Malta's cuisine is a delightful medley of tastes acquired from its long history of being occupied by different world powers in the Mediterranean.
At one shop, I had a slice of
prinjolata, a yummy cake made with dried fruits and a touch of alcohol. The cherry on top sold it for me. It was quite tasty but after I tried J's almond esse, I knew that he had ordered the best item by far. His pastry had a flakey crust around a smooth and flavorful almond paste interior. Too bad it wasn't in any shape to be photographed after I made my discovery!
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Prinjolata and tea |
On Gozo, we had lunch at
Oleander's, a restaurant on the main plaza of
Xaghra. I had the
beef olives (known locally as bragioli), which is a delightful ground beef dish stuffed with all sorts of wonderful ingredients.
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Beef-licious |
The restaurant also had the most awesome liquor display ever. I fear it might be custom-made, but I still want one!
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Custom beverage cart |
Malta does produces some wines, though the store I went to divided them into reds and whites, so perhaps not a huge variety.
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A tasty red wine and the local bottled water |
In
Mdina we ate at
Fontanella on the fortified walls. The views were spectacular. I had a local sandwich called
ftira which combined tuna, olives, and beans in a crusty bun. The star by far was the
pastizzi, a baked crispy pastry with a ricotta cheese filling. This little side item was our favorite food item in Malta.
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Ftira and crisps |
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L's banana juice and my pastizzi |
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So good, it deserves a second picture! |
On our last day, we went to another fine restaurant (this time in Birgu) where we had ftira again, and I had this awesome cup of tea.
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Cup of tea comes with cookies and a jug of milk! |
The waiter told us that the chef might have a special treat for the kids if they ate all their food (they had chicken nuggets, not ftira). L was anticipating a fantastic desert but got more than she bargained for. J was a little disappointed, mostly because his treat popped as we were walking back to the car.
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L must have rubbed it on her head |
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Foreshadowing of doom! |
The food on Malta is a great blend of ingredients and styles.
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