By Maria Pia and Amy Saliba

Ġbejna (plural ġbejniet) are cheeseletsmade in the Maltese Islands from goat’s or sheep milk, salt and rennet. In both Malta and the neighbouring island of Gozo virtually all sheep milk and most goat milk is used for production of these cheeselets, much of it through family-owned cottage industries. They are prepared and served in a variety of forms: pickled, salted, peppered, covered in herbs, dried, or as a plain, fresh cheeselet. Legend has it that earlier generations used sea water, rather than rennet, as a curdling agent.

• The Maltese sausage, also locally known as zalzetta tal-

malti, is a homemade sausage that is influenced by

England but made in accordance to Portuguese

traditions. It is similar to the pork salsicca of the Italians

and can be made either plain or with garlic, depending

on the type. Fresh Maltese sausage is often made with

garlic, while dry types are made without this.

The production of Maltese sausage begins with ground pork and fat. This is seasoned with sea salt, crushed black peppercorns, crushed coriander seeds, parsley, garlic and other spices then stuffed into sausage casings.

For dried varieties, the links are pricked to let air out and left to dry for about 2 to 4 days. The result is a short and thick sausage with a pinkish color when raw. Once cooked, this becomes brown and is full of flavor. The amount of sea salt used also makes for a slightly salty sausage that has bit of crunch and texture thanks to the peppercorn and coriander.

• A pastizzare a savoury pastry from Malta. Pastizzi usually

have a filling either of ricotta or of mushy peas, and are

called pastizzi tal-irkotta or pastizzi tal-piżelli. Pastizzi

are a popular and well-known Maltese food.

• Pastizzi are usually diamond-shaped or round-shaped

and made of filo pastry. The pastry is folded in different

ways according to the filling.

A pastizzare a savoury pastry from Malta. Pastizzi usually

have a filling either of ricotta or of mushy peas, and are

called pastizzi tal-irkotta or pastizzi tal-piżelli. Pastizzi are

a popular and well-known Maltese food.

• Spaghetti with rabbit sauce is a part of Maltese dining

festivity called FENKATA. It is often referred to as our

national dish; however, eating Fenkata is not necessarily

associated with any holidays. It is just an opportunity to

sit together and enjoy the stewed rabbit. As part of

Fenkata, people first eat the spaghetti with rabbit sauce.

Then they eat the rabbit meat served with potatoes. It is

the best rabbit recipe I have tried so far.

Qagħaq tal-għasel are sweet pastry rings filled with a treacle mixture. Literally translated they are ‘honey rings’; but there is absolutely no honey in the recipe. The main ingredient in the filling is treacle. In Maltese treacle is known as għasel iswed; so probably that is why they are known as honey rings. Years ago village people used qastanija, and not treacle, for theirqagħaq tal-għasel. This was made by melting down honey-combs after the honey had been extracted from them. In all probability qastanija is a corruption of the Italian castagna, which means chestnut. It might be that it was so called because the mixture was the colour of chestnuts. But there are absolutely no chestnuts in the mixture. Through the years qastanija was substituted by black treacle. For those who have a very sweet tooth, sugar is added to the filling mixture.

• Figolli are almond pastries cut out to represent symbolic figures. They come into their own at Easter time. It is wisest to buy then from a reputable confectioner. Some charities make and sell them too, but beware of the quality, no matter how deserving the charity. You will need the metal cutters. If you cannot obtain these, you can make your own templates, like gingerbread men, out of cardboard. The traditional shapes are men, Women, fish and baskets, the last perhaps being fertility symbols. More recently, new shapes have begun to emerge, such as butterflies, lambs and cars. A shop window filled with these figolli is a colourful sight. The human shapes are easily identifiable by the old-fashioned oleograph faces stuck on to the icing. An Easter egg wrapped in coloured paper is an essential part of the decoration.

• This is a cake designed to appeal to kids in general.

While Christmas cakes are ice-rink smooth perfection,

the prinjolata, which starts appearing in cafés and

confectioners in late January and therefore well before

carnival, is a mound of mess. Splattered with melted

chocolate, pine nuts and glacé cherries glowing neon

artificial green and red, the prinjolata is like a kids’ art

session. Its name comes from prinjol, pine nut, which is

similar to the Italian word, pinoli. But pine nuts seem to

be just a bit of decoration. The cake itself, which can be a

cafe’ counter-top mountain, is made of cream, sponge,

citrus peel and biscuits. It has a substantial calorie count

with its condensed milk and a bit of a boozy bite to it with

its Vermouth content.

• These are short crust pastries filled inside.There’s all sort

of different fillings you can use for the qassatat but ricotta

ones seem to be the most favoured. You can add raisins

or onions or fresh fava beans with the ricotta. These

types of fillings are sought after during Lent when it’s

customary to fast.

• Other types of fillings include meat and anchovies, but

really, you can make as many types of filling as your

creativity and taste will take you.