I have never been an early morning person. But I still remember the days when my father used to wake me up early to go fishing with him. I used to relish the time with him. I used to love the anticipation and the preparation that went into the fishing. My father would prepare the fishing bait which either consisted of bread with fermented cheese that had been left in jars in full sunshine and stank really badly or else freshly brought shrimps or gambli as they were more commonly known in Maltese. My attention span when I was young and fishing would not really last long unless I was actually catching fish and to be honest I did not get the point of it until many years later. My father doesn’t even really like fish until this day. But, there is something therapeutic about fishing. You are alone, surrounded by nature sitting or standing in silence.The best time to fish is either at sunrise or at sunset and when it gets dark but to get the best spots you needed to go early. Today, … [Read more...]
Is it time for Maltese producers to break out of their comfort zone when it comes to cheese?
Franklin Mamo recalls growing up in 1980s Malta with import restrictions that meant cheese was restricted to industrial grade cheddar, pecorino, edam and gorgonzola. He asks if it is time for He for Maltese producers to leave the comfort zone and produce good artisanal cheese. As part of the war effort in WWII the British government centralised the production cheddar, a policy which persisted during the peacetime years of rationing. Even if you believe that everything is permissible in love and war, you'd have to admit that – foodwise – there's nothing that can be said of the measure that was positive. The policy killed off thousands of small producers (to the point where nowadays no cheddar is produced in the town of Cheddar) and bequeathed on popular eating culture that yellow slab of fat called "Government cheddar". I grew up in 1980s Malta. Import restrictions meant that while the skies were clear of Luftwaffe planes, on our tables the change was mostly of degree not of … [Read more...]
Childhood memories (2): The crunchy part of the lasagne
Lasagne used to be my favourite dish when I was young. Whenever my mother used to ask what I wanted for a special treat, birthday for example, my response always used to be the same. Mostly it was reserved for weekends, for celebratory occasions like Christmas or Easter or a birthday here and there. When it was served on midweek, it used to somehow lose its allure and I could never understand why. Today, I love to cook lasagne and there are many reasons for this. First it is the ultimate comfort food, it is therapeutic to make a ragu and wait for hours, process after process to get it right and extract the most possible flavour from the meat. Second, the children love it and there is always leftovers which works particularly well for a midweek treat. But why was lasagne less attractive when it was prepared during the week? Was it just memory playing tricks or was there really something to it? I couldn't pin it down to anything until I read Massimo Bottura's reasoning behind … [Read more...]
Childhood memories and food – a new series
Childhood memories are the source of inspiration of many a chef. Some chefs can be at their most creative when they recreate dishes out of their childhood memories or the flavours that they remember from when they were young. Memories and storytelling are what makes us human beings. We are the stories that we tell ourselves and others and our memories have a way of stirring our emotions and connecting us to our history and to where we come from. Recalling our earliest childhood memories is not always easy. How often are our memories real and how often are they the stories that we have been told by our families and friends. This is particularly true for our earliest childhood memories. What is your first memory? And are you sure it is your memory or is it a story that you have been told? An old photo may trigger a memory, or else it may trigger the memory of your mother or father explaining the context to you. I recall my mother say that whenever she used to try and give … [Read more...]