Foraging for snails early one morning after the rain and ordering rabbit from the local butcher, I might almost have been on Gozo. But I was in Jimena de la Frontera, one of Andalucia’s white hilltop villages where I taught a cookery course one year. Up in the foothills of the Sierra Rondania, we felt far away from the Costa, the beaches and the sea and wanted to eat rustic food.
I had already ordered a rabbit from the local butcher, which, when I went to collect it, was much admired by the rest of the customers. With it, I planned a paella del campo, using rabbit, snails and vegetables, rather than the brightly-coloured coastal paella full of chicken, shellfish and red peppers.
As on Gozo, the hillsides were full of wild herbs, sage, thyme and lavender and it was impossible to resist picking a sprig or two for the pot. The garden had wonderful fruit trees. By the terrace, where we ate outside when the weather was good, was a loquat tree, with satiny golden fruit. A mulberry tree hung over the drive. And in the orchard were apricot and citrus trees, appropriately, as the house was called Las Limas.
My favourite, though, was the grapefruit tree. It was deeply satisfying to pick the fruit and squeeze it for breakfast. We did not need to look further than the garden for inspiration for desserts.
The Lecheria Los Angeles, down in the valley, provided our milk, and also rather good fresh cheese, the best of which was made from a mixture of cow and goats’ milk and reminded me of ġbejniet. The local mollejas, like soft ftira, were delicious so we did not bother baking our own bread.
However, had we wanted to do so, the local bakers were so kind that they would even have sold us a batch of dough, just like ‘my’ baker, De Bono’s in Għajnsielem.
Our hostess’ housekeepers, identical twins Angeles and Carmen, had a wealth of knowledge about very local dishes. One day, they showed me how to make piñonate de Jimena, a complicated, delicious, rich and heavy sweet. Dough is made with flour and oil, then rolled into ropes which are deep-fried, then, when cool, broken up.
They are bound with a mixture of honey, boiled to candy height, nuts and spices and the mixture is packed, and even pounded into oiled wooden frames and left to harden. The top is then decorated with split almonds and hundreds and thousands.
Carmen and Angeles also cooked snails in a spicy sauce for special occasions, but were not familiar with them as a paella ingredient, although they acknowledged it was a good idea and offered to help me.
Their advice was to collect them from the garden early in the morning and place them in a container, from which they could not escape.
A Le Creuset casserole was perfect for the quantity we collected. The snails were sprinkled with a little flour, covered with the heavy lid, and left for about 48 hours. Knowing how popular the gathering and cooking of snails is in Malta, I will not insult my readers by describing how to do this; the words Newcastle and coals come to mind.
But I do recommend the piquant sauce to accompany the cooked snails. The whole thing can be tossed into some freshly cooked penne for a substantial and deliciously messy dish.
Salsa picante
100ml extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and sliced
1 thick slice ħobża, 2 days old
10 blanched almonds
1 tbsp walnuts or pine nuts
Pinch of Gozo salt
1 large ripe tomato, peeled, seeded chopped
1 green pepper, sweet not hot, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped
In a frying pan gently cook the onions in half the oil until wilted. Add the bread, broken into pieces, the almonds and pine nuts and cook for a minute or two more.
Pound the mixture to a paste in a mortar or food processor. Cook the tomato and pepper in the remaining oil until soft, and rub through a sieve or blend until smooth. Mix both parts of the sauce together and stir it into the pot of simmering snails.
The dish is ready when the liquid reduces to the point where the sauce clings to the snail shells. Serve hot, warm or cold.
This sauce is also absolutely delicious with grilled chicken. Try it also, as I did, with fried rabbit liver and kidneys, which I served as tapa.
If you prefer something less taxing altogether, I can think of nothing nicer than this soup, which uses the traditional ham and melon combination in an unusual way.
You can use off-cuts of ham and should shred or process them very fine. If you cannot get Spanish jamon serrano, use prosciutto di Parma or San Daniele.
To drink with this rustic, summery food, I suggest, for a white wine, a crisp Rueda or, if you prefer, a red, young Rioja, served cool or a dry rosado from Navarra.
Chilled fino with some olives makes the perfect aperitivo.
Melon and ham soup
(Serves 4 to 6)
1 or 2 (depending on size) ripe Galia or honeydew melons, very chilled
Gozo salt
Freshly-ground pepper, white is even better for this recipe
½ tsp freshly-grated ginger
Sherry vinegar – see recipe
2 tbsps finely-chopped cured ham
Halve the melon and discard the seeds. Scoop the pulp into a food processor, or blender, adding a little iced water or ice cubes to thin the texture, if necessary. Blend until smooth. Season to taste, adding a little sherry vinegar or lemon juice too, if you like. Serve in chilled soup bowls, sprinkled with ham.
Grapefruit and anis granita
(Serves 4-6)
600ml fresh grapefruit juice
250g icing sugar
3 to 4 Maltese anis liqueur
Stir all the ingredients together until the sugar has dissolved, and freeze, preferably in an ice-cream machine.
If you put it in the freezer, stir the mixture from time to time, or when it is well frozen, put it in the processor and blend until smooth before refreezing until just firm enough to serve.
Orange or almond liqueurs can replace the anis, as can gin or Campari. The more sugar you add to these frozen mixtures, the smoother they are, more sorbet-like than granita. Do not be tempted to add more alcohol, as this will prevent the mixture from freezing properly.
Paella del campo (Countryside paella)
(Serves 4 to 6)
Pinch of saffron threads
1.25kg rabbit, cut into 12 portions
70ml extra virgin olive oil
400g short grain, or paella rice
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
250g asparagus, cut into 2.5cm pieces
250g green beans or broad beans
3 large ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1.25l vegetable, or chicken stock, or water and dry white wine mixed
About 18 snails, prepared as described, or one can snails, rinsed and drained
Gozo salt and pepper to taste
Soak the saffron threads in one-fourth of a teacup of hot water. In a heavy frying pan, casserole or paella pan, fry the rabbit pieces in the olive oil until golden brown.
Stir in the rice to coat it with oil, then add the vegetables. Pour on the saffron liquid and about a quarter of the stock, stir in and let it cook gently, if possible with a heat diffuser between the pan and the heat.
As the liquid evaporates, add a little more, stirring, and repeat this process until all the vegetables are tender.
Add the prepared snails after about 20 minutes. Season lightly, and then cover, and let the paella stand in a warm oven for 10 minutes.
The rice will continue to swell and cook. The resulting dish will be neither dry nor soupy, but moist.
If preferred, chicken can be used instead of rabbit.