Maltese cuisine

Representatives of different peoples who lived at different times in Malta were brought into a set of archipelago’s dishes Something – so the Maltese cuisine wasted, which is one of the bright representatives of the Mediterranean cooking (in general, the sea does not so much disconnects the peoples, how much they connect them). So for millennia there were modern Maltese cuisine – an eclectic alloy of the Mediterranean and Arab traditions.

In the old days in Malta felt the sharp shortage of wood fuel, so all the dishes were preparing slowly, according to a special technique. Food was preparing in clay pots on small stone lesions that were called "Kenur", requiring permanent air flow from fur and careful care. That is why quenching on a slow fire was something like the symbol of traditional Maltese cuisine in which now, despite the appearance of gas and electric stoves, the use of slow fire for cooking. From an early morning over the houses, thin fragrant haze begins, notifying that the hostess has already been taken for the preparation of lunch.

In those days, due to the lack of stoves, the Sunday food was cooked in common rustic furnaces. The dishes were covered with clean towels and attributed to a rustic cook. Each family had their own distinctive sign made of metal. Thus, the whole responsibility for the preparation of the most important meal is Sunday, – rests on the chefs of the village community. The food prepared in this way took home, where she quickly disappeared in the stomachs of the hungry households. It is amazing that the tradition of using communal stoves is alive to this day, many hostesses claim that such food is much more tastier.

One of the most popular dishes that from ancient times are preparing in this way, is "Ross Phil-forn" (rice with minced meat in tomato sauce). The blooming Maltese archipelago was once stony and intense. His current brilliance he owes the work of many generations. Island in the Mediterranean Sea, all his history fought for independence, but welcomingly accepted everyone who was looking for asylum on him.

Hospitality itself implies the ability to treat. At the best times, members of the Maltese Order were not only courageous soldiers and researchers, but also excellent chefs. Maltese cuisine has absorbed all the best of the culinary traditions of the Mediterranean, giving a special sophistication even the most ordinary dishes. Malte’s special gastronomic glory brought the bloody-red juices of the oranges. Their sweet-bitter, fragrant zest and very contrasting acid-sweet juice with a musky flavor are greatly suitable for the most sophisticated dishes. The world culinary terminology firmly entered the term a la Maltaise ("in Maltese") – so it is customary to call dishes cooked with the king.

Maltese Isxtari sought to the general trapes: On Sundays, the chosen cook of the whole village or the quarter prepared one parade dish. For example, Timpan.

Timpana (Famous Maltese pasta cake) – An exquisite old Kushan, once served on the princely pears of the Mediterranean.

It consists of a semi-kilogram of a puff pastry (you can buy ready-made frozen), 800 g of macaroni, a mini-kilogram of minced meat from lean beef or veal, pepper, salt and estradon to taste, 3 tablespoons of tomato paste, 4 good eggs, 2 broth glasses (can be used Bouillon cubes), small finely chopped bulbs, 400 g of parmesan cheese.

In a large pan on olive oil, let out onions. Add mince and slightly fry it, stirring all the time. Now add tomato paste and two cups of broth, stir, salt and pepper. Close the frying pan with a lid and stew minutes twenty. Meanwhile, cook pasta in salted water until soft, drain water, macaroni shifting into a large bowl. Mix them with minced frying pan, add grated cheese and whipped eggs. Dough to roll out, put it in a large greased baking tray, put the pasta stuffing top, cover the second sheet of dough. The top sheet pierce the fork in several places, lubricate the egg and put into the oven, heated to 200 degrees. Oven about an hour. Serve hot or cold, large slices, with sauce Behamel or with grated cheese.

BEGULI

In the autumn and winter sickness evenings on the streets and in the ports of Malta, merchants of uncomply hot snack – FF. This folk bean pate was released by hot, with heat with heat wrapped in flat cakes or in clay bowls. Maybe we treat with old delicacy? We just take the row of ordinary beans and soaked for a day in water with a pinch of soda. A day later, we merge the water and soaked the beans for a day. Then we cook in the same water until full softness, and so far in a mortar, half of the head of garlic and a finely chopped beam of parsley with salt and pepper. Now the mixer whipping the strained beans with garlic and parsley, adding olive oil, until it turns out a thick puree. Serve hot on the Lavash sheet (it will great replace medieval pellets).

