Malta Part One

Introduction

In my final two blogs I will be talking about the food culture and society that I experience in Malta by covering a bit about the history of Malta what the food is like my own personal experiences, what the hotels are like and they overall reason as to why Malta is a great holiday destination.

A little but about the history of Malta

Malta has around 7200 years of history. But I will be focusing on history A.D. which all starts in 60 A.D. when St Paul was shipwrecked on the island as Malta was in between Italy and North Africa this meant that any export or imports would have to go through Malta or go around South Africa roman times started in 218 B.C. up until 870 A.D. where the Arabs occupied Malta up until the Normans who arrived in 1090 A.D. until the death of Peter Caxaro 1485 A.D. this is when the Knights of St John came to Malta and build churches and hospitals to take care of the sick and the Grand Master was introduced however in 1565 A.D. the Turks invaded Malta and tried to take over its ruling and in 1566 A.D. The Knights of St John created Valletta which is the capital city of Malta and is still the capital this was to protect the Maltese people and the Grand Master. In 1798 A.D. Napoleon takes over Malta promising peace to the people of Malta this only lasts for a year as in 1799 A.D. the British take Malta and a year later the French surrender and Malta becomes a part of the British Empire until 1964 where they gained independence from the Common Wealth (Visit Malta, 2019). This is relevant the food culture and society in Malta due to the fact that all these influences are still present today.

The food and drink of Malta

The national dish of Malta is Rabbits Stew, Lampuki pie and Bragioli these will often be found on Maltese restaurant menus however there is also a strong link to Italian cooking due to the rich history and there being a lot of Italians that have moved to the area. It can also be seen that Malta has grown in other cuisines due to the increase in tourist come from further afield there is also Marsaxlokk which is a fishing village and is renowned for its fish dishes that are all very fresh (Visit Malta, 2019). The local drinks are wine and larger they brew there own larger in Malta that is called Cisk that is served everywhere you go in Malta, this larger is a very nice and refreshing drink to have with almost any meal or on its own. There is also a number on vineyards in Malta there was one that we visited whilst staying on the island it first planted its vines in 1994 and is still producing very good wines from these vines. My favourite wine that I tried was the Nexus which was a Merlot.

Reasons to visit Malta

There are many reason to visit but the main reason are the beautiful architecture, the history, the food and the wine and the beautiful weather, including visiting Valletta, Blue Grotto and Mdina.