Script- PRG 2: Ikel Tradizzjonali Malti

Intro

By: Rosemarie Calleja

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Welcome to Mcast Anon and thanks again for tuning in for another episode/ Today we will be exploring something different, popular cuisine found on the Maltese Islands/ Our journalism students will be talking about different dishes/ Nirayl Grech will be talking about our famous dip, il-Bigilla, Marianna Calleja will be talking about pastizzi a local favourite, Kieran Farrugia will explain how to make rabbit stew, the Maltese way/ Finally, Anthea Cachia will delve into some strawberry facts along with a recipe//

Il-Bigilla, your dip of Choice

By: Nirayl Grech

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The Maltese cuisine has several recurring staples; rabbit, tinned corned beef, broad beans, soft cheeses (particularly ricotta) and pasta / Today I am making Bigilla//

Before they used to sell it at a particular time of the day and the seller would serve the bigilla and arrive in every town, using the donkey as transportation / Bigilla is a broad bean dip originating from Malta//

It is usually eaten as a snack or a spread, served with Maltese crackers called galletti, or toasted sourdough bread / In Malta, bigilla can be purchased in stores or from street vendors / However, for those who wish to try it at home, here is the authentic recipe passed down in my family through generations //

Here is how to make the bigilla //

You will need; two hundred and fifty grams dried broad beans, one teaspoon bicarbonate soda, one teaspoon salt, four small garlic cloves peeled, two tablespoons chopped parsley, two tablespoons chopped mint, two tablespoons chopped oregano, two teaspoons capers, juice of one lemon tablespoons, extra virgin olive oil, a tablespoon freshly chopped chili or one tablespoon dried chili flakes (optional), freshly cracked salt and pepper and more olive oil for drizzling //

The first step is to soak the beans with the bicarbonate soda and salt for twenty-four hours using fresh boiled water / Then when the beans have been soaked, drain and rinse / Place them into a pot with fresh water and bring to a boil //

Immediately reduce to a simmer and cook for one hour and thirty minutes/ While the beans are cooking lightly fry the garlic cloves for five minutes until softened / In a large bowl mix the garlic, herbs, capers, lemon juice, olive oil and chili if using / Once the beans have been cooked, drain and add into the mixture//

With a hand blender blend everything together until blended to a thick consistency / Season with fresh cracked salt and pepper / When serving drizzle with some more oil / Serve with crackers of your choice//

The iconic pastizz

By: Marianna Calleja

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Pastizzi/ their aroma scent gush through our cities and villages from early morning till very late at night//

They are definitely one of the first things any newcomer to our sunny island will inevitably hear about/ That and maybe Kinnie/ Best Combination ever/ Yes/ just looking at them is enough to give you sky-high cholesterol and the oil oozing out of them will stick to your hands for eternity but hey, they are still worth it!//

For our international audience asking what the pastizzi is she talking about/ This is for you/ Pastizzi are basically flaky pastries that can either be savoury or sweet//

The original pastizzi are either ricotta cheese or mushy peas but then we were introduced to spinach/ chicken/ or incova pastizzi/ nutella pastizzi/ figolli pastizzi and if you look hard enough you might find them stuffed with rabbit too/ In short I would easily define them as sinful treats that will have you questioning your self-restraint//

If you don’t know us maltese yet/ these are the three things we value most in life... religion, politics and food/ Pastizzi are so important to us that we even sing about them/ We also have expressions on pastizzi/ Their popularity is underscored by the maltese expression “jinbiegħu bħal pastizzi” which basically translates to “selling as fast as pastizzi”//

Not convinced that pastizzi are extremely valuable to us? The Institute of Tourism Studies also known as ITS has a 14 week course called The Art of Making Pastizzi/ This course’s objective is to give the learners the necessary knowledge to be able to independently craft the art of making the traditional ‘Pastizzi’/ Yes they did describe it as a craft, an art/ Deal with it/

Quick note before I move on/ From the bottom of my heart/ Please do not confuse the Maltese pastizzi to Italian pastizzi/ Good, let’s dive into the history/

Muslims from North Africa are thought to have arrived in Malta around eight hundred seventy before Christ/ They came via Sicily and conquered the islands from the Byzantines during the Arab-Byzantine wars/ Among Malta’s Arab-era legacies were crops such as citrus and cotton/ sweet pastries/ and spices/ Can you see where this is going?//

