issue â„–
the ultimate food platform
april 2018
63
editorial “The hands that made the food.” Words from that children’s prayer, the one used at schools before meals, words that make you imagine the person that made the food you’re eating. Maybe, they’re your own hands, and those words are a strange little reminder that you can have your hands be blessed and have them do good things, unto others as unto yourself. Preachy? Not at all, but why pretend the words are meaningless? It’s easy to fall into magical thinking. We like to think we are a facts-oriented species, that we know what’s what and how the world works and have it all mapped out. We like to think it all is very convenient. We buy packets of frozen goods and scarcely give a thought of the place it came from, of the hands that made the food. It is a disconnect between the food and where it comes from, the branding – full of rosy green fields and sunny days – and the otherwise more mundane reality of
fluorescent lights, offices with binders, processing plants with toughly-bleached floors walked on by workers on shift. We take food for granted, easily. We don’t think about the hands that made the food, the other person that works behind the curtain to give you a meal; whether it’s pre-packaged or freshly cooked and served. Which is why, in this issue of Cibus, we planned to work with less recipes than normal in order to give some coverage into a few hands making some food and to get people thinking and talking about how food is something that is meant to bind us together as much as it is there to comfort us, nourish us, replenish our spirits. This is one of the few issues where there truly cannot be enough pages. It is the plastic little aglet on a shoelace that’s too long for any one issue. Maybe we will be able to work on some more lace next month, that would be good, but it still wouldn’t be enough. So, read on, and bless the hands, maybe even your own.
Executive editor Jamie Iain Genovese (cibus@timesofmalta.com) Publisher Allied Newspapers Ltd. Printing Progress Press Co. Ltd. Production Allied Newspapers Ltd. Design Krista Bugeja
Cover Design Kriss Zammit Endrich
Advertising Sales Marisa Schembri (tel: 2276 4337; marisa.schembri@timesofmalta.com) THIS PUBLICATION IS BEING DISTRIBUTED AS PART OF:
All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole, or in part, is strictly prohibited without written permission. Opinions expressed in Cibus are not necessarily those of the editor-in-chief or publisher. All reasonable care is taken to ensure truth and accuracy, but the editor-in-chief and publisher cannot be held responsible for errors or omissions in articles, advertising, photographs or illustrations. The editor-in-chief is not responsible for material submitted for consideration.
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contents 4
4. A Tale of Two Pizzas James Camilleri tries, maybe inspired by last month’s glance at Ugly Delicious in our article Culture Watch, to try a couple of pizzas in Naples. Hope you like your pizza, but not too much to get angry about it.
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No Kangaroos in Austria – Eating and Drinking in Vienna Alison Cilia Werdmölder has done a little recon on The City of Dreams, Vienna, and has drummed up a little list for those that want a bite or two a tall glass of something nice.
14. California Cuisine What’s going on in California? Well, in case you were wondering, we had Bailey Lalonde on the scene sampling some of the better spots in The Golden State.
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18. Magical Food From 4 a.m. Danny Coleiro doesn’t like early risers. He doesn’t really do early rising. He did, though once, and an idea came to him. We won’t spoil the surprise.
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Getting to the Gut A documentation on her effort to better her lifestyle, and her health, through her food: Bailey Lalonde walks us through, well, her gut.
25. VEGETABLE PIE by Liz Said.
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Mediterranean Culinary Academy Our editor, among other celebrated figures in the media, was invited to a session with the Mediterranean Culinary Academy in order to see what they’re all about: and yes, he did pick up a few things.
30. An Office Moves on its Stomach There’s office culture, and there’s food culture. ANCHOVY. try their best to put them together.
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Good France Or Goût de France, has happened once again, for the fourth time on the Maltese islands. If you are not sure as to what that is, read, and let the photo story speak for itself.
