Bread: A loaf affair in Qormi
Video: Mark Zammit Cordina
The village of Qormi is considered to be the ‘upper crust’ when it comes to Maltese bread – and the Qriema even have their own typical Maltese bread ‘sandwich’. Kristina Chetcuti breaks bread with a baker in Qormi to find out more.
Christopher Borg, 40, has been a baker for more than 25 years. For him, flour has literally been his bread and butter, especially as he has lived in Qormi – Malta’s bakers’ hub – all his life. Mr Borg talks about Maltese bread and shows timesofmalta.com how to prepare a stuffed Maltese bread typical of Qormi.
Get out your pocket knife, sit yourself of the doorstep, watch the world go by and enjoy this filling winner.
Typical stuffed bread will be available at The Qormi Bread Festival to be held on September 10 and 11 from 7.30pm onwards.
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j.schembri
Sep 1st 2010, 14:51
Obesity galore. hekk kiteb Karl Consiglio. Ghal min jithanzer fil-hobs ikun hekk. Hibza biz-zejt hija parti importanti mid-dieta mediterranja. Forsi inti tippreferi xi hot dog, jew sandwich bic-cheese, mayonnaise, and ham
m.farrugia
Sep 1st 2010, 14:46
@Ingrid brownrigg. I fully agree with you with regards the products produced and baked by Barbetta I am not a Zejtuni but Hamrunizi. When I am in Zejtun I always see that I visit Barbetta for some of his product. Apart from this I must admit that during easter our home made figolli are always brought over to Barbetta to bake them for us. He knows the right temperatures the oven should be and also the exact amount of time. Hope that the tradition way he bake will be passed to others. Yes Qormi is well known for the bread. I cannot but say that most of the bakeries in Qormi are still giving us the type of bread they used to give us years ago. The Maltese loaf during the last years is on the decline hope that it will be revivied again. This happens not in Qormi only but even in other villages.
J Spiteri
Sep 1st 2010, 15:15
So while you're in Zejtun, I recommend the ftajjar from Ta' Mattew tal-Forn, (also mentioned by Ms. Ingrid Brownrigg hereunder) which I assure you are the best food you'll ever taste in your life!!!! Ta' Mattew are very popular for these delicious ftajjar, believe me!! I am from M'Scala and I make it a must to have my share on a daily basis! My neighbour (who is from Zejtun) recommended me these ftajjar and by now I am addicted to them!
Ta' Mattew Bakery is a traditional bakery and that is what makes the difference ... that is what Grezzju l-furnar told me!!
Isabella Peresso Fiorentino
Sep 1st 2010, 22:44
I know where Ta Barbetta is and there goods really are a delight. But where is Ta Mattew? Can anyone enlighten me please? Must try these ftajjar of his.
Karl Consiglio
Sep 1st 2010, 13:14
Claire Busuttil,
Actually I can think of quite a few things that are better than a hobza biz-zejt.
Joseph Schembri
Sep 1st 2010, 23:07
Name one ....
Marielou Camilleri
Sep 1st 2010, 02:11
Well done guys, and well done to ALL those who sacrifice their time to organize such big, cultural and educational activities around Malta, that not only draw a whole bunch of Maltese citizens, but also a surprisingly big number of curious tourists who are eager to learn about the exquisite Maltese culture.
Speaking about curiosity and wanting to learn, I’d like to say a big thank you to those who are doing their best to improve their knowledge about our rich culture, and are doing their best to spread their new knowledge to everyone. This is the kind of initiatives we should seek for in order to give a boost to our knowledge about our own culture in general .
This is our culture, we should be proud of it, and work hand in hand as to spread it not only in the Maltese islands, but around the world.
Claire Busuttil
Sep 1st 2010, 00:18
nothing....nothing better than a hobza biz zejt!!
Theresa Demanuele
Aug 31st 2010, 14:37
@Ingrid Brownrigg
Thank you for your compliments. My father will surely appreciate them. Hope you are doing well. All our family send their regards!!
M Cuschieri
Aug 31st 2010, 12:00
You can visit us on the 10th and 11th of September for the 9th edition of The Qormi Bread Festival organised by the PLYG and the Saint Sebastian Parish.
Il-Pjazza tar-rahal by ZOO Media is part of the event where you can watch a show for free in the Pastoral Youth Centre this including ; "Tieg tipiku Malti" and several characters like " il-Kappillan, il-Pulizija, etc"
You can totally experience the adventure of bread making by paying visit to several bakeries on the night, apart from traditional entertainment, traditional food, wine , teen area, kids area, educational exhibtions and much much more...
www.qormibreadfestival.org
Bernice Vella
Aug 31st 2010, 11:49
that looks delicious! cant wait till we go to the bread festival!