Figolla

On the whole Mediterranean coffee in great honor. Figolla is served in Malta to coffee – small puff pastries with a spicy almond filling. This Kushan looks very similar to Phoenician almond cookies, which are mentioned in the ancient Greek and Roman descriptions of the pear.

For the preparation of Figolla requires 300 g of ground fried almonds, 150 g of powdered sugar, 2 small eggs, 1 teaspoon of almond flavoring, 1 st. Spoon brandy. Mixer mix all the ingredients so as to get a thick paste. Conventional puff rolled the dough, cut the squares from it. One square put a spoonful of almond paste, cover top with another square. The edges are replaced, the cookies are placed on a sheet and the oven until it is slightly shrouded.

In the summer, when each village celebrates the holiday of his holy patron, the traditional nougat from sugar and nuts appears on the pracial tables. The most beloved sweet dish of Maltese residents, traditionally supplied to tea or coffee, is "cannoli", – Delicious crispy tube made of fried crispy dough with fresh ricotta cheese, chocolate pieces and sugar fruit.

Cannoli (Cannoli – Sweet Dish)

For tubes:
150 g of top grade flour, 15 g of sugar; 25 g fat; 1 Art.L. vinegar (or red wine); 1 Art. L. Honey, Cinnamon, 1 Egg for Lubrication.

For filling:
0.5 cottage cheese; 150 g of sugar; 30 g of tsukate pieces; 30 g of bitter chocolate pieces; Fat (or olive oil) for frying, vanilla sugar.

For the preparation of tubes, mix flour with fat, sugar, pinch with a ground cinnamon, add some water, vinegar (or wine) and honey and knead a rather cool dough, kneading it until it becomes smooth. Give the test to come down within half an hour, then roll out a rectangle with a thickness of 2 mm from it. Cut it into squares with a side of 12 cm. Lubricate with fat special cylindrical forms and overturn around them with tubes squares from the test, laying them diagonally squares. Pre-diagonal corners of each square moisten a whipped egg. Purge the resulting tubes in a large number of boiling fat or olive oil until golden color, then lay out them on paper, so that excess fat is absorbed, and take out the molds.

Separately prepare a filling, grated cottage cheese several times through the hair sieve and mixing it with a sugar crushed into a mortar. Be a good to beat cottage cheese with a wooden spatula and mix it with sliced ​​zucats and slices of bitter chocolate. Cooled tubes fill with cottage cheese stuffing and sprinkle with vanilla sugar. Instead of cottage cheese for filling, you can use confectionery cream. In the process of cooking cream, it is also possible to add chocolate.

After lunch you can offer "Helva Tat Top" – Sweet mixture of crushed and whole almond nuts. In general, the inhabitants of Malta are not very hooing to sweet culinary products, such as cakes and cakes. This is explained by the fact that in hot conditions it is quite difficult to use fresh cream, it spoils very quickly. For dessert, as a sweet dish, you will most likely offer ice cream or fresh fruit salad, which in Malta grows quite a large number. These are peaches, watermelons, nectarines, pears, grapes and, of course, grapefruits, tangerines and oranges. Especially tasty and juicy oranges that local residents are collected on Christmas Eve.

Grapes and winemaking brought with them an ancient Romans in Malta. Maltese wines are inexpensive, but many varieties are distinguished by excellent quality. The wines of the island of the Gozo are distinguished by an increased fortress, and the beer of Malta is known to all its taste and quality.

So, you met, in general terms, with the basics of the Maltese national cuisine. We hope that our information will help you understand local culinary nuances. In small and cozy bays there are many first-class restaurants, where you can enjoy and great meal and beautiful sea view.

Other restaurants are located above, in the vintage bastions of Valettes – the capital of Malta or Victoria – the main city of Gozo, offering a magnificent view of the bays and scenic sushi landscapes. Do not miss the case and visit small cozy restaurants, where the vintage walls, decorated with flowers, and candles, burning on the tables, create a special, intimate atmosphere.

Sometimes it is difficult to find a compromise, choosing between large restaurants with beautiful views of the sea and small family taverns, which serves the famous Canceled Maltese Hare in Wine Sauce (FENEK) or octopus.

