatic herbs and vegetables such as carrots, tomatoes, onions, and garlic until tender.
The sauce should be rich in flavor and thick in texture. It is recommended to serve fenkata with pasta (usually spaghetti) or potatoes, while olives and capers might also be added to the dish in order to further elevate its flavors.
This open-faced Maltese sandwich translates as bread with oil. It is made with slices of crusty sourdough bread which are smeared with kunserva (tomato paste), drizzled with olive oil, and then enjoyed with a variety of toppings.
Those traditionally include canned tuna or white anchovies pickled in vinegar, ġbejna sheep cheese, fresh tomatoes, pickled vegetables, bigilla mashed beans spread, onions, olives, and capers. Being Malta’s number one snack, hobż biż-żejt can be found in almost every eatery in the country.
This flat, marzipan-filled Maltese cookie is typically shaped into lambs or bunnies because it is traditionally prepared during the Easter festivities. These sweet treats are often decorated with icing, melted chocolate, or chocolate Easter eggs.
Originally, figolla was made in the shape of fish, baskets, or women, and it symbolized fertility. Regardless of the design, figolla is a staple of Maltese pastry shops and home kitchens around Easter.
This flavorful Maltese dish is a baked pasta casserole that is typically made with penne or rigatoni. Although the recipe was inherited from Sicily, imqarrun il-forn is nowadays a staple of Maltese cuisine. Besides pasta, the casserole is made with ground meat, onions, carrots, garlic, tomatoes, eggs, cheese, and flavorings such as nutmeg, curry powder, or bay leaves.
Baked until golden-brown in color, the dish should be crispy and crunchy on the exterior and moist on the inside. It is often served as a part of Sunday lunch on Malta.
Ġbejna is a small cheeselet produced from sheep or goat milk, rennet, and salt. The cheese can be prepared in numerous ways – salted, peppered, pickled, covered in herbs, or plain. It is believed that Ġbejna was originally prepared with seawater instead of rennet as a curdling agent.
Nowadays, the cheese is a staple of Maltese cuisine - it can be used in a traditional Maltese soup called soppa tal-armla, served with local sourdough bread for breakfast, or paired with dips and spreads in Maltese appetizer platters. Many Maltese restaurants have recently employed the practice of using this cheese instead of ricotta in the preparation of a traditional filled pastry known as qassatat.
Pair with
Prepared in many shapes and in numerous local variations, this sourdough bread is a staple of almost every Maltese kitchen. It is typically baked in wood-fired ovens and consists of flour, yeast, water, and salt. The bread is usually served as an accompaniment to a variety of dishes, but the most popular way of consuming it is to rub it with tomatoes, drizzle it with olive oil, and top it with ingredients such as cheese, olives, capers, onions, or fish.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Bigilla is a broad bean dip originating from Malta. It is usually eaten as a snack or a spread, served with Maltese crackers called galletti, or toasted sourdough bread. Soaked and boiled dried tic beans—ful ta’ Girba are mashed with garlic, parsley, and olive oil into a paste seasoned with salt and pepper, which can optionally be flavored with chili, lemon juice, and various herbs.
Similar to another Maltese delicacy known as pastizzi, qassatat is a delicious pastry filled with a variety of different ingredients, even though ricotta cheese is the most popular choice. These pastries are so popular that they are one of the most consumed street food items on Malta.
The dough consists of flour, butter or olive oil, eggs, salt, and water, while the ricotta filling may be additionally enriched with raisins, onions, or fava beans. Apart from ricotta, other varieties of qassatat include ingredients such as spinach, capers, peas, olives, and anchovies.
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.