Basically the Arabs did not only provide the roots of Malta’s distinctive language/ but they also gave us their arabic method of doing pastry/ Now the pastizz (singular for pastizzi) is a marriage between the arabic and southern italy culinary/ So a diamond-shaped filo-pastry pocket is filled with fresh ricotta cheese/ or a paste of mashed peas and spices/ The combination is absolutely marvellous and that is why it is so popular//

Where did the word ‘pastizz’ come from? Fine/ I’ll explain but please do not we Maltese have a great sense of humour/ The word pastizz is used as a euphemism for the female sexual organ/ If you are wondering how on earth we combined food with a woman’s vagina/ please go on google and quickly search for this beautiful masterpiece/ Fun fact we also use ‘pastizz’ to describe someone who is a pushover/ Because you know… both pastizzi are irresistible...//

Now I will not explain how to do the swirly twirly work of art/ for that you can easily sign up for the ITS class/ However I can quickly explain how my grandma used to make them at home//

For the dough you will need five hundred grams of flour/ one tsp of salt/ one hundred eighty grams of softened butter and ice-cold water/ For filling/ my grandma used three hundred grams of ricotta cheese/ three large eggs/ a handful of chopped parsley and salt and pepper to taste//

In a large bowl/ sift flour and add salt/ Make a well shaped hole in the center/ Then add the water/ a little bit at a time/ small amounts and mix until the dough is soft but not sticky//

Now you need to lightly oil the surface you’re working on and roll out your dough/ As thin as possible/ My grandma used to roll it out long but not too wide/ Now this is the fun part/ Smear the softened butter evenly and starting from the end closest to you/ stretch and roll the dough upwards/ Continue to stretch and roll the dough//

If the dough gets long and thin at the sides/ just fold it into the middle and keep rolling/ This will just end up creating more layers in the pastry. It needs to look like you’re doing a cinnamon roll but with way thinner dough/ Once you have finished rolling it, place it on a plate/ cover it and leave it in the fridge for twenty four hours//

For the filling just mash all the ingredients together and make sure they are well mixed/ After twenty four hours/ place dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into thick slices about two cm wide/ Then you need to stretch the outer edges of each section until you have an oval shape/ Try not to press down on the dough as my grandma used to say that it will prevent it from becoming flaky//

Now place the dough in the palm of your hand and fill with your chosen filling/ Stretch the sides out/ Press sides together all the way around/ Pinch the ends flat and gently push inwards to shape the Pastizzi/ Bake on a baking paper lined tray at two hundred and twenty degrees celsius until golden brown for about twenty minutes//

Now if you are too lazy to make them and currently not in Malta/ Here's really good news for you/ though Pastizzi are definitely a Maltese phenomenon/ you can find pastizzeriji all over the world! This is due to Maltese emigration/ so pastizzi are most common in areas like Canada/ Australia, and the UK/ yeah so sorry if you live anywhere else… Anyways I will leave you to my friend Kieran/ He will explain how we managed to put rabbit on a plate and also make it taste godly//

Rabbit stew (stuffat tal-fenek)

By: Kieran Farrugia

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Rabbit is consumed in various countries around the world including Malta's neighbouring countries Italy, France and Spain/ In Malta rabbit stew, is considered to be a traditional dish as well as a national dish, known in Maltese as "stuffat tal-fenek" //

Rabbit stew was introduced to the Maltese Islands by the Knights of St. John/ Considered a delicacy, Maltese Rabbit stew is even famous outside of the Islands, with foreigners requesting the dish in restaurants//

Here is how we make our Maltese signature rabbit dish//

You will need: two rabbits cleaned and portioned, the butcher should be able to do this for you, three fourths of a bottle of full bodied red wine, three hundred and fifty milliliters of water, two finely chopped onions, four garlic cloves, peeled and crushed, eight to ten bay leaves, one four hundred milliliter bottle of tomato pulp known as 'polpa', three tablespoons of tomato puree’, or 'kunserva', two carrots, peeled and sliced, six to eight medium potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped, some salt and pepper for seasoning and three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil //

When it comes to the marinade, which must be prepared the night before, one will need to: mix the wine, garlic and four or five bay leaves in a large bowl/ Then, place the rabbit pieces in the marinade, cover and refrigerate overnight //

The next day, remove the rabbit pieces from the marinade and shake off the excess liquid. Remember, don’t throw away the marinade – you’ll be using that later //