R. Azzopardi
Aug 31st 2010, 08:28
YUMMY!
David Muscat
Aug 31st 2010, 06:34
Will the traditional hobza mhawwra have a traditional costly price!!!!!!!
Paul Giordimaina
Aug 31st 2010, 03:16
very welldone for the Maltese bread and all the Maltese bakers.
Karl Consiglio
Aug 31st 2010, 02:16
Obesity galore.
Joseph Schembri
Aug 31st 2010, 08:42
Funny you should say this as bread and pasta are staple foods of endurance athletes and they look fairly fit .... maybe obesity is more of a result of taking in too many calories combined with chronic inactivity??
Jo Spiteri
Aug 31st 2010, 09:43
Speak for yourself.....
camel debono
Aug 31st 2010, 01:10
IL MALTI JGHID " L HOBZ TIEH LIL MIN JAF JIEKLU " U MELA JIGI XI HADD JIGHDILNA LI MA GHADEKX ISIB GENBA TAL HOBZA MHAWRA KIF JAFU JGHAMLU L-QRIMA TA VERU ! DAN DISKORS TA XI HADD LI LANQAS JAF FEJN JIGI HAL QORMI INKELLA PRUZUNTUS LI JAHSEB LI JIFHEM FKOLLOX . KEMM TRID TIEKOL HOBZ U GOBON BIEX TIEBDA THARES LEJN IL HOBZA BISS HABIEB .!!! AHSEB U ARA BIEZ TITKELEM FUQA DAQS KEMM JIENA NITKELLEM FUQ IL BIGILLA ?
John Ciantar
Aug 31st 2010, 16:18
Niskuza ruhi pero ma naqbilx mal-punt tieghek, dan ghaliex mhux bil-fors min hu min hal qormi jista jkun jifhem fil-hobza maltija, tinsewx hobza maltija mhux bil fors qormija. Jiena miz-Zejtun u bhal ma diga nkiteb hawn isfel, iz-Zejtun ghandna fran tajbin, u ghandna naccettaw li ghalkemm hawn irhula mgharufin ghal xi haga ma jfissirx li taghhom kollox tajjeb. Ghandna ninzlu minn fuq il-pedestall u nifthu mohhna li mhux bil-fors taghna biss ikun tajjeb, per ezemjpu birkirkara u l-fgura wkoll isir hobz tajjeb u bnin. Mill-banda l-ohra jien nahseb li attivita' bhal ma hi l-bread festival hija ta gid ghal hal qormi u ghal din is-sengha, meta wiehed jara kemm hawn intoppi kontra l furnara u xogholhom.
JC
James Piscopo
Aug 31st 2010, 18:05
@ John Ciantar, Ma fhimtux il-punt ta' Carmel ta, allahares il-hobz tajjeb jigi biss minn Hal Qormi ghax kieku vera nkunu ghadna fi zmien il-kavallieri! Pero li jaghmel Hal Qormi maghruf hu l-fatt li anke issa, tohrog min fejn tohrog dar dejjem tinqasam bir-riha tal-Hobz li tkun hierga minn xi forn
Joseph Cauchi
Aug 30th 2010, 23:47
Maltese bread is no longer the Maltese bread we used to have, because today most of the bakeries are not adhering to the original recipe but are adding the DOUGH IMPROVER, which is a “BLASPHEMY” for the typical Maltese bread!
How many of the Qormi bakeries are ready to vouch that they do NOT use Dough Improver? Of course none will come forward to deny this!
So, where is the ORIGINAL QORMI BREAD?
So, please stop pulling our legs until you STOP the use of DOUGH IMPROVER, and then we can perhaps start having the REAL Maltese bread, but until then it is all FAKE!
These Festivals are just GIMMICKS. FULL STOP!
JC.
J Brownie
Aug 31st 2010, 09:31
Indeed you are very right
Rebecca Vella
Sep 1st 2010, 14:44
Mr Cauchi & Mr Brownie.. Have you ever been to this festival? .. While we were conducting research for our exhibition we have actually visited several bakeries in Qormi and interviewed as well as saw the actual bread making process.
A characteristic of the Hobza Maltija is the 'Tinsila', a piece of dough kept from the day before and used in the new dough. Most of the bakeries in Qormi still make use of this tradition and we have seen it happen.
This info. can be found in the Qormi Bread Festival's exhibitions, where the bread making process is portrayed. And if this is not enough proof, you are more than welcome to visit this event and go on tour around bakeries and ask the bakers yourself, and I'm sure that they will be more than happy to explain : )
I would like to give a big thumbs up to all those who are helping and putting their all in organizing this cultural and educational activity. We all should be very proud that we live in a country which embraces its culture and wants others to do the same !!!