FENEK (Rabbit in Maltese)

Ingredients: Rabbit – 1 pc., Onion onion – 2 pcs., garlic – 6 teeth, tomatoes – 3 pcs., Tomato paste – 2 hours. L., Potatoes – 3 pcs., Carrot – 6 pcs., peas – 1 cup, bay leaf – 2 pcs., Olive oil – 1 h. L., Bouillon cubes – 1 pc., Dry red wine – 1.25 glasses, flour, spicy herbs to taste, salt, pepper – to taste.

Tomatoes clean from leather and finely cut, potatoes and carrots clean and cut into four parts. Add salt and pepper into flour, then mix everything. Cut a rabbit. Lap liver and kidney. Rest.

Put a rabbit in a saucepan and cook in olive oil to a golden crust. To rabbit add onions, garlic, tomatoes and potatoes. Pour red wine. Add tomato paste, laurel leaves and broth cubes. Add kidneys, liver and peas. Bring to a boil and cook on slow fire one and a half hours.

If the sauce starts evaporate – add more wines (but not water).

Fish soup Aljotta

Ingredients: Small Fish – 800 g, Onions – 1 pc., Oil – 2 st. L., Tomatoes – 6 pcs., rice – 100 g, garlic – 1 teeth, lemon, pepper, mint, bay leaf – to taste, salt.

Finely cut onions and garlic, painting on the oil until it turns into porridge. Clean tomatoes (t.E. Remove the skirt) and cut into the cubes. Tomatoes add to the onion garlic mass. Add water to this mixture (as much as you consider it necessary for the future soup) and seasonings.

Add fish after water boils. Cook on low heat until the fish is ready. Finished vapot strain, while all juices do not come out of fish.

Ready fish porridge and rice Add to broth (the one that has just been squeezed) and cook it all up to the full preparedness of rice. Add a little lemon and can be served on the table.

Burning Rice (Ross Il-Forn)

Ingredients: Rice (boiled) – 2 cups, cheese (grated) – 600g, bread crumbs – 2 st. L., Creamy oil – 50g, egg (yolk) – 2 pcs., Milk – 2 glasses, salt, black pepper, red ground – to taste.

Boiled rice mix with yolk and cheese. Feel good. Add milk and mix again. Lubricate the dishes (in which you are going to the stove) cream oil or margarine, and put the mixture in the dishes, sprinkled with bread crumbs and the remaining cheese above. Cut margarine on cubes size with almond nut and put on top.

Oven in the oven at an average temperature of about 45 minutes. Serve rice with fried tomatoes.

Stew octopus

Ingredients: Octopus meat – 750 g, butter – 2 st. L., Onion – 3 pcs., peas – 250g, garlic – 3 teeth, tomato paste – 2 st. L., Carrot – 1 pc., Olives – 8 pcs., Basil, mint, oregano – to taste, red wine – 1 cup, Worcester sauce (worcestershire) – a little, pepper – to taste.

Grook rubble, garlic finely cut. Stain the octopus on small pieces. Then fry a bow and garlic in oil. Add octopus slices and other ingredients.

Prepare about 1 hour on medium heat until the octopus becomes soft. When the dish is ready – serve as an addition to spaghetti. You can serve as a separate dish – then at the initial stage, add 500 grams of potatoes.

Dorada baked in fault with herbs

Ingredients: Dorada Fish – 2 pcs., Olive oil – 1 st. L., Red wine – 1 cup, water – 1 cup, rosemary – twig, pepper – several peas, salt – to taste.

Spices tie and put in a muslin bag. Put a whole fish in a saucepan and pour the mixture of wine, water and oil, add spices and stew fish until readiness.

Pastizzi with meat (Maltese puff pastry pies)

Ingredients: 900 g of puff pastry (fresh puff), 1-2 bulbs (small), 450 g beef (scrolled through a meat grinder), 2 tin cans (approximately 250 g), 2 teaspoons of tomato paste, 1/2 teaspo Spices

Fail on butter finely chopped onions. As soon as the bow dares, add meat to the frying pan. A little root and add tomato paste with spices. Mix well all (straight in the skirt) and add peas (+ salt, pepper to taste).

