Raise your hand if you’re a foodie. Raise your hand if you’re visiting Malta or if you’re already in Malta. Lucky you because in today’s blog post, you will find a menu’s worth of foods you must eat in Malta!
One of the best parts about travel is food. Food, glorious food. Calories don’t count when you’re on holiday and it is the perfect excuse to eat all day long! Enough with the chit-chat. Let’s get cracking and get our mouths watering! 🤤
Foods you must try in Malta:
1. Pastizzi:
This one is a no-brainer. Every local will tell you that pastizzi are god-sent. They are really bad for your waistline but so so good for the soul! Pastizzi (or pastizz in singular) is a savoury pastry snack and traditionally, they are filled with either ricotta or peas. Although recently, many have been branching out with other fillings such as chicken and Nutella. Yes, Nutella. My favourite is ricotta!
You can find pastizzi all over the island, mainly in pastizzerias such as Sphinx, Jeff’s Pastizzeria, Maxims, and is-Serkin/Crystal Palace which is hands down the best pastizzeria on the island. One pastizz is 0.50c and I recommend eating more than one! Trust me, you will not be disappointed.
Exhibit A: ricotta pastizz + Kinnie. Best combo! Kinnie is a local soft drink/soda. It has a sweet and tangy taste to it.
Click here for the recipe. This is not exactly traditional but it is close enough.
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2. Ħobża/Ftira biż-żejt:
Another local delicacy, this dish is simply Maltese bread filled with tomato paste (also known locally as kunserva), tuna, capers, olives, beans, onions, and oil. Biż-żejt literally means ‘with oil’. Some add pickled veggies or sweet corn to it. There are many variations but one thing stands true: it’s the bomb. The best way to eat a Ħobża biż-żejt is by the beach with a packet of twistees (more on that soon) and a Kinnie. Just like pastizzi, you can buy this meal from anywhere. I like to have mine with a side of fries!
Click here for the recipe.
3. Ġbejna:
A ġbejna is a classic Maltese cheese made out of goat’s milk that can be found in every local’s fridge, supermarket, and on every cheese board. Maltese charcuterie board anyone? If you’re a fan of cheese, you’ll love this one! There are four types: plain, pepper, spicy and herby. I love all of them 😍 My favourite way to eat Ġbejniet (plural) is either with crackers or in a salad but there are so many different recipes you can try with Ġbejniet.
Click here to learn more about the Ġbejna
4. Timpana:
This one is for all the carb lovers out there. What makes a plate of pasta even more fantastic?
Why when it is wrapped in even more carbs of course! Essentially, timpana is a pasta pie.
Timpana is one of my comfort meals. There’s something about it that just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It is very simple to make this dish. All you have to do is cook pasta in some meat sauce and then wrap it around with dough before putting it in the oven to bake! I made it for the first time when I was living in Germany because I was feeling homesick and everyone loved it!
Click here for the recipe.
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5. Rabbit, Rabbit Stew/Stuffat tal-Fenek:
Apart from being bloody delicious, this dish has historical roots in Malta. It was first introduced on the island during the conquest of the Knights of St John. There are two ways we like to eat our rabbit:
- Either fried in white wine sauce and served with fries and bread (carbs overload). The sauce is flavored with local spices.
- The sauce from the rabbit is mixed with tomato sauce and mixed with spaghetti (another carb overload. I think you can spot a pattern)
Click here for the recipe.
6. Figolli:
Figolli are a local delicacy mainly enjoyed during Easter times. They are made with almond flour, more butter than a human person should ever consume, more sugar than a human person should ever consume, lemon rings and are filled with an almond filling, also known as intrita.
They are sweet and delicious! You can find them in also every shop during the Easter period but homemade is always the best. I don’t want to sound biased but my nanna makes the best Figolli ever 😉 Another cool thing about Figolli is that we like to cut them in different shapes such as hearts, fish, butterflies and more. You can either choose to have it plain or covered in icing sugar. Some also place a chocolate easter egg on top!
Click here for the recipe.
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7. Braġioli:
Another favourite of mine! Braġoili are very similar to involtini which can be found in Italy. Basically, it is a piece of thin veal stuffed with a boiled egg, mushrooms, bacon, and parsley, and cooked either in a pan with tomato sauce or in the oven. This is my favourite way to cook them but you can find a number of different varieties all over the island.
Click here for the recipe.
8. Other recommendations:
- Torta tal-Lampuki – Fish Pie
- Octopus Stew
- Aljotta – Fish soup
- Imqaret – Deep fried date pastries
- Qaġħaq tal-Għasel – Honey rings filled with a date filling
9. Maltese food restaurants
And that brings an end to today’s post! I hope you found it useful and informative. Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram and pin this blog post to your Pinterest boards!
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