A matter of taste

A prime promoter of Maltese food, Julian Sammut has a bone to pick... Why is local cuisine - and its important connection with tourism - not exploited? "Tourists should have the opportunity to taste the country," he tells Fiona Galea Debono. But no one seems to be understanding that and getting it right!

Renowned top Mediterranean food writer Claudia Roden, an authority in international culinary circles, should be visiting Malta to deliver a talk in autumn.

Mr Sammut, a restaurateur known for his long-time passion for and pride in Maltese food and its promotion, has been persistent in his quest to bring over the intellectual - a Baghdadi Jew by origin, who was brought up in Cairo, educated in Paris and lives in London.

In one of her books on Mediterranean food, Ms Roden highlights the eventual realisation in places like Spain's Costa Brava - which served only continental food because it was considered to be what English tourists wanted - that foreign visitors are actually after typical, local fare.

Malta needs to learn from this experience, Mr Sammut insists, believing that Ms Roden could be a positive influence in his mission to put Maltese food in the position it deserves.

Mr Sammut's thirst to rediscover and promote Maltese food is insatiable. It started off with Fuklar, the foundation for the promotion of Maltese food culture, which is, unfortunately, in limbo due to divergences in direction and busy members. But Mr Sammut is undeterred and plans to set up a Slow Food convivium in Malta together with others that share his passion. A universal movement, it was founded in Piemonte and promotes slow cooking and eating as opposed to fast food through a variety of initiatives.

But these culinary initiatives are driven by one fundamental problem - "the fact that Maltese food is not being exploited among locals and foreigners".

His plans do not stop at the mere food aspect, but have a wider scope: "To make people in the Maltese cuisine scene realise how important our roots are. We have to find our food, which we seem to have lost, in our background, in our history, our homes, our mothers and grandmothers - not just to be able to cook traditional food, but also for inspiration for modern Maltese cuisine".

Mr Sammut's burning question is: When tourists visit Malta, what do they find in terms of food? Food is strongly linked with tourism and is part of the package, but the related ministry has failed on that front, according to him. Local food is, after all, one of the few pillars of tourism, but there is no focus on it.

"We seem to be missing this fundamental point!"

When it comes to a successful link between tourism and food, "all we have to be is Maltese; we are who we are, and let's not keep on trying to be someone else... We cannot go on with this chaos because it is just doing us harm.

"Let's face it; when people travel, one of the main things they want is to eat and drink well... Tourists visit Malta to taste Malta, not cordon bleu!

"The good tourist - who we need - visits Malta for good food, which need not just be traditional, but must have a taste of Malta, so it must use local produce... It is then up to the chef to create modern Maltese cuisine."

The Malta Tourism Authority is coming down strongly on standards in terms of sanitation, for example, but it is high time it focuses also on what is being served on people's plates, Mr Sammut maintains.

He suggests the establishment of an independent board to grade restaurants on their level of "Malta-friendliness" - their ability to serve a selection of local traditional and modern dishes, always using local produce.

It is also a shame that the Institute of Tourism Studies never had space in its curriculum for Maltese food culture, which is completely absent from the course, Mr Sammut complains. "We are not talking about cooking and recipes that can be obtained from opening a book. The idea would be to encourage and enthuse the students as regards local cuisine, and not concentrate their training on hotels in the UK."

Mr Sammut suggests sending ITS students to train in Sicily, Italy, Turkey, Greece, or Provence, where they could start using ingredients that are also indigenous to Malta. "What is the point of being able to cook trout straight out of the river in Scotland if you are going to return to work in Malta?

"Yes, 165 years of British rule set us back and wreaked havoc in our kitchens," he reiterates. "They ruled the roost, and the many Maltese who were involved in the services tried to imitate, resulting in too many fry-ups, roasts and heavy foods, which are not compatible with our cuisine, our lifestyle and our produce."

While Mr Sammut is pleased to note that this is changing, he is also concerned that, on the other hand, Malta is also "going too cosmopolitan and not local enough".

The island may boast an "excellent" range of restaurants - the choice one would find in London, and wider than Rome, he believes. "Having Chinese, Lebanese and Mexican restaurants is all well and good for the locals, who have a choice. But what about the foreigners, who want to eat local dishes? It is not a question of having a 'Maltese' restaurant. You do not go to Rome and look for a 'Roman' restaurant! In Rome, you eat Roman food!"

But it is not all doom and gloom. The restaurant scene has undergone major changes over the last decade - on the whole for the better and mainly thanks to the patrons themselves, who are more aware, careful and discerning about what they are eating, Mr Sammut says. Restaurants have to cope with their demands and, consequently, reinvent their cuisine. Traditional fare was high on calories, needed by manual workers. But today, the situation has changed; most people have a sedentary job, and a variety of health conditions have to be taken into account, calling for lighter meals, he says.

"The fact that people are more into food today is a good thing. A lot of men are also cooking at home, which is good because they spend more money, while getting educated as they go along, appreciating more, going for better products and raising standards as a result - standards that are being reflected in restaurants."

Wine has also taken a leap ahead and many more people are starting to understand and become more interested in it, inspiring local producers to pull their socks up, according to Mr Sammut.

Traditional local produce, foremost among which is olive oil, has also experienced an encouraging renaissance. "We are witnessing many people with a passion for food, giving new life to old methods of production and also creating cottage food and drink from indigenous produce. Unfortunately, others still import items to pack and sell under the guise of Maltese products."

Mr Sammut urges the government to encourage local food producers to go into niche markets, growing quality, graded products that can compete with their imported, cheaper counterparts.

Local producers have to be encouraged by the restaurateurs, who should appreciate, seek out and buy their products.

Another thing that gets to Mr Sammut is the basic bread issue: "One of the best things we still have in this country is our wonderful bread, and yet, five-star hotels serve little white and brown rolls and not the typical fresh Maltese loaf, which can be adapted to hbejza size. This is what visitors want! They do not want funny buns they can have in Bavaria, Helsinki and Manchester!"

He is also irked by the local festa scene. "The smell of burnt frying oil, the drone of generators and the churning out of hot dogs, hamburgers and other American fast food makes me shudder when compared to what is on offer at similar feasts in neighbouring Sicily, for example, where local fare is prepared and sold with pride.

"The authorities should take the initiative and encourage a couple of these food vendors to switch over to local and traditional fast food, which would be commercially viable and bring about a change for the better."

Although recognition and awards are important, Mr Sammut also maintains that restaurant guides can be dangerous in a small country like Malta, where everyone knows everyone and impartiality can be lost, especially as they have to be commercially viable.

The MTA's gastronomic calendar is all well and good, but it is more for locals than foreigners because it is not really promoting Maltese foods, he maintains, throwing into the cauldron more thoughts to chew on...

Maybe we really do have too much on our plate now?