Heat up the olive oil in a heavy based saucepan on a high heat and sear the rabbit joints on all sides until lightly browned, approximately four minutes on each side //

Remove the rabbit pieces from the pan and set them aside/ Lower the heat and add the remaining bay leaves and onions into the pan/ Simmer the onions under low heat until they are browned, for approximately five minutes/ Add the garlic and continue to stir gently for another minute //

Add the tomato pulp to the pan and increase the heat slightly/ Cook for approximately five minutes / Now add the marinade and increase the heat to bring the sauce to a boil //

Once again, add the rabbit joints to the pan and mix them into the sauce, topping up the pan with water until all the rabbit pieces are covered / Cover the pan with a lid until it comes to a boil and then reduce the heat to a medium simmer / Wait for half an hour and then add the sliced carrots, diced potatoes and tomato puree’ / Make sure all the vegetables are covered with liquid and continue to simmer the stew for another half hour //

Wait another half hour and gently move the lid to cover only half of the pan / This will allow the sauce time to thicken / Now it’s time to check whether everything is cooked / If the rabbit meat falls off the bone easily and the vegetables are tender, then your rabbit stew is ready //

As for presentation, serve the stew with fried Maltese potato chips and fresh crunchy Maltese bread for the full traditional ‘fenkata’ experience / Enjoy//

Strawberries across the globe

By: Anthea Cachia

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From March till June, spring flows through our Maltese fields, giving life to home-grown fruits, vegetables and flowers full of colours and fragrant smells//

Each year, on one hot Sunday Morning, locals farmers come together to celebrate a year’s harvest of fresh juicy strawberries/ /

Festa Frawli, is one day a year where Maltese people go crazy for strawberries and it has been an annual fun-filled feast for the past fifteen years//

People all over Malta, come together to support Maltese farmers and buy local/ In two thousand fourteen alone, more than ten thousand boxes of strawberries were sold// Products range from pastries to alcoholic beverages, all strawberry flavoured.

But what is the history of strawberries on the island? How come, is it so popular with the Maltese?//

Though it is not entirely clear when the plant was brought to the islands, it was first mentioned in seventeen sixty in local dictionaries, published by De Soldanis, a linguist and a historian//

The plant was initially imported to Malta from the United Kingdom in nineteen thirty. It is rumoured that, in the beginning of strawberry harvesting, they were sweeter and much smaller than what we are now familiar with//

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Let's talk about some facts//

Did you know that there are around two hundred seeds in an average sized strawberry?They are also the only fruit that have the seeds on the outside//

There are three main types of strawberries: the June-bearing, the overbearing and the day neutral/ The June-bearing are the most appetizing berries//

Strawberries come from the same family of roses//

The plant is considered to be a perennial, which means that when you plant one,it will re-grow the coming year/ Although it might not grow strawberries instantly it will remain productive for about five years//

In California, with over twenty three thousand acres of land, produce seventy five percent of strawberry crops//

Americans eat around one kilo and a half of strawberries annually//

Native Americans were the first civilization that ate strawberries. It is said that they were the ones to introduce Europeans to the plant//

Ancient Romans believed that strawberries can be used for medicinal purposes to treat fever, kidney stones, sore throats and also depression//

In Belgium there is an entire museum dedicated to strawberries called Le Musée de la Fraise and one can purchase strawberry beer from the gift shop//

In France, strawberries are aphrodisiacs and are usually served to couples on their honeymoon//

One of the most popular recipes across the globe is strawberry shortcake and it can all be done in thirty minutes//

What you will need is; seventy six grams of melted butter, one hundred and fifty grams of sugar, one normal sized egg, two hundred twenty four grams of plain flour, two and a half teaspoons of baking powder, half a teaspoon of salt, one hundred eighty four grams of milk, one and a half teaspoons vanilla//

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Preheat the oven to one hundred and ninety degrees celsius/ In a mixing bowl combine together the butter and sugar/Once mixed, add in the egg and continue mixing the ingredients together/ Now you have created the first mixture/ In a small separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt/ Add to the first mixture the dry ingredients and the milk, little by little, until everything is mixed together/Finally add the vanilla and stir/ Pour into a greased and floured nine by nine baking pan//

Bake for twenty five to twenty eight minutes//

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When done let them cool and enjoy your tasty treat//

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