Grazie Mille
10, Triq l-Għarb, Gozo
Tel: 2155 3855
Food: 9/10
Location: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Value: 8/10
Overall: 9/10
An anchovy is quintessentially one of the food world’s pocket rockets. This tiny, common salt-water fish found in practically every Ocean is a flavour dynamo packed with goodness. It is one of the cheapest, yet also one of the tastiest, of fish.
Salted anchovies enhance the flavour of whatever they are cooked with, imparting an almost meaty character. They are the (not so) secret weapon behind the umami and the savouriness of many a dish from soups and salads to stews and sauces. Since ancient times, anchovies have been fished and preserved all around the Mediterranean.
From Portugal to Greece, they have been pickled, salted, dried and brined for millennia. I was about to sample a pasta dish consisting of raw prawns and colatura di alici, a pungent anchovy sauce that is the result of a slow process wherein fermented, salted anchovies are carefully pressed and filtered in order to extract a strongly flavoured, amber-coloured liquid – the essence of the anchovy.
The predecessor of this colatura di alici is garum, a fermented fish sauce condiment, complex in flavour that ancient Romans used in most of their recipes. They adored the stuff and mass produced it.
Colatura di alici is a unique ingredient indigenous to the Campania region in Italy. It hails from the immensely beautiful Amalfi coast.
But I wasn’t in the Costa Amalfitana, sunning in the midst of lemon groves and struggling to fit in with the global jet set... I was back in tranquil Gozo... this time in Għarb, sitting at a restaurant that was new to me and which has been open only a year or so – the ever so politely named Grazie Mille.
After a meal of this calibre,we were incapable of leaving without trying a dessert
We sat in a large courtyard with bougainvillea clad walls, lined with plants and tiki torches. Fortunately, there was a slight breeze that evening, because I could imagine the dining area becoming rather stifling on a windless night. As it was, jazz music played and the atmosphere was pleasant and soothing.
There is a pretty, rustic food shop to be found in the front room as you enter, selling an assortment of good quality Italian produce. On sale you’ll find wine and beer, rice and artisan pasta, some lovely biological jams, Sicilian honey and pate from Tuscany.
Handpicked from a variety of regions, all the good of Italy is here. This is represented not only in the front shop, but in the attractive menu which is delightfully different and appealing and a pleasure to muse through.
Plenty of fresh fish was available that night from local swordfish to farmed branzino (sea bass). With regard to meat, two heavyweights, the bistecca alla Fiorentina and the Tomahawk steak, were on offer.
The restaurant also provided a nice range of reasonably priced Italian wines, along with some very high end bottles. We ordered pasta and some freshly caught local fish and settled down to enjoy our complimentary crusty bruschetta and perfectly made Aperol Spritzes.
The idea behind any aperitif is, of course, to open up and fuel the appetite and this is why the majority are bitter to taste. We certainly didn’t require any help of this kind. The sights and smells of all the food around us more than did the trick.
Although the staff were exceptionally sweet and courteous, service was initially ridiculously slow. It took a good half hour just to be served with a menu. But, once the food began to arrive, things did settle into a regular flow.
My linguine con colatura di alici and raw local red prawns was a generous mound of pure heavenliness. It consisted of three prawn heads, chopped prawn flesh and one prawn served whole. The flavour was delicate, kept fresh on the palate by liberal sprinklings of chopped parsley.
The anchovy sauce imparted a sublime saltiness and added depth of flavour without being overpowering. The calamarata pasta was a true celebration of squid and octopus and packed with bold flavour. It was more rustic than the prawn linguine, but equally as delicious. The gorgeous paccheri pasta was tossed with copious amounts of tender squid and octopus and fat capers, all swathed in a rich, cherry tomato sauce.
It had been recommended that the grouper be cooked al sale and that is exactly what I asked for. Baked in salt, the grouper lent itself beautifully to this ancient method of gentle cooking.
The salt crust had trapped and sealed in all the fish’s natural juices along with fantastic flavour. It was wonderfully moist and perfectly seasoned and was easily the best fish I’ve eaten this year.
The waiter tapped off the thick salt crust and expertly cleaned and filleted the fish at our table. The grilled pagello (Red Snapper) was ever so slightly dry but still retained good flavour. Everything was accompanied by char grilled vegetables and lovely potatoes. After a meal of this calibre, we were incapable of leaving without trying a dessert.
The panna cotta with strawberry sauce and pepper was perfectly made... rich, smooth, delicately sweet and with just the right jiggle to it. The fresh strawberry compote provided a sharp contrast and was the loveliest garnish to this elegant, classic dessert.
The cheesecake, consisting of a chocolate crumb base and a cream cheese topping of capra milk, had a strong but pleasant flavour. It is the exact same filling used to fill the Sicilian cannoli.
If you eat well you will, in all likelihood, live joyfully. And eating at Grazie Mille had made me joyful indeed. Cuisine is an expression of a way of life, of history and of origins.
The chef at Grazie Mille is a most agreeable chap, as friendly as they come and as naturally charming as most Italians are. And, with a Sicilian mother and a Milanese father, this talented chef’s culinary prowess runs the length of Italy, soaking up the best of every region.
He combines fresh, local produce with fine, authentic Italian ingredients. I must plan another visit to Gozo soon, specifically to eat at this place again.