Malta has a rich culinary tradition.  In a way it is the first ever fusion cuisine in the world.  Historically, when the knights were in Malta, each of the Langues brought with them their own chefs and their own ingredients.  Although the native Maltese had little or no direct contact with the Knights, they too worked in the kitchens of the langues and learnt a lot.  That knowledge was then taken home and the food was re-interpreted and integrated in the local cuisine.  In a way, this is an over simplistic outline of the chain of events, but the effects of this process are evident to this day.

The basis of the Maltese cuisine is what is known as the Cucina Povera - the poor man's kitchen.  What was poor man's kitchen then, is hip haute cuisine now.  To this day you have widow's soup, a soup that was made by poor widows made by morsels and left overs from the local community.  It is anything but cheap to prepare a widow's soup in today's terms.  So do not be snobbish about Cucina Povera.  Cucina Povera is great.

The Maltese cuisine today is influenced by the Italian kitchen, yet there are a lot of Arabic influences.  Well, Italian kitchen is predominantly Arabic anyway.   There are close relationships and similarities between the Sicilian Cuisine and the Maltese Cuisine.  The only difference is the influence of the British - not something to write home about, but it is undeniably there.  The Maltese Cuisine was seriously "damaged" by the British. 

Having said that the fault is not entirely on the British.  It is not their fault that the Maltese eating habits are caught in a time warp dating back to the post war boom.  But Maltese would still walk into a restaurant and expect a "Fillet steak well done with mushroom sauce and chips", regardless of how posh the restaurant is.

The Maltese eating habits are heavily based on carbohydrates - bread (and lets face it, they make fantastic Maltese Bread - actually originally the Knights brought their own bakers from Rhodes and what Malta has today is a direct line of that product) that is addictive, awful pasta, bad pizza and  pastizzi.  No wonder Malta has the highest diabetes and obesity rates in the world.

Today you will find restaurants that you would have found in Chelsea 50 years ago, serving the same old Steak Diane and prawn cocktail with the ubituitous lettuce leaf and the obligatory slice of tomato on top.  This statement would cover 95% of the restaurants in Malta. 

Thank God for the other five percent.  Here you can experience amazing food in gorgeous settings and with fantastic service.  If its popular it does not mean it is good.  A lot of Maltese do not have an understanding of quality.  For them, by good chocolate they mean Cadbury Dairy Milk ( there is a reason for this - a political one.  In the 70s all importation of such goods was banned by Dom Mintoff, the then Prime Minister of Malta.  Instead, things like chocolate were produced locally - and they were bad - Deserta it was called.  So Cadbury wasonly foundon the black market and at a premium.  Things in Malta move very slowly and the mindset has not changed since then - not much anyway).  Good chocolate is Valrhona.

If you visit Malta and want to experience superb food, ask some locals who know what they are talking about.  Look for restaurants who prepare their own food.  A lot of restaurants buy things in and do little more than follow the instructions on the packet.  Avoid colourful ice creams - seek good ice creams.  They exist.  Seek great coffee, it exists, seek great food, it exists.  Fantastic cakes - they exist.  But you will not find it in the touristy places.  You need to get off the beaten track and find the little gems around the place.  Malta's only independent restaurant review is Mona's  Meals, on Malta Today's Sunday Edition or  on www.planetmona.com   

There are restaurants that interpret the Cucina Povera in a modern style and do it superbly.  There are restaurants that thrive on the passing trade - avoid them.  There are restaurants that form part of hotels - not always a wise move. Unlike hotels anywhere else, few of the Maltese hotels trust their restaurants to good chefs.  Instead, everything is mass produced using the cheapest possible ingredients to meet budget targets.

You get what you pay for.  In Malta though sometimes you do not even get that.  Paceville, Sliema, Valletta and all the other really touristy places like Bugibba have little or no decent restaurants.  There are, but one is talking about one in a hundred.  Unfortunately there are no guides that rate restaurants in the same way Michelin rates restaurnts in the rest of Europe.  Nonetheless, if you go into a restaurant and you do not like what you see once you sit down, excuse yourself and leave.  It is not a big deal.  And always look at the menu displayed outside on the menu box.  it tells you both about the prices and about the type of food.

Food is about passion and commitment.  One of the things that the Maltese are passionate about is football; and they are rubbish it at it.  Now imagine food!!  They are not that passionate about quality and haute cuisine, so you could imagine what the chances are for you to find gourmet cuisine here.  There are a handful of young guys though that certainly deliver where the others fail.  Seek them out. Your in flight magazine might have something about restaurants that is both up to date and interesting.  Worth taking the magazine with you.

Ultimately food is many things for many men.  One man's food is another man's poison and all the other sayings all ring true.  if you are a pizza and burger type kind of person, then Malta is a safe bet.  If you like haute cuisine, Malta is not the obvious destination, but some of the guys here are talented, young, determined and fantastic at what they do.  If you want haute cuisine, one would have to seek out Xara Palace Hotel's restaurant - it can be brilliant and it could be awful; it depends on the day.  There is Palazzo Santa Rosa in Mistra Bay - if you want passion for food, this is the place to go.  The chef was described as mad by some food critic.  He is mad about food.  He gets only the finest ingredients and grows his own vegetables.  Check the chicken dish on his Autumn Menu.  It is hilarious.  So funny.  So good, but they do not take themselves too seriously.  Beautiful place too.  Ambrosia in Valletta is good too.  Chris the chef is a seasoned experienced talented guy; perfect for lunch on Archbishop Street in Valletta.  Victor Borg's restaurant at the Phoenicia Hotel is meant to be good, but I heard different opinions.  Victor has a great track record though.  One hopes that he has not been corrupted by hotel mentality. 

You will love Maltese food. You do not even need to be adventerous; you just need to be open minded and willing to try new flavours, textures and tastes.  There is nothing in the Maltese cuisine that is "weird" (no chocolate dipped lizards or fermented tofu!!) bar maybe for some, snails. It is not Italian, it is not Arabic, it is not Greek.  It is not even Mediterranean.  It is simply that - Maltese and it is the best of many worlds. 

What are typical Maltese dishes?  Here are some:

Rabbit (Fenek).   One of the restaurants above call it "Watership Down".  Rabbits are reared and farmed in Malta and are very tasty indeed.  There are some places that specialise in just rabbit.  Mgarr is a village that has tons of these cheap and cheerful places.  Warning though;  their rabbit cooking skills are severly restricted to a mediocre compromised style.  A good rabbit experience can be had in many nicer restaurants.

Widow Soup (Soppa ta' l-armla).  This is basically a vegetable soup but with fresh Maltese cheese and an egg added to it.  Some people add little pasta to it but this is not necessary.  Should not be runny but hearty and rich.  Served with Parmesan cheese on top.

Stuffed Gourd or Long Marrow (Qara Twil Mimli).  You do not come across gourd or long marrow much outside Malta yet it is a wonderfully tasting vegetable.  Very particular.  The Maltese remove the inside, peel it and stuff it with a combination of minced meat, parmesan, garlic, parsley and a few eggs and then cook it in a broth.

Bebbux (Snails)

Torta tal-Lampuki (Mahi Mahi Pie)

Pastizzi (savoury pastries)

Brungiel Mimli (Stuffed Aubergines)

Bigilla (Gerba bean dip)

Gbejna (fresh Maltese cheese)

Ravjul tal-irkotta (Ricotta filled ravioli)

Timpana (pasta filled pie)

Ross il-forn (Baked Rice)

Qaghaq ta' l-ghasel 

Mqaret (Sweet date filled pastries) 

Twistees( Rice,snack)- available in the UK as Tastees. www.tastees.info