A bastion of Malta, the tiny island nation in the Mediterranean, the golden, flaky pastry filled with ricotta (irkotta) or curry-spiced mushy peas (pizelli) has been a constant in my life. I have plenty of memories of the freezer in the family home stacked high with trays of frozen pastizzi covered in blue plastic, ready to throw in the oven at a moments notice.
It's the versatility that has propelled pastizzi to the top of the Maltese food chain. Looking for a quick snack, don't have any dinner plans and don't have enough in the pantry? Your answer is pastizzi. Got people coming over and need something to serve? Pastizzi. Been a long day and looking for some familial comfort? Cue, pastizzi.
Although Malta's cuisine remains arguably underrated in the Australian food landscape, the pastizzi is a universally beloved snack. It has arguably become one of Malta's most recognisable culinary exports, and is known as a life raft in both good times and bad.
There are many places you can get pastizzi. Credit: cdkproductions - stock.adobe.com
You'll find a signpost from each culture imbued into pastizzi, from the golden pastry arguably derived from the Arabic borek to the rich ricotta filling similar to that of Italy's sfogiatelle, to the curried mushy pea filling of pizelli pastizzi a remaining influence from British occupation – a motley collection of cultural and culinary footprints in one tidy little parcel.
Nowadays, there are many spots to get your hands on pastizzi. It's even available in the freezer sections of most major supermarkets, but for a long time, pastizzi was a clandestine affair, typically produced in family homes and sold at Maltese clubs across the country.
Jacqui Challinor, executive chef of Nomad Group who is of Maltese heritage, honed her pastizzi-making craft during lockdown. She describes the love-hate relationship she developed learning to make them. "They’re a real labour of love; sometimes you do it and the dough is perfect and other times its not, and when it's perfect it's a lovely thing, but when it's not you just want to pull your hair out," Challinor tells SBS Food.
When Challinor first asked her mother for a recipe, she was met with the response: "I don’t have one, we only ever bought them."
This is a sentiment followed by many Maltese in Australia who lacked the means of production and finesse for pastizzi. "You've really got the bash the dough out to get them nice and thin and you need a lot of space," Challinor says. "Also, if the temperature isn't quite right in the kitchen, the fat ends up melting everywhere, so you kind of need the perfect conditions."
They’re a real labour of love.
Instead, many Maltese opt for purchasing trays of frozen pastizzi ready to bake in the oven. But considering the proud but small population, acquiring pastizzi has not always been the easiest of things, which has often resulted in pastizzi-making operations out of Maltese homes or a few dedicated shops or local clubs.
'A Maltese Feast' explores Julia Busuttil Nishimura and Jacqui Challinor's heritage through food. Credit: Supplied
"You would buy them frozen and they were just so good. My father was the president, so we were there every weekend.
"My first memory is biting into one and it absolutely scolding my mouth," says Busuttil Nishimura.
My first memory is biting into one and it absolutely scolding my mouth.
Busuttil Nishimura, who also has Maltese heritage, will later be flying the Maltese flag with Challinor at a sold-out dinner event at Nomad as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival 2024.
They will host , which will explore several steadfast staples imbued with modern interpretations – from ħobż (Maltese bread) served alongside homemade duck mortadella, gbejniet (white sheep's milk cheese with black pepper) and of course the pièce de resistance, the pastizzi.
Thanks to a new generation of Maltese heritage culinary talents from Julia and Jacqui to Shane Delia (Maha) to Jake Cassar (Mortadeli) the flavours and tastes of Malta are being brought further to the forefront, where the pastizzi have stood for so long as the primary example new dishes and specialities will join.