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FEATURE
TWO PIZZAS WORDS BY
jamES CamILLERI
m
y recent jaunt to the beautiful island of Capri required a quick stop in Naples, so I couldn’t pass up the chance to snag a slice of the “proper” thing. (Retrospectively obvious tip: getting to Capri by flying to Rome and crossing the country by train is a hassle. Do yourself a favour and double-check direct flights first.) after spending an eternity or two on the train, I was pretty peckish. Luckily, I had an hour or so to spare (seeing that I had missed my ferry twice by this point in time) so I set off into the grimy heart of Naples in search of the best pizza it had to offer. Google quickly directed me to “L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele” – the best pizza in Naples and, by extension, the world. I am, of course, always highly sceptical of such claims, but I can never quite resist giving something with that kind of prestige attached to it a nibble, if only just to say I’ve tried it. I raced through the crowded streets toward the pizzeria, somehow under the incredibly daft idea that nobody else in all of Naples would
want a pizza on a Saturday afternoon. The sizeable crowd of people standing determinedly at the pizzeria’s door, in the wind and rain, quickly brought my stupidity to light. It was late. I was hungry. This wasn’t going to fly. I walked up and down the street in a stupor until a tiny, somewhat oily, little place called “1947 Pizza Fritta” caught my eye. Pizza Fritta, or fried pizza, is a war-time variation of the classical dish. Times were tough in Naples during the war – as they were just about everywhere else – and heating a traditional wood-fired oven was a luxury few could afford. a cheaper alternative was pioneered by the working class… deep fry the hell out of the pizza dough. By slapping two bog-standard pizza bases together and stuffing them with whatever they had lying around, then unceremoniously dumping the lot into a deep fryer, the locals created an innovative new street food that is still proudly and singularly Neapolitan.
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Never one to shy away from tasting some new culinary concoction, I squished into this tiny hole in the wall, eagerly greeted by the enthusiastic staff of the establishment. I negotiated an order of the most traditional pizza fritta they had in my embarrassingly basic Italian and sat down at a rickety table, my stomach growling in anticipation. The oil sputtered to some astronomically high temperature behind me as the pizzaiolo (Italian for guy who makes pizza) flattened out two blobs of dough and generously spread some ricotta, mozzarella, and pork cuttings between them. Before long my pizza fritta lay sizzling before me, wrapped in copious amounts of greaseproof paper, trying in vain to absorb the slightly alarming amount of oil oozing from the pastry. Move over pastizzi, one of these things could give a whole village heart disease and take down an elephant or two right after. I had no idea how to eat this thing. One of the ladies offered me cutlery (I think) but I presumed that this wasn’t the way street food was eaten, so I shrugged the suggestion off. I then proceeded to spread oil and ricotta all over my face and a significant portion of the table like some sort of Lovecraftian, multi-tentacled monster, whilst simultaneously scalding my tongue and ripping the paper my meal was wrapped in. I dared not look behind me, but I can only assume that the three people staffing the restaurant were looking on in abject horror and fearing for their lives. I eventually wrestled the entire thing into my stomach and wiped the grease off my hands (but never off my soul). The pizza fritta was… interesting. I wish I had let it cool a bit before devouring it, but I was on a tight schedule. It
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definitely tasted like street food, and not in a bad way. There was something unique about it, though fine dining it definitely wasn’t. Flavourful and extremely filling – I couldn’t bear to eat another full meal until the evening after. An impressive feat for such a cheap and quick meal. Definitely worth a try, but I’d recommend against eating too many unless you’re purposefully stress-testing your heart. A few days later it was, most unfortunately, time to head home, so I set aside a couple of hours to try and gain access to the mythical pizza once more. The crowds still clustered around the entrance to the pizzeria, but I was not to be deterred. I squashed myself through the throng and attempted to make heads or tails of how the pizza-ordering process worked. Do I ask for a table? Do I give up while I’m ahead and try to ask for a takeaway with my