Maltese cooking reflects the islands' long history under Phoenicians, Arabs, the Knights of St John, the French and the British. The result is Mediterranean food with Sicilian flavours, Arab-influenced sweets and a few British habits, from tea to Sunday roasts.

Street food

Pastizzi are Malta's favourite snack: flaky, diamond-shaped pastries filled with ricotta (tal-irkotta) or mushy peas (tal-piżelli), sold hot from small shops for well under a euro. Qassatat are rounder versions with the same fillings. Locals eat them at any time of day, often with tea.

Bread

Maltese bread (ħobż tal-Malti) is a crusty sourdough loaf. Ħobż biż-żejt, bread rubbed with tomato paste and drizzled with olive oil, then topped with tuna, capers, olives and onions, is a summer staple. Ftira, a ring-shaped bread from Gozo, is filled the same way.

Main dishes

  • Stuffat tal-fenek: rabbit slow-cooked in red wine, garlic and tomatoes, the national dish. A fenkata, a rabbit feast, is a traditional social occasion.
  • Lampuki pie: dolphin fish baked in pastry with vegetables, olives and spices, eaten in autumn when lampuki are in season.
  • Bragioli: thin beef slices rolled around a filling of minced meat, egg and bacon, stewed in tomato sauce.
  • Timpana: baked macaroni in pastry with meat sauce, a hearty Sicilian-style dish.
  • Aljotta: garlicky fish soup with tomato and herbs.

Sweets

Try imqaret, date-filled pastries fried and sold at festas, kannoli filled with ricotta, and figolli, almond-filled Easter biscuits.

Drinks

Kinnie, a bittersweet soft drink made with bitter oranges and herbs, is a Maltese classic. Cisk is the local lager, and Maltese wines from local grapes such as Girgentina and Ġellewża are improving.

Village festas

From June to September, almost every weekend a village celebrates its patron saint with a festa: streets are decorated, churches lit up, brass bands march, statues are carried through crowds, and fireworks fill the sky. Food stalls sell nougat (qubbajt), imqaret and hot dogs. Festas are noisy, joyful and central to local identity.

Other traditions

  • Carnival in February, especially in Valletta and Nadur on Gozo.
  • Holy Week processions with life-sized statues.
  • L-Imnarja, a harvest festival in Buskett gardens in late June.

Etiquette

  • Religion matters; dress modestly in churches and cover shoulders and knees.
  • Maltese people are friendly and direct, and family ties are strong.
  • Maltese and English are both spoken, often in the same sentence.
  • Tipping 5% to 10% is appreciated in restaurants.

See our Malta country guide for costs and data.