Steve Evans
Aug 30th 2010, 22:42
Congratulations on a worthy festival of world class bread, fantastic un beatable, but where does cheese come into Maltese diet as it did long ago and in parts of these islands now sadly forgotten. With the variety of various cheeses on offer and of great quality too, where does this now fit into the fabulous quality of Maltese bread today. I am remminded of the quality of various cheeses,but are Maltese People cheese lovers. Nothing beats a good cheese and a good bottle of red wine. And for that matter Maltese Bread !!!
Theresa Demanuele
Aug 30th 2010, 22:22
Zejtun is also well known for its bakeries - my nannu had a bakery in ST Monica Street, which my father Ganni & his brother Grezzju still operate. Villagers refer to it as Ta' Mattew tal-Forn. Other famous ones are knowm as Ta' Tunajja, Ta' Pataw, Ta' Zjoga and there were other ones Ta' Brka, Tal-Figollu & the one near the Christmas Crib at Zejtun, Ta' Barbetta .......
If you want a try at these just visit our village .... and while you are there try the famous pastizzi ta' Roger!!!!!!!!!!!
Ingrid Brownrigg
Aug 31st 2010, 11:29
Dear Theresa, I couldn't agree more with you! In Zejtun we have the best bread on the island. Barbetta is very well known for its typical Maltese cookies/bisuits like "qaghaq". The nice smell over there is so pleasant.
However Ganni tal-hobz has BEST bread in the world! How much I miss his bread, now that I live abroad, especially his crunchy ftira and mum used to prepare it for me "biz-zejt" and all the nice good maltese ingredients, "imhawwra" biex nifthemu! I've been to the best restuarants here and there in Europe but the best food is: Ganni's ftira biz-zejt imhawwra! I wish I could taste one... please give my best regards to him...and tell his that he is the BEST!
Tony Gatt
Aug 31st 2010, 11:36
Theresa Demanuele In Zabbar they had the pastizzi tal-Hajbu and my father used to buy us some whenever we passed from there. Today's pastizzi are nothing compared to them.
C Galea
Aug 30th 2010, 21:33
there are some various possible solutions in which Qormi people can be referred to in plural. As i once had this issue with someone I know and we kept arguing that there is not only 1 version but actually 3!!
It all depends generally from which village you come from.
1) People living in Hamrun may refer to us Qriema as Qormizi since they refer to their people as Hamrunizi. Other examples are kalkarizi u sliemizi.
2) People living in Mqabba, Rabat and haz zebbug, may refer to us as Qormin, since they refer to their people as Mqabbin, Rabtin and zebbugin
3) and then there is the other plausible and more grammatically correct - Qriema.
All three can be used and all 3 are correct!
Infact, they say also Gorgjanizi and Bastjanizi (people from 2 different areas in Qormi). But they can also say Bastjanin and Gorgjanin, although the former two I admit sound a little bit nicer
Qriemen is definitely not good since you are saying the plural of qriema which in turn is the plural of Qormi (A person from Qormi)
rjcostigan
Aug 31st 2010, 08:33
C.Galea.....(small correction-para.2)
Residents from B'Kara actually are 'Karkarizi (with an 'r').....
Residents from Kalkara are 'Kalkarizi' (with an 'l').
I never heard the word 'Qormizi' from either village or town.
Regards the words 'Qriema' and 'Qormin it depends on the meaning
of the sentence. For example - 'corma Qriema' and 'il-Qormin telqu'.
Otherwise I agree with you.
James Piscopo
Aug 30th 2010, 19:58
You can also experience this at 'Lejl f'Casal Fornaro' on Saturday 16th October 2010. Shows, exhibitions, local entertainment, and the great atmosphere created by candles and other traditional tools will ensure a wonderful evening for all the family. Visit the virtual world at casalfornaro.com
Alfred Grech
Aug 30th 2010, 20:45
Casal Fornaro is another not to be missed festival. It's very well organized and there's a lot to see. James is one of the organizers - Prosit James.
You can have an idea what they do by watching this Youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vuhl1zmyTqs
c.caruana
Aug 30th 2010, 19:56
Yes! There is no Maltese bread as the Qormi baked one. And what about their Maltese ftira.?It is the real thing.Recently it has become a habit to prepare home made ftajjar with tomato sauce(kunserva)to take with us to the beach on Sundays.Much to our disappointment we have to visit several bakeries and still we do not find any similar to those that are made in the Qormi bakeries.I do not know why the ones that we find are kneaded with too much sponge in them.I can say this because I was born in Qormi village and had spent the best years of my life there.Keep up the good work even though bread production involves much hard work.