exceedingly limited Italian vocabulary? Do I throw myself at the pizzaiolo’s feet and beg for a slice with tears in my eyes? One of the servers must have noticed my anguish, and he quickly motioned to one of his colleagues to save the idiot tourist before hurrying off to do more important things. I tried to explain that I’d like a table for one. I was told to stay put and relax, or something to that extent. Before I had quite got a handle on the situation I was sitting at a table with a young airport-bound couple and an older Neapolitan gentleman in a suit. Now I am not a particularly introverted individual – in fact I’m one of those awful people who is generally the source of the hubbub in the room and happily feeds off the attention like some social-stimulus-sucking-space-beast. Even my similes are over-enthusiastic. Sitting in a
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crowded restaurant with three complete strangers, all of whom spoke a language I did not, did however rattle my chains. I fumbled through the ordering process without too much of a mess, successfully communicating that I would like an ordinary Margherita and a beer to one of our hosts. The actual selection process was hardly arduous – you could pick a Margherita or a Marinara. If you wanted to spice it up you could ask for extra mozzarella on your Margherita, but that just about sums up all of your options. You see, according to the Neapolitans, anything other than those two options isn’t real pizza. (Just to clarify, a Neapolitan Marinara is just pizza dough and tomato sauce, not that slightly intimidating seafood conglomeration the rest of the world has somehow produced.) Waiters On top of that glorious bustled through the small restaurant base, a wonderful fresh constantly, and noise was not at all tomato sauce and lacking. I picked up a bottle cap that had delicate mozzarella. somehow flown at me in the bustle and The whole affair was popped it into an old tin high up in the very light and airy, sort corner, where it seemed like the waiters of like someone tried to were depositing caps and assorted knickmake a tomato and knacks, and settled into my seat. mozzarella salad but
got carried away.
The drinks turned up soon after, complete with super-cheap plastic cups – the kind your mother would hand out to the plague of five-year-olds you invited to your first birthday party in an effort to mitigate damage. The pizzas arrived soon after – four exquisite Margheritas spilling over the edge of their plates – followed by the next socio-cultural minefield… How do you eat a pizza in Naples? With uncharacteristic foresight on my part, I had researched this part before elbowing my way through the crowd around the restaurant. In Naples, your pizza does not arrive presliced, but you are armed with a set of cutlery and expected to cut your own food like a grown-up. As soon as I got a good look at the pizzas I could see why – the base was paper thin, trying to pick up a slice would undoubtedly end in disaster. Everyone else at the table picked up their fork and knife. I followed suit. My knife was duller than a month of Mondays and I felt distinctly self-conscious as I hacked away at the masterpiece in front of me while the Italians around me breezed through their lunch. The younger couple did actually cut out a few slices and fold them in half to make them more manageable, but I’m not sure if it was just because they were 8
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young and hip or just not from Naples. Either way, I didn’t want to risk more stupid-tourist-syndrome, so I stuck to cutlery. And now, the moment of truth. The pizza.
The dough was something else. Fresh and light, with a sort of elastic springiness to it. Heaven for the taste buds. (But it was hell for my exceedingly useless knife.) Without a doubt some of the best pizza dough I’ve ever tasted. On top of that glorious base, a wonderful fresh tomato sauce and delicate mozzarella. The whole affair was very light and airy, sort of like someone tried to make a tomato and mozzarella salad but got carried away. It was an exquisite Margherita. Definitely one of the better ones I’ve encountered. But the best pizza in the world? I don’t know. Maybe I’m the problem. Maybe my sensibilities have been destroyed by the Maltese obsession with putting everything and the kitchen sink on their pizza. I’m staunchly against triple-decker pizzas, but surely a bit of Parma ham with your mozzarella and sauce isn’t a crime? Maybe I’m wrong and a terrible person, but I kind of like those interesting creations with walnuts and Gorgonzola and honey and excitement. (I may have just given a Neapolitan a heart attack. I apologise.) Pizza with pineapple on it, however, is still an abomination.
