An old friend of Maltese food

Traditional Maltese food is not given enough prominence in restaurants as very few offer the delicious dishes on their menus, according to seasoned cook Anton B. Dougall.

"We are making a big mistake. When you go to Spain you notice that restaurants promote their tapas and paella. Italy is full of restaurants that offer typical Italian food. But in Malta we are trying to be like other countries at the expense of our traditional food," he said.

Restaurants offer food from across the globe, from American-style burgers to Japanese sushi, Chinese food and Indian spicy meals, French cuisine and fusion foods. But few display Maltese fare like timpana (baked macaroni), imqarrun (baked pasta) and braġoli (olive meat rolls), to name a few.

Mr Dougall explained that a large portion of traditional food required long cooking time and so it was difficult to offer it in restaurants because diners would not wait for hours to eat. However, cooking techniques did exist that allowed timely serving of such dishes.

Restaurants needed to specialise in this type of food rather than include it as a section of an over-crowded menu that would jeopardise the quality, he said.

Having dedicated most of his career to promoting Maltese food, both here and abroad, this month Mr Dougall is celebrating 40 years since he started working in the catering world in October 1969. Throughout these four decades he has witnessed changes in the nation's cooking and eating habits.

"While people still like the traditional Maltese food, we have become more adventurous. Maltese housewives expanded their menu and learnt that there are other ways to cook chicken apart from roasted. Nowadays, they are becoming more health conscious in the food they cook," he said.

One of the main downfalls of Maltese food remained the huge portions, he added.

"People need to develop a friendship with food. When you eat you are meant to be comfortable and not feel like you need to open a button. Food is there to fuel our body and not to be abused," he said, admitting that he too had to learn to control the portions. With a wider variety of food available, people are experimenting with food from different continents. "The market is trying to make it easier for families to cook in this fast-moving world where both husband and wife work. But one has to be careful not to fall victim to unhealthy packaged meals."

He recommended planning meals a week at a time as this would ensure that people have all the ingredients for healthy meals available at home and avoid wasting food and money.

Throughout his career, Mr Dougall has written over 30 cookery books and hosted several TV and radio programmes. He has also taught cooking and set up the Cooking Club that is now online (www.tisjir.com).

To celebrate four decades of culinary success, he is now working on a project in aid of Puttinu Cares, the organisation for children with cancer, that will include the favourite recipes of Maltese personalities. It should be released next year.