detailed information about the 4th UNAOC Summer School

foods exerted a strong influence, but the presence in Malta of the Knights of St
John and, more recently, the British brought elements from further afield.
The Knights hailed from many European countries; particularly, France, Italy and Spain.
They brought influences from these countries. Aljotta, for example, a fish broth with
plenty of garlic, herbs, and tomatoes is the Maltese adaptation of bouillabaisse. The
Knights' contacts and wealth brought also food from the New World; it has been
suggested that Malta may have been one of the first countries in Europe (after Spain)
where chocolate was first tasted.
The British military presence meant a market of a garrison and their families and, later,
mass tourism from the UK. British food products, condiments and sauces like English
mustard, Bovril, HP Sauce and Worcestershire sauce are still a subtle but pervasive
presence in Maltese cooking.
Other imports were only nominal. While the Maltese word "aljoli" is likely to be a loan
word, the Maltese version of the sauce does not include any egg as in aioli; instead it is
based on herbs, olives, anchovies and olive oil. Similarly, while the Maltese word
"taġen" is related to "tajine" in Maltese the word refers exclusively to a metal pan.
There are a number of junctures in which development in Maltese cuisine related to
issues of identity. The most significant example is the traditional Maltese fenkata (eating
stewed rabbit), often identified as the national dish, quite possibly started off as a form
of symbolic resistance to the hunting restrictions imposed by the Knights of St John. The
dish was to become popular after the lifting of restrictions in the late 18th century (and
by which time the indigenous breed had multiplied and prices dropped) and the
domestication of rabbits, a technique which could have been imported from France
thanks to the French Knights.
The popularity of pork and its presence in various dishes could be attributed to Malta
being on the edge of the Christian world. Consuming a food which is taboo in the
Muslim culinary culture could have been a way of self-identification by distinguishing
oneself from the other. In addition to pork dishes (such as grilled pork cuts or stuffed
flank) and the exclusive predominance of pork in indigenous Maltese sausages, adding
some pork to dishes such as kawlata (a vegetable soup) and ross il-forn (baked rice)
have been common practice in the Maltese vernacular cuisine for centuries.
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