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Reservations aside, the pizza was still delectable, and I enjoyed every bite. If you ever get the opportunity to, by all means, taste this pizza. If you don’t feel like waiting in the middle of the street for an hour though, I’m sure you could find an equally excellent meal from somewhere else in Naples. They’ve all been doing this for a while. We paid for our meals – an unbelievable bargain of €6 for a pizza and a beer. It was at this point, to my absolute horror, that I realised the rusty tin in the corner was not used to hold bottle caps as I had previously assumed, but tips. I was now not only a hapless and linguistically-challenged tourist, I was an ass who throws bottle caps into tip jars. I will never get over this embarrassment. Lessons learned. And so, I wrapped up my pizza-based escapades and headed to the airport. One grubby Neapolitan street, two rainy days, and two very different pizzas. Both true culinary classics that tell the story of one of the most recognisable and wellloved foods on the planet. With so many geniuses dedicating their lives to making magnificent food, it’s unlikely that anyone will ever find the “best” pizza in the world, but when in Bella Napoli you’re unlikely to find one that isn’t absolutely marvellous.
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FOREIGN
WORDS BY
Alison CiliA Werdmölder
Friday Breakfast: Costa. overpriced but to be expected from both the shop and it’s location past airport security. i find Costa’s coffee reliably decent, and the muffins reliably tasty, so perfect for an early morning flight where you aren’t ready for disappointment. €11.35 for two coffees and a blueberry muffin.
clumped together it was undercooked, and the salad it came with was sitting in a swimming pool of vinegar spiked water. Clearly very few vegetarians make their way to this traditional Austrian restaurant. Price for 3 meals (drinking tap water) was €41.30 + tip Friday Tea: Demmel. This famous cafe & confectionary had a line all the way through the downstairs bar, but we decided to take the risk and wait in the queue and i’m glad we did, maybe we were just lucky but they were seating everyone at a steady pace so we barely had a chance to look into their glassed kitchen before we were ushered to our seats. Friends who had been there recommended that i try the apple strudel, which was good, though i feel like i’d have much preferred it warm. We also tried the ober’s cremeschnitte, a variant of the custard and chantilly cream cake dessert. i loved it but others found it a bit too heavy with all the cream inside it. special shoutout to the cardamom hot chocolate which incorporated my favourite spice in the best way. 3 hot chocolates & 3 cakes came to €36.70 + tip
Friday Lunch: Alt Wiener Gastwirtschaft Schilling. Veal goulash was very good, however my lenten sacrifice of giving up meat turned out to be quite a challenge here, with only one item on the menu that wasn’t dessert being vegetarian friendly. The ‘herb pasta’ was very disappointing, it was an entire dish of one flavour, the pasta was over cooked and where it had
(Friday Dinner: my dad was recovering from an illness so we headed back to the hotel early, which luckily neighboured a mall complex, so dinner was KFC which i forgot to photograph, but i’m sure you all know what that looks like, i can assure you their flavours are also consistent in Vienna.) 10 CIBUS | APRIL 2018
FOREIGN
Saturday Brunch: ULRICH. From the menu i was already drooling. This is the hipster brunch place we all need more of, i would happily return for almost every item on the menu. The chai was really good and also a generous portion of tea — the pots each gave about 3 cups full, they definitely had some clove in them because our tongues went a little numb by the end. my vegan breakfast option was the most unusual of the three, and pushed me out of my egg filled comfort zone, the hummus was so delicious and kept me full for hours. 3 meals, 2 chais, and a cappuccino came to €39.50 + tip
Saturday Tea: Belvedere Menagerie. After a lot of walking in the freezing weather we decided to treat ourselves to a warm drink and a rest before exploring the palace and it’s collection. Vienna seems to consistently provide good coffee and good hot chocolate so i wouldn’t worry too much about where you stop to warm yourself up. Pro tip for visiting the Belvedere: unless you’re super speedy or intend to stay there all day do not get the combined ticket, the Upper Belvedere is
FOREIGN huge on it’s own and we completely wasted our tickets for the lower Belvedere because by the time we would have gone they were closing. i forgot to note the exact price, but we think it was ~€25-30