Alfred Grech
Aug 30th 2010, 19:36
"Qormin" is used in both hymns of St George and St Sebastian.
Raymond Farrugia
Aug 30th 2010, 19:27
Do the Qriema give consumers their due weight of bread? I very much doubt it! They're not that naive!
Charles J. Buttigieg
Aug 30th 2010, 19:01
"Get out your pocket knife, sit yourself of the doorstep, watch the world go by and enjoy this filling winner" You can get arrested and taken to court for that. Unless of course you have a police licence to carry a knife in your pocket. lol. Give me a hobza ta Hal Qormi biz-zejt,kunserva,perzut u ton taz-zejt any time.
gcForte
Aug 30th 2010, 18:23
Jista xi hadd jghijdli ghalhiex lil ta Hal Qormi jghejdulhom li " sa nofs inhar irgiel ". Jien ghandi hafna hbieb min Hal Qormi u dejjem irgiel sibthom, f`kull hin tal gurnata.
raymond. cutajar
Aug 30th 2010, 18:49
Reason--Historic Sun Dial clock and why so many concentrated bakeries in one spot ?--the order of St John ordered such so as to kill / ward off the huge mosquitoes that used to breed in the marshes of Marsa creek the smoke of burning wood to heat the ovens would do the job! In any case my friend take extreme caution as to really give Qriema men the real test after NOFS INHAR --- darba is surgent waqt il "morning roll call " dejjaqni bis sarkassmu li kien jindirizzani "sa nofs inhar ragel ? ) And one should not forget that after the midday ikla a full bottle of wine was very common the quenching medium before the siesta and that was just after nofs inhar too
Neville Mangion
Aug 30th 2010, 19:14
Hemm hafna 'qlajjiet' ghax il-Qriema sa nofs in-nhar. Hemm minn jghid li peress li Hal Qormi insibu hafna burdnara dawn jahdmu sa nofs in-nhar u wara jieqfu ... Hemm minn jghid ukoll li peress hemm hafna fran/furnara dawn wara nofs in-nhar imorru jistriehu sabiex bil lejl jibda il-furnata sa l-ghada fil ghodu u wara kisra hobz, naqra inbid u raqda tajba .. Hemm minn jghid li l-Qriema wara nofs in-nhar jixorbu l-inbid u jmorru jorqdu ... Pero huwa fatt storiku li mal-Knisja ArciMatrici ta Hal Qormi San Gorg M. insibu arlogg tax-xemx li dan seta' biss issir mal- genb tal-knisja u jimmarka biss sa Nofs in-Nhar ghax wara jitlef ix-xemx u ma jimmarkax tajjeb ... Hal Qormi barra li jiccelebra il-Qormi Bread Festival jiccelebra ukoll il-Qormi Wine Festival (3 u 4 ta Settembru) quddiem il-Knisja ta San Gorg u jista jduq l-inbjed kollha ta Marsovin Wine (li huwa wlied din l-istess belt) .
Alfred Grech
Aug 30th 2010, 19:33
We, Qriema, have a guarantee that we are "irgiel sa nofs in-nhar". No one else in Malta and Gozo has any guarantee at all :)) You can watch a Youtube video about the Bread and Wine Festival held in Qormi by clicking here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcvWAZZHMTA
S Vella
Aug 30th 2010, 18:14
The maltese Hobza is renowned and famous worl over. The pity is that most bakers ar not making their bread with the TINSILA and wood fired stone ovens any more, they use the quicker dough with dried yeast and electric ovens.. a real pity
Franco Scicluna
Aug 30th 2010, 18:12
Some years ago, an out going German ambassador, after his tour of duty on the island, was asked what would he be missing most of the island. His reply was quick and firm. Its the Maltese bread I will be missing most, then of course so many nice memories there.
Michael Scicluna
Aug 30th 2010, 17:58
Well done Qormi to bring back to life the existence of the true Hobza Maltija. The Hobza Maltija should be given more prominence in, Hotels, Restaurants, Snack Bars and most of all the National Airline, Air Malta. I was stunned when in London and had a Club Sandwich in sliced bread very similar to our Hobza Maltija, if they could do it in London it can also be done in Malta. Wish every success to the organizers and will be there one of the evenings for sure.
Alfred Grech
Aug 31st 2010, 06:57
While on a stop over at Dubai's airport, they had Maltese bread in one of the restaurants at the terminal. Not sure if that bread was made in Dubai or if they got it from Malta.