Since I've been busy and bad about updating the blog, one of my "re-solutions" (another post in themselves, coming to a site near you soon) is to update at the very least once every two weeks, if not every week. Feel free to email and/or otherwise bother me to do so!
With a few time-turner spins or a pop into the TARDIS, let's head back to mid-November 2011.
We (my fellow Fulbrighter and flatmate PG) headed into Valletta in the rain to attempt to find the Mediterranean Conference Centre in order to attend the National Book Fair! [Was there ever any doubt that if there was a book fair, I would manage to find it? I just let my bibliophile (akin to spidey) senses tingle until we got there ;D] The hall that the Fair was held in is the ‘Sacra Infermeria’ Hall, which was once the Long Ward of the Holy Infirmary of the Knights of the Order of St. John. It is one of the longest halls in Europe and was recognized as an architectural feat in the 16th century when it was constructed. Only in Malta would you hold a Book Fair in a Holy Infirmary!
We spent a couple of hours browsing, and frequently told each other: "Remember, you can't take too much stuff home!" Drawing upon the very deepest reserves of my willpower, I managed to leave with only 5 books! I got a history of Malta from 1884 (for only 3 euro!), a new British edition hardback of HP&tHBP, and 3 small kids books in Maltese (that's about the level I can read!). It was really good to see that there are a variety of things being published in Maltese [remind me to go on a rant-ish tangent about ebooks and the Maltese language later] and it was fun just to talk to the publishers and to see what was on offer.
The next evening, we ventured to the closest (and only) Tex-Mex restaurant, hankering for some tastes of home, even though all three of us are much more used to Mex-Mex than Tex-Mex, but hey - we were getting desperate. we also brought along GG's flatmate VF, a really sweet girl from Greece who had never had Mexican food. I ordered what was termed a Chicken Enchilada, but was more like slightly soggy tortillas, some form of mozzarella cheese, and a strangely spiced chicken with small sides of barbeque beans and a weird coleslaw. The restaurant is also a bar, so we were regaled with intoxicated ladies' renditions of "I'm Sexy and I Know It" at intervals throughout dinner. The other girls' orders weren't much better, and we certainly shan't be going to that place again. The one good (and funny) thing that we did get there is that the bartender was Canadian, and in some sort of North-American-Continent-Pride-Haze decided to give us free drinks! I had some sort of strawberry and cream concoction (virgin for me, of course) and the girls tried various funny-named drinks. We tipped him for his generosity, collected our leftovers (my chicken turned into a chicken sandwich with a new sauce the next day), and vowed not to return.
This seems to happen in many "ethnic" restaurants here, but we were initially confused as to why the first two pages of our menu was burgers and pizza when this is a Tex-Mex restaurant.
In many places that we've been in (we have found some very tasty exceptions, of course), no matter what kind of food the place purports to have, they will also have faux-Italian/Maltese options, such as pizza, sandwiches on local bread, or pasta dishes. Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of all three of these categories - but if I wanted a pizza, I would have gone to a pizzeria! I came into your restaurant for the specific type of food you offer! Please offer more options there rather than so-so versions of other foods.
As part of my research and involvement in the culture here, I am studying and interviewing both public figures and home cooks about Maltese cuisine.
Again, there's enough material for a few more separate posts about this, but just a brief mention here: the food is a blend of other cultures (including mainly Sicilian, Italian, French, British, and North African) with ingredients that are available on this island nation. Of course, with the increase in international trade and Malta's entry into the EU in 2008, there is much better access to foreign ingredients and tastes. Some of the most popular traditional foods include fenek (rabbit), which is often made into a savoury (note my UK spelling!) tomato stew and served over pasta or baked into a pie; bragoli, also called ‘beef olives,’ as they resemble stuffed olives in that they are a meatball-type filling wrapped with thin slices of beef; lampuki (a type of fish very similar to Mahi-mahi, see one of my older posts for my first time cooking it!); klamar, a stuffed calamari; qaqocc mimli (stuffed artichokes); majjal ghad-dobbu (boiled pork); kannoli (like the Italian cannoli); all sorts of baked pasta and rice dishes, and lots of vegetable based soups and stews. Of course, this is by no means an extensive list, just a taste of dishes.
I am in the process of scheduling a couple more interviews/meet-ups with some local chefs, so reports on that to come.
For now, it’s off to finalize lesson plans for my University lecture tomorrow and have a biskuti tar-rahal (village cookie) with some tea, as I’ve made myself hungry writing about all of this food! If you’re in CA, go have some great authentic Mexican food for me!
Promising more updates soon,
MH
