Is Malta cuisine similar to Italian?
With its long and rich history, Malta's cuisine naturally
reflects gastronomically its rich cultural heritage that blends
Arab with Mediterranean ( including Middle Eastern, French, Spanish
and Catalan) and British.
There is no national Italian cuisine as such but many regional
cusines, with some dishes made differently form one town or village
to another and even some town and village specific dishes.
There are similarities:
- Like Italian cuisines, Maltese cuisine relies on seasonal and
locally available food. It too is a simple and healthy "Cucina
Povera" based above all on vegetables and cereals, relying on eggs
and local cheese for protein most of the time, and reserving meat
and fish dishes for special occasions.
- For reasons of climate and territory, Maltese cuisine use
similar ingredients to the cusines of Southern Italy: vegetables
like artichokes, sweet peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, and
onions, fresh fruit (oranges, plums, peaches, grapes, figs,
melons), fish and shellfish, rabbit pork and chicken etc
- For reasons of shared history and proximity leading to trading
and other contact,, Maltese cuisine shares some dishes with
Southern Italy. For exampe the Ricotta filled Sweet Cannoli are
nearly identical to those of nearby Sicily, the savoury ricotta
filled pastry snack Pastizzi resembles the sweet Sfogliatelle of
Naples; Malta' s Baked Pastas, Pasta with aubergines, Patsa with
tomato and ricotta etc have relatives in Calabria and Puglia,
Molise and Sicily; Cooked summer vegetable salads such a Kapunata
and Peperonata as similar to dises found in much of the Southern
Mediterranean not just in Italy.
- Dessert is fresh fruit and cakes are reserved for holidays,
feast and special occasions as in most of Italy's regional
cuisines. Desserts show many traces of the Arab contribution to
Malta's cusines as they are often based on nuts, dates, figs and
honey. Some sweetmeats also found in Southern Sicily may well have
had the same origins as their Malta counterparts.
- Though Baked Rice ia an extremely popular dish, there are no
Maltese Risottos, as is also true of all Southern Italy.
- For historical reasons there is a British influence not found
in Italian cuisine. Long grain rice is the kind most often used in
Maltese cooking and the British also gave Malta sweet rice pudding.
Curry powder is often used in the filling of the Bragjoli beef
rolls, where the name of the dish is derived from Sicilian dialect.
Potatoes which grow locally - especially French Fries called Chips
in British English - are served far more often than in Italy. Bread
is often buttered unlike in Italy, and butter and corn oil are the
most commopnly used cooking fats.
- Some key features of Maltese cuisine are
- many stuffed vegetables dishes
- an emphasis on soups, of all kinds (often made with cereals as
well as vegetables, meat and fish)
- many stews of vegetables, poutlry, meat and also of octopus,
squid etc
- many shallow fried patties of vegetables, salt cod, ground
pork and beef
It is an exceedingly rich cusine for such a small island - 10
miles by 20 - and well worth discovering|