Saturday Dinner: Santos. i’ve been back in malta for almost two weeks and i’m still dreaming about this meal. oK, it wasn’t exactly a local delicacy but it was so good. We had a burrito, an enchilada and mine was the vegetarian option of the fajita. To me the best sort of vegetarian food is one that doesn’t try to replace the meat, because it always feels like it’s reminding you of what you’re missing out on, or reminding you of what you don’t want to eat if you’re that sort of vegetarian. meals like this one are simply a celebration of ingredients that are not meat, and if we want to encourage meat eaters to reduce their intake this is the perfect meal for it, because it isn’t lacking anything. 3 meals & 3 alcoholic drinks came to €62.80 + tip
Sunday Brunch: Treubleiben Wien. This was a stumbled-upon breakfast place; we had intended to go elsewhere but they were fully booked and it was a pleasant replacement. it’s a very bar-by-night, food-by-day sort of place with very friendly service. Quite a varied menu and everything we had was really good, i think my only complaint is a matter of preference: the eggs benedict were served ‘deconstructed’ style which looks pretty but it would have made my life a bit easier, and my trousers a bit less eggy had they been constructed. €31.70 + tip for 3 breakfasts & hot drinks
Sunday Tea: Cafe Restaurant Residenz. This day was the coldest, and the schönbrunn Palace does not have any heating, it’s insulation keeps you cosier than the outside world but we were happy to sit down and actually take off our coats in the crowded cafe afterwards. my sister and i weren’t particularly impressed by the trio of local cakes we shared, but i think that was more a matter of personal taste than quality, they’re worth a try. Cake trio, cheesecake, 2 juices & a tea came to €28.50 + tip Sunday Dinner: Figlmüller. so, so, so, good. i had insisted on waiting for sunday to have the schnitzel so i could join in on the meat eating and it was the perfect meal to end our trip on. Figlmüller have three locations close by to each other but as far as i know all of them serve this signature dish. We went to the Bäckerstraße location which opened in 2001, ninety-six years after the original location round the corner. schnitzel is a must have if you’re visiting Vienna and eat meat, and this historic restaurant is a great place to have it. You can book online to reserve a table or like us go to dinner at a more mediterranean hour when the rush of earlier diners would just be finishing up their meals (about 7:45pm). 3 glasses of wine, 3 schnitzels with potato salad sides & 1 dessert to share came to €83.29 + tip
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FEATURE
CALIFORNIA CUISINE WORDS AND PHOTOS BY
Bailey lalonde
C
alifornia dreaming comes in many forms. Before going to the City of angels i was quite the opposite of an advocate for this famously polluted city. My predisposed ideas of the Southern Californian metropolis being that it was shallow, superficial, and hungry. Why would i go there? Since being invited to Venice Beach to act in a short film, i booked my tickets from london and was on my way. Upon arrival, i was exhausted and due to miscommunication waited at the airport for way too long.
The taste in my mouth about this place was about the same as it was before i left london, if not worse. Pulling up in Venice Beach, the tides began to turn. Palm trees, perfect temperature and sunshine – they had me at hello. Clearly the director could tell that i was initially a bit frazzled, so he took me on a miniature driving tour of the seaside and neighbourhood of Venice. Happy people everywhere, skateboards, rollerblades, fresh fruit stands on countless corners; okay, i could get use to this place. So, what about California culinary culture? Progressive, health-conscious gourmet to Mexican street food; there’s a lot to cover and dang, does it taste good! lucky for me, my hosts were professional at finding the best places to feast on the quality scrumptious eats. on the street corner adjacent to where i was staying was what was called the “best taco stand in Venice”. Two or three cousins from Mexico started a taco truck on lake Street; it’s the happening spot in Venice for street food. a line down the block and raging, electric, good vibes. These guys are all smiles and cheeky Spanish comments while cooking up the 14 CIBUS | APRIL 2018
