Spoiling Maltese bread

I read in a recent Maltese language paper that the Minister of Economic Services, Josef Bonnici, informed parliament that (unspecified) additives are to be added to bakers' flour which, he says, will improve the consistency and quality of Maltese bread. The price of a loaf has therefore been increased by 1 cent to cover the cost.

All the evidence suggests that the minister is completely wrong in his belief that additives will improve the quality of our bread. How does he imagine that some of the best bread in the world has been produced for centuries, with no additives at all - except, of course, for water, fresh yeast and a small amount of salt? I suggest to him that he reads the work of H. Chiron: 'Il-Hobz Malti - is-sengha tal-furnar', published by Medigrain, Malta 1994 which makes my point at greater length. Another source of information is the chapter on bread in 'The Food and Cookery of Malta' by Anne and Helen Caruana Galizia which is available at bookshops.

I have no doubt that the traditional bakers of Qormi would also disagree with the incorporation of additives. However, their use as "flour improvement agents", (an oxymoron if ever there was one!), is now commonplace all over western Europe, even in France. The purpose of these additives (basically ascorbic acid or Vitamin C) is to reduce the long, slow-rising process dramatically and to increase production while reducing the working hours. It would seem pointless to fight this trend, since it produces bread of a kind which is - or should be - less expensive as it is mass-produced.

What we should be quite clear about is that, although it looks the same on the outside as the traditional hobza, and can also be made in any number of attractive shapes and sizes, and it is edible, its quality is grossly inferior.

So where does this leave the real Maltese hobza and the minister concerned? In every other European country, the traditional, slow-rising bread has not been abandoned. It continues to be produced, along with the additive variety, and it costs more than it used to because of the hard labour which goes into producing it. The use of additives will, in the long run, serve to make the mass-produced bread cheaper so it would make sense to allow the cost of the traditional hobza to rise.

As in other European countries it will continue to be highly valued and people will be prepared to pay the appropriate cost to recompense the bakers for the ancient art which they practise.

It is hoped that the government will concentrate on the conservation of the traditional baking industry and that the minister responsible will put his or her efforts into supporting the bakers to continue to produce the traditional Maltese bread - using the best quality flour and no additives!

After all it was the government of the day which entrusted Medigrain to monitor the milling of flour and the baking of bread in order to ensure that our ancient tradition is preserved.