Roll out the dough (only that it is not transparent), cut into circles with a diameter of about 10 cm. In the middle of each mug put 1 st. Farsh spoon. Close the circle so that it reminds.

Lubricate the baking sheet by Margarine and lay out raw pastietsi on him. Oven at a temperature of 190-200 degrees about an hour. Periodically look into the oven. Ready-made grave should be covered with a golden crust. Best of all there are hot.

Puff pastry – Ghagina Tal-ISFolll

Best and easier to buy puff pastry in the store. But for especially stubborn – a special recipe:

Ingredients on 600 g of test: 250 g of butter, 250 g of flour, 1 pinch of salt, 2 st. L. White dry wine, 3 st. Water spoons (instead of this water you can add wine)

200 g butter leave in the refrigerator. All other products must have a room temperature (and it is very important!) so they should be taken out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before the start of the preparation of the test. Flour to sift in a bowl and stir with warm butter and liquid. Press the shape of the ball and put for 20 minutes in the refrigerator.

Chilled oil cut into 4 squares 1 cm thick and decompose on the test close to each other. At the same time, it is around to leave such a number of test so that they can completely close the oil.

Folded dough roll out into a narrow rectangle and then folded the dough trip. Dough again roll out the rectangle and turn three times again. Put the dough for 15 minutes in the refrigerator, and then repeat the process of folding and roll over 2-3 times (but no more).

Than you are diligent, the more layer will be your dough. When cutting a puff pastry, it is better to use a sharp knife with gear, a special wheel or shape with sharp edges. Strongly press the dough it is impossible. Only in this case, puff pastry rises well.

Products made of puff pastry should be baked on the contradicts or in the form, in a mixture of them. Frameworking steam from water residues is necessary in order for puff pastry well. Before baking, puff pastry is needed in several places to smoothly fork, so that the korzh is not deformed.

Figolli – Easter Pie

Safety dough with sour cream. Ingredients: 1/2 cup of butter (or margarine), 1 cup of sugar sand, 1 egg, 1 egg (slightly whipped), 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 cups flour, ripper

1 C. Spoon, sour cream

Mix well oil (margarine) with sugar, egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix flour, ripper, soda and salt. Mixed dry products and sour cream Add to sugar potion.

Almond stuff. Ingredients: 280 g of crushed almond, 113 g of sugar powder (for cooking glaze), 113 g of sugar, 2 small eggs, 1 h. Spoon Pure Almond Extract, 1 h. Spoon of Sugar water, Sherry (to taste)

Mix sugar, sugar and almonds. In a separate dish, mix eggs with Almond Extract and Sherry. Egg mixture kneading with almond.

Preheat oven to 160-165 degrees Celsius. Roll out the dough with a thickness of 5 mm. Do not forget to pre-sprinkle with flour surface on which you will roll the dough. Cut the dough on the molds in the form of fish, apple, dogs and t. D. (two molds on Figolla).

For one of the two forms, apply almond stuffing. Put the remaining form and connect the edges of two forms. Apply a small layer of whipped egg. Oven until Figolli cover the golden crust. Cool and decorate Figolli colored icing. Using the icing, attach a chocolate egg in the middle.

Salad of pea and beans

Ingredients: 1 Bean Bank (Lime Beans), 1 Covers of Garlic, Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper, Parsley (cut), Mint (cut), olives, tomato paste, bread

Mix beans, peas, garlic, salt, pepper, parsley, mint and olive oil. Salad eating with bread covered tomato paste, dipping it into olive oil.

BISCUITS "Tar-Rahal"

Ingredients: Flour – 200 g, sugar – 200 g, Margarine – 50 g, Egg – 1 pc., Cocoa – 1 h. L., Hammer Carnation – 1/2 h. L., Zedra – 1/2 Lemon, Zestra – 1/2 Orange Milk.

Knead the flour, margarine and sugar. Then add the remaining ingredients except milk. Mix everything, then add milk. Lubricate a baking sheet margarine and sprinkle a little flour on top.

From the test to make biscuits and decompose them on the contrary, leaving a place between them. Sprinkle a little sugar top. Furnace at a temperature of 180-200 gr. With about 20 minutes.