best tacos i’ve ever had. none of this over complicated pile of taco that so many places make, but a simple corn tortilla with meat of your choice, then you dress it yourself with toppings and sauces. needless to say, this became a daily staple for the duration of my trip. Brunch at a local California diner is a whole experience. one of the best in Venice Beach is Maxwell’s Cafe. The interior design is reminiscent of an old West Coast cabin. Wooden panelled walls, antique street signs, vintage photographs, knick-knacks. The typical american diner experience, gone Wild West. an old man sat at the bar sipping his coffee over the local newspaper. Welcome to america! The serving sizes are bigger than your head. Good ol’ classic brunch; hash browns, steak and eggs with a side of avocado. Watered down “americano” coffee and freshly squeezed oJ. of course, being in California, the servers are nicer than your best friends. This huge serving of delicious, simple brunch certainly hits the spot. each person at the table ordered something different and everyone was equally satisfied. Scaling things up to the next level, los angeles is known for its healthy and alternative lifestyle and culinary. although nutritional mindfulness is a growing trend worldwide, la is a major hot spot. everyone and their mother is eating whole foods, kefir, coconut oil, kale chips, superfoods and the list goes on. Considering the widespread healthy and progressive approach Californians have toward life, it’s no surprise that they have the art of healthy eating on tap. From vegan restaurants to organic, farm-to-table,
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to macrobiotic kitchens, la is where it’s at for cutting edge deliciously nutritious cuisine. Knowing that i am into health food, a friend brought me to one of her favourite spots: The Butcher’s daughter. a local, vegan, organic restaurant situated on the gorgeous street abbot Kinney. This place had a menu that was almost impossible to decide on; there’s definitely no shortage of vegan options one can satisfy themselves with. after going back and forth between several different options, i chose the meatless burger. you know, the one that “bleeds”? i didn’t feel for a second like i was eating a veggie burger… aside from my perfectly clear conscience. They had all kinds of enticing options, but in the end, i was very satisfied with my selection. From taco trucks to progressive, conscious cuisine – California’s got it all. next time you go through, be adventurous and try all the good food you can find, which won’t be hard. Memorable for your mind and belly, the Golden State’s knack for stellar culinary choice is a force to be reckoned with. Most of all, take advantage of the quality of Mexican food as it is relatively unparalleled worldwide, with the exception of course by Mexico itself. Foodie culture is huge in California, so no need to wonder where to eat, check out reviews on any food app, for they will certainly work in California, or better yet, ask a local and they are sure to point you in an unforgettable direction. 16
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RECIPE
MAGICAL FOOD FROM 4 A.M.
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RECIPE
WORDS BY
DANNY COLEIRO
I
t’s nothing personal, but I do find people who can coldly take one of the greatest pleasures in life and casually reduce it to nothing more than a biological necessity, with a raised eyebrow of superiority and nary the slightest hint of apology in their tone… well… slightly suspicious. Well, quite a bit suspicious, actually. At least on par with those who voluntarily wake up and get out of bed at four in the morning, every morning, for no reason other than because they can and they want to (and yes, mum, you’re one of them. Seriously… why?) But let’s stick to the eat-to-live people, because I feel fairly safe in saying that they won’t be reading this. What would be the point? It’s about food, which means little to them, and there’s a recipe coming up which they definitely won’t be cooking. So no… I don’t think there’ll be many readers bristling at the insult of it all and flinging this publication aside in outrage in order to pen a self-righteous letter of complaint to the editor. And if you do happen to be here purely for the quality of the writing - I did just use the word ‘nary’ up there, after all, and I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to do that for ages, to be honest - well… I’m not talking about you. I meant all those other weirdos who eat to live. Obviously.
Maybe the people who wake up at four in the morning just because… maybe they know something that I don’t. Maybe four in the morning is the magical hour of achieving inner peace and being at one with the universe, or rather, at four (in the morning, for Pete’s sake!) with the universe. Maybe calling it a day at a nice and respectful post meridian eight is the secret to eternal bliss. Maybe I just don’t know any better, and I’ve been doing it wrong all these years. Maybe that’s not the correct usage of the word ‘nary’, up there. But when it comes to food, I do know better. It’s not just a question of survival. Those who eat to live will never know the joy of discovering that cosy little out-of-the-way restaurant which is both gastronomically exquisite and yet remarkably affordable.
