Typical Maltese food is best defined by its variety and uses a multitude of ingredients, but there is a firm emphasis on vegetables, fish, and seafood. It also features many ways of preparing food, from basic grills to large, complex dishes.
Malta’s cuisine has been heavily influenced by neighbouring Italy, particularly Sicily, and Anglo-Saxon food, which is unsurprising when you remember that Malta only became independent from Great Britain about 60 years ago, and many of its tourists are from the British Isles.
However, some of the most popular dishes of typical Maltese food have strong influences from the Maghreb, specifically nearby Tunisia. Hints of North Africa can be noted in the use of fragrant spices that add flavour, scent, and colour to Malta’s cuisine. North African influences can also be spotted in dishes made with filo or puff pastry, honey, dried fruit, and nuts.
Below is a selection of some of Malta’s most famous, typical dishes. When it’s time to dine out, we recommend trying something new and letting yourself be guided by the suggestions you’re given at the many excellent restaurants (link to URL Best Restaurants in Malta) you’ll find in this small country.
Aljotta
Aljotta is the most traditional type of fish soup you’ll find among typical Maltese dishes. It was originally invented as a dish to be eaten during Lent when Catholic doctrine prohibited eating meat. It’s made from frying garlic, onion, and tomato, then adding fish (including the head, for extra flavour), laurel and mint leaves, with a final dash of lemon and parsley.
Lampuki
Lampuki, mahi-mahi, is one of the typical Maltese dishes you’ll find in virtually every restaurant, and also people’s homes. The fish is fried or roasted and seasoned with a few drops of lemon juice and sometimes rosemary, onion, tomato slices, and fried green peppers.
Fenek Stuffat
Fenek stuffat (or stuffat tal-fenek) is the national dish and is one of the most delicious typical recipes from Malta, even though it’s amazingly simple: rabbit stewed in a delicious tomato and wine sauce. Don’t forget, rabbit has been an essential part of people’s diet in Malta since ancient times.
Local honey
Just like rabbit, bees ‒ or rather their honey ‒ has had a prominent place in Maltese people’s diets since Phoenician times. In fact, the country’s name, Malta, comes from the name given to it by the Greeks: ‘melita’, meaning honey. Thyme honey, also known as ‘summer honey’, is extremely popular and is used to season a wide variety of Maltese confections and desserts.
Bragioli
Bragioli are the Maltese version of meatballs in sauce, a common dish in many Mediterranean countries. In Malta, they’re made with minced meat, boiled egg, breadcrumbs, and parsley, then fried and cooked in a hearty sauce made from the meat juices. They’re served with chips and/or salad.
Pastizzi
Despite their appearance (they look like typical Arabian sweets), pastizzi are normally savoury. They’re a type of pastry stuffed with ricotta, meat, spinach, peas, and other ingredients, depending on who is making them. They make a great aperitif or snack between meals.
Bigilla
This dish was inherited from the Muslims who once inhabited the country; bigilla is Malta’s version of hummus, which is eaten across North Africa. Here, it’s made from a type of broad bean called ful ta’ Ġirba, plus garlic, olive oil, parsley, chilli, salt, and pepper. It’s normally eaten as an aperitif.
Gbejna
It might be hard to pronounce, but this is one of the best-known cheeses and is extremely typical to Malta. It’s made in Gozo (link to corresponding URL?) from either goat or sheep milk. It can be eaten by itself, with bread, or as an ingredient in many of the most popular dishes of typical Maltese food.
Ftira
Ftira bread is so important to typical Maltese food that UNESCO has added it to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. It’s an unleavened bread that’s shaped into flat circles and can be stuffed with whatever ingredients you like: vegetables, meat, cured meat, fish, etc. It’s also delicious by itself and is eaten as an aperitif or served with other dishes.
Hobza
This popular dish is the Maltese version of a bruschetta, i.e. toasted bread topped with tomato and olive oil. It’s seasoned with a sprinkling of salt and sometimes also served with a slice of Gbejna cheese.
Timpana
Timpana is one of the most surprising dishes of typical Maltese food. It’s like a pasta pie made from wheat macaroni with Bolognese sauce (minced meat, tomato, and spices), with cheese, egg, butter, and salt, all encased in pastry, and then baked. The result is as delicious as it is filling!
