Local Food and Snacks

You cannot talk about Maltese food without starting with the Pastizz (plural: pastizzi). This beloved street food is the ultimate cheap, delicious, and highly caloric local snack. You will find small, dedicated pastizzi shops (called a pastizzeria) on almost every street corner across the islands.

A pastizz is a diamond-shaped pastry made from incredibly flaky, phyllo-like dough (often made with lard) and traditionally comes with two main fillings:

• Tal-Irkotta (Ricotta): Filled with warm, creamy, slightly salty ricotta cheese. Usually folded in a straight, diamond shape.
• Tal-Piżelli (Peas): Filled with a savory, spiced mushy pea mixture, often with a hint of curry powder. Usually folded with a slightly curved or rounder shape.

Maltese bread (Ħobż tal-Malti) is legendary for its hard, crunchy crust and incredibly soft, airy center. However, the true culinary icon is the Ftira (plural: ftirajiet).

A ftira is a ring-shaped, unleavened loaf. When you order a "Ftira" at a cafe or beach kiosk, you are usually getting Malta's ultimate sandwich. It is heavily influenced by the sea and typically rubbed with sweet tomato paste (kunserva) and olive oil, then stuffed with a hearty Mediterranean mix of:

• Canned tuna chunks
• Capers and sliced olives
• Pickled onions
• Gbejna (local peppered sheep's cheese)
• Fresh tomatoes and mint

Note: In Gozo, a "Gozo Ftira" means something entirely different—it refers to a traditional, open-faced, wood-fired pizza usually topped with sliced potatoes, tomatoes, and anchovies.

Traditional Maltese cuisine is rustic, slow-cooked, and deeply comforting, heavily drawing from its agricultural roots and surrounding sea.

• Stuffat tal-Fenek (Rabbit Stew)

  This is widely considered Malta's national dish. Rabbit is slow-cooked for hours in a rich red wine, tomato, and garlic sauce until it falls off the bone. A traditional "Fenkata" (rabbit meal) starts with spaghetti tossed in the rich rabbit sauce, followed by the rabbit meat served with fries or roast potatoes.

• Braġioli (Beef Olives)

  Despite the name, there are usually no olives in this dish. It consists of thin slices of beef wrapped around a rich stuffing of ground meat, bacon, garlic, parsley, and hard-boiled egg, which is then slow-braised in a tomato and wine sauce.

• Lampuki Pie

  Lampuki (Mahi-Mahi or Dolphin Fish) migrates past the Maltese islands between late August and December. While it is delicious grilled, it is traditionally baked into a pie mixed with spinach, cauliflower, chestnuts, and sultanas—a unique savory-sweet combination.

• Timpana

  Not for those on a diet. Timpana is essentially a rich baked macaroni (pasta mixed with a heavy bolognaise and minced meat sauce), which is then entirely encased in flaky puff pastry and baked until golden.

Maltese sweets show heavy Arabic and Sicilian influences, featuring lots of dates, honey, almonds, and ricotta.

• Imqaret: Meaning "diamond-shaped," these are deep-fried, rectangular pastries stuffed with a sweet date mixture infused with aniseed and citrus. They are a staple at village festas and are best eaten piping hot.
• Kannoli (Cannoli): Inherited from nearby Sicily, Maltese bakeries make exceptional Kannoli. Crispy, fried pastry tubes filled to the brim with sweet ricotta cheese, sometimes dotted with chocolate chips or candied peel.
• Figolli: These are traditional Easter sweets. Large, flat shapes of shortcrust pastry (often shaped like hearts, lambs, or rabbits) filled with a rich marzipan/almond paste, topped with icing, and traditionally decorated with a half chocolate egg.
• Qagħaq tal-Għasel (Honey Rings): Originally a Christmas treat but now available year-round. A ring of light pastry filled with a dark, sticky mixture of treacle (not actually honey), marmalade, orange peel, and spices.