The ‘eat to live’ people just can’t understand the pride and satisfaction of producing a meal that has your dinner guests asking for second helpings, and then thirds. The simple comfort to be found in buttered toast; the pleasure of when hard ice-cream out of the freezer becomes soft enough to scoop; the delight at finding an ingredient on a supermarket shelf when you thought it was unavailable; and the moment you realise that the craving for something you couldn’t quite put a finger on is actually a slice of fresh tomato on scrambled eggs on cheddar cheese on a buttered, toasted ciabatta… these are all things that are unrelatable to your average E2Ler who has just absent-mindedly nibbled on a carrot stick dipped in ketchup while concentrating on something probably beige. And no… that paragraph up there was not a subtle attempt to introduce a recipe for scrambled eggs on toast, although it does always hit the spot for me, slice of tomato and all. No, really. Put the eggs down. Go and buy some fresh ginger instead. You won’t regret it. Nope… no tomatoes. Minced pork though. You’re going to need that… Where was I? Oh yes… Food is important. Here in Malta, we have taken it to a whole other level. Here in Malta we rename our days according to the food we plan to eat on them. The fenkata, for example. There is no English translation for this, as far as I know, but I feel that there should be one, and it should be ‘a rabbitery’, with the stress on the second syllable, for no other reason than because it seems to sound better. A rabbitery, in which a group of friends meet up in order to, quite specifically, eat rabbit. (If you were, in fact, here for the quality of the writing, you can go now.) There’s more. There’s the ‘majjalata’, (a… um… piggery? Porkerism?) which features a menu of suckling pig and is not to be confused with a ‘hnizrija’, ’, which is just your basic pig-out on any food you choose. And there’s also the possibility of an ‘qarnitata’ - er… an octopussery, perhaps - which involves octopus and spaghetti, and which may or may not have been made up by my brother-in-law, who cooks it often. Octopus or not though, it’s a ‘spaghettata’ either way you look at it.
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RECIPE
We take food seriously here. This linguistic live-to-eat lexicon, however, is not exclusive to these shores. Food is important everywhere. Some countries, not to be outdone as a result of not having the incredibly one-size-fits-all ‘-ata’ suffix, simply whack the word ‘night’ on the end of whatever food they intend to indulge in that day. Tonight might be Pizza Night, and tomorrow we’ll have a Pasta Night, or a Curry Night. In the USA, they work with days of the week… Taco Tuesdays and Pot Pie Wednesdays, and Potsticker Thursdays… And that, as opposed to that other paragraph somewhere up there, twenty minutes and approximately twenty-five sentences ago, was, in fact, a subtle attempt to introduce a recipe. Potstickers are absolutely delicious, deceptively simple to make, totally moreish… and I had no idea what they were up until a few weeks ago, when I woke up at four o’clock in the morning for no particular reason other than having a craving for something I couldn’t quite put my finger on, only to discover that we were out of eggs. And tomatoes. And sliced bread and cheddar. With a complete lack of inner peace, and feeling neither at one nor at four with the universe, I switched on the television to keep me company while I pondered my predicament, and there, in the good old USA, some unimportant characters in an equally unimportant TV show were reminding each other that that evening was Potsticker Thursday… Potstickers are Chinese dumplings, and the ultimate snack. Much to my surprise, they’re quick and stupidly easy to make from scratch, which is exactly what you’re after at four o’ clock in the morning. Here’s how to make the dough… Sift 285 grams of flour into a bowl with a pinch of salt, and make a well. Add 175ml of boiling water. Mix it gently with a spoon, and then knead it until you end up with a
