Lack of Maltese fare leaves bitter taste for food lover

It is "shameful" that hardly any restaurants in Malta serve typical Maltese cuisine, according to Fuklar - the foundation for the promotion of Maltese food culture - which was officially set up last month.

Foundation trustee and owner of Rubino restaurant in Valletta, Julian Sammut considered it "shameful" to go to a fish restaurant and not find lampuki, which can be cooked in several ways, is typically Maltese, abundantly fished in the Mediterranean from ancient times and even well priced.

But the "horror of horrors", according to the food lover, is the fact that hot dogs, hamburgers and even kebabs are readily available at village festas, while it is almost impossible to lay hands on a good ftira, or pastizzi. Even the traditional imqaret are being replaced by popcorn.

"These foods belong to us as much as our language, race and religion and they cannot be avoided," Mr Sammut stressed.

"We depend on tourism more and more and must realise that tourists visit Malta not only to see, but also to taste it.

"How can hotels serve salmon to Danish and Norwegian guests when there is an abundance of the fresh version in their own countries? It is like going all the way to Japan and eating frozen lampuki, instead of sushi. It just does not make sense," he said.

Moreover, many restaurants lure tourists on the pretext that they serve typical Maltese food but what they offer is "lousy", he continued.

In the early 1970s, when Spain started to be flooded by tourists, they too abandoned their typical cuisine for Continental food. Now, they have returned to their original menus in the realisation that that is what their guests want.

Hopefully, Malta would do the same, Mr Sammut augured.

"Unfortunately, a number of restaurateurs are in the business as businessmen, rather than as lovers of food and people. However, they too should eventually come round - when they realise that, in so doing, they could benefit commercially."

Of course, Maltese food is bound to be similar to Mediterranean cuisine, sharing the same ingredients, climate and raw materials. Nevertheless, it does exist and has its own touch. It is most similar to Sicilian food due to the fact that the two islands share a history. But, even the Sicilian elements have adopted a Maltese character.

Despite Malta's limited size, there are even clear differences between rural and urban food as in the case of larger countries.

"Unfortunately, so many students join the hospitality industry but know next to nothing about Malta's kitchen," Mr Sammut lamented, adding that the aim of the foundation is to educate.

Fuklar is organising a series of lectures on Maltese food culture, incorporating the historical aspect and subjects such as animal husbandry in Malta, its fishing, olive oil, honey, bread and gbejniet industries, as well as a closing talk by a distinguished person of international renown on Mediterranean cuisine.

The course is open to the public. It is being held twice a week from January to June, possibly at Heritage Malta, which had offered its premises for the foundation's launch.

Fuklar also intends to raise awareness through the media and should be accessing funds from the EU's Leonardo programme to send abroad groups of interested people, as well as students of tourism studies to study neighbouring cuisines.

If it raises enough funds, the foundation also plans to sponsor students to do research, even overseas.

Fuklar would like to see local catering outlets using local produce, be it freshly caught fish, or authentic Maltese bread.

"However, by no means do we want all restaurants in Malta to be serving bragjoli, with staff dressed as Zepp and Grezz.

"While it is important to conserve tradition, food, like language, is constantly developing and Fuklar is also in favour of the continuous evolution of the modern Maltese cuisine."

The trustees of the foundation also include Nadia Theuma, a university lecturer in tourism studies, historian and anthropologist Carmel Cassar and Joseph Tanti from the Malta Tourism Authority.

They got together a couple of years ago in the belief that "something just had to be done about the promotion of Maltese food".

Mr Sammut invited people to join Fuklar, which has three types of membership schemes: normal; for students and pensioners; and corporate, which would be targeted most heavily, being the sector of society that stands to benefit most from the long-term work of the foundation.

For more information, contact its treasurer, Carmel Cassar, at ccas1@um.edu.mt