Maltese cuisine is heavily influenced by Italy, particularly Sicily, but with a dash of Arab/North Africa and a hefty pinch of Malta's own. Starters tend to be soups, pasta, risotto, antipasti or dips with bread or biscuits, while mains include pasta and potato bakes at home, but eating out it's generally meat or fish.
Traditional Maltese food is rustic and based on the seasons. Look out for Lampuki Pie (fish pie), Rabbit Stew, Bragioli (beef olives), Kapunata, (Maltese version of ratatouille), and widow's soup, which includes a small round of Gbejniet (sheep or goat's cheese).
Malta's best eating and drinking experiences. Maltese cuisine is both fresh and flavorful, combining Italian, French, British and Arabic culinary influences, all brought to the islands by historic occupiers across the centuries.
Although Mediterranean, the food habits of the Maltese are closer to a British Anglo-Saxon one (Tessier & Gerber, 2005). The Maltese diet can be described by a high consumption of cereals, mainly pasta and traditional Maltese bread, dairy products, eggs and sugar (especially from soft-drinks).
Adults - Small dogs need to eat more frequently than their larger counterparts, so most adult Maltese will never do well with just one meal a day. Adult Maltese can continue eating 3 small meals per day or transition to two.
Malta produces its own wine and beer – most popularly Cisk lager (pronounced chisk). There is also a national soft drink, Kinnie (pronounced Keeny), which is a little like Coke but less sickly sweet (more like the traditional English dandelion and burdock).
Prinjolata is a traditional Maltese Carnival dessert. A huge dome shaped no bake cake made from a mixture of biscuits, cake, nuts and buttercream covered with Italian meringue and other toppings! Once the Carnival season starts approaching, Malta gets invaded with these white dome shaped Prinjolatas.
Tips for dining out in Malta
Dinner time for most restaurants is around 6-7 pm in Malta, and many Maltese restaurants open at this time of night. Keep in mind that you will have a very hard time calling in to make a reservation at these restaurants.
Kinnie is brown in colour, and is drunk straight or mixed with alcohol. It holds a reputation for being Malta's favourite non-alcoholic beverage, sometimes even called the 'national soft drink'.
Mains water in Malta comes from two sources – seawater reverse osmosis plants and groundwater, with RO water generally having a lower mineral content than groundwater. While there may be slight differences in the mineral content of tap water in different localties around Malta and Gozo, they're equally safe.
Spring and summer fruit come in abundance! These include apples, apricots, bambinella, black mulberry, cherries, cherry plum, figs, loquats, melons, white mulberry, nectarines, peaches, pears, plums, prickly pears, watermelon, grapes, jujube, carob and almond.
The Maltese are by and large known for their friendliness and hospitality. English is widely spoken on the islands and many speak Italian as a third language. The Maltese have a strong sense of community and crime rates are among the lowest in the world.
The ordinary Maltese food is very rustic, home-cooked and based on vegetable and fishing seasons. In traditional Maltese restaurants there are not usually many items on the menu, but all is delicious. The Maltese food is not very spicy, instead it gives credit to the flavours of the main ingredients used.
Present-day Maltese culture is essentially Latin European with the recent British legacy also in evidence. In the early part of its history, Malta was also exposed to Semitic-speaking communities. The present-day legacy of this is linguistic rather than cultural.
They derive their name from two words 'malt' and 'teasers'. Regardless of the spelling, Maltesers have no connection with the Maltese people or the Malta city. Maltesers remain popular with people of all generations who value their great taste.
Malta Chocolate Factory is the must-see attraction in Malta. The kitchen viewing window into the factory allows you to see artisanal chocolates being handmade on the spot with Maltese ingredients while sharing with you the whole process of how chocolate is formed and made.
Malta is citrus fruit grown in India. It is commonly called as sangtra. It occupies nearly 30% of total area under citrus cultivation. Mandarin, Sweet Orange is commercially grown citrus species in India.
The national meat is rabbit (fenek) which comes fried in garlic, stewed in red wine, or with one of Malta's many (usually fresh) pastas. Lots of Maltese restaurants serve rabbit. One of the best is Rubino, in an old Valletta sweet shop.
What is the legal drinking age in Malta? The legal drinking age in Malta is 17, and it's wise to carry around an ID card or a passport if you're visiting bars and nightclubs as proof of age may be requested.
Malta Guinness is Africa's leading non-alcoholic, adult, premium soft drink, produced by Diageo. It was launched in Cameroon in 1984.
Older Maltese puppies from 6 to 11 months old sleep 14 to 16 hours in a 24-hour day and are working their way toward sleeping better and longer at night with fewer naps during the daytime. Adult Maltese dogs from the age of 1 to 7 years old sleep approximately 12 to 14 hours in a 24-hour day.
Every so-many hours, based on age. Every 3 hours for a 3 month old, 4 hours for a 4 month old, etc. Before and after each daily walk. Allowing a dog to pee and poo along the walking route is a missed opportunity.
In many cases, a Maltese who suffers from an environmental allergy may be prone to developing a food allergy as well. In most cases of food intolerance, an animal protein is to blame; usually, chicken or beef are primary causes, although some Maltese may be allergic to eggs, milk, corn, or soy.