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smooth and silky dough. Yep… that’s it. Seriously… you’ve now got a nice stretchy and incredibly versatile dough that you can leave to rest for a bit while you work out what you want to fill the dumplings with. Remember that ginger and minced pork that I mentioned earlier? That’ll do nicely… Mix the pork mince - about four hundred grams of it should do with an inch of grated ginger, salt and pepper to taste, two cloves of crushed garlic, chopped chilli if you like it, a tablespoon of soy sauce and a beaten egg. That’s what I had available, so that’s what I did. Feel free to add anything else that floats your boat. Peas, spring onions, mushrooms, shredded cabbage or carrot… it’s all good. All you need to do now is roll out the dough and cut out rounds of it with a cookie cutter. Wham the filling in the middle, fold the dough over and push the edges together to seal them. You can even go for the traditional scalloped-edge if you’re up for it, using your thumb and a couple of fingers to fold and pinch the dough over itself. I didn’t, because at four in the morning, there was no one around to impress. The best thing about this dough is that you can boil the dumplings, or steam them, or shallow-fry them, or deep-fry them, and they come out tasting different each time, but always amazing. True potstickers, however, as the name suggests, stick to the pot, and that’s because you fry them first, then steam them, and then finish them off by frying them again. So… put some oil in a pan and brown the dumplings. Add about a centimetre of water and cover with a lid so that the filling can cook. Then uncover the pan again so that the water can cook off and the dumplings can pan-fry until crispy and golden. Serve with sweet chilli sauce. Eat them alone, or share them with someone who eats to live. They might just change their minds, and finally achieve inner peace and become at one with the universe without having to wake up at four in the morning to do so… And yes… that is how this ends.
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FEATURE
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FEATURE
GETTING TO THE GUT WORDS BY
Bailey lalonde
M
any people live for years with these symptoms without the slightest idea of the cause or cures for them. The stomach is essentially the fuel tank for our bodies, yet we go through life unconsciously abusing them and wonder why we have problems. on a quest to solve some personal health issues, i met with ayurvedic Practitioner, Caylynn Rodecker in Venice Beach, California. as embarrassing as i felt this issue was, discussing some of my symptoms, research and questions, she didn’t seem at all surprised. This is when i found out just how common these issues are. if you take a look at the typical contemporary diet, it is all about convenience and cravings. on my own time i have researched this topic in depth and found theories such as: cut out all sugars, starches, grains, legumes, buy a plethora of vitamins and supplements. of course, there are more extensive approaches such as diet plans, treatments, therapies, and the complete redesigning of one’s lifestyle.
desperate to solve my chronic health issues, i have tried many of these pieces of advice over the past four years. one thing about gut issues that makes them very difficult to conquer is generally they trick you into craving all of the things that you are not supposed to eat in order to heal them. as soon as i had to cut out all of these things my stress levels spiked and i found myself binge eating cookies in the closet and crying; hiding from loved ones, scared of their judgement, all the while judging myself far more than anyone else possibly could. Clearly, this was not the approach for me.
after a year or so of attempting to gradually wean off these addictive foods, i decided it was time to take this issue into my own hands. no more feeling bad for myself, no more excuses, no more thousands of dollars on health supplements that i won’t end up taking. Time to create a tangible strategy to heal my gut. So, i did massive amounts of research, learning exactly what to eat and what to cut, as well as additional things i could do to aid this process. at the same time, due to an ethical revolution i was going through, i decided this was the time to go vegan as well. i jumped headfirst into my new grain, starch, sugar-free, vegan, diet. i even brought it to social media, thinking this would help me to maintain this new lifestyle. So, “what were you eating?” you might ask. Fortunately, i was based in Malta, so thanks to an amazing service called Barbuto’s, i had a huge box of fresh produce delivered every week from Sicily. My fridge fit right in with all the healthy foodies i follow on Instagram. i ate veg all day, every day, drinking veggie broth in between meals that i made from the scraps. While the research told me that bone broth is a key element in rebuilding the gut lining, i opted out, as i didn’t want to eat animals anymore. i totally agree with the vegan principles and lifestyle; in fact, it is still a goal of mine to become a vegan, not only for my health, fair treatment to animals, but also for the impact on the environment. in the middle of my cleansing phase, may not have been the time to go to even further extreme measures. although i was feeling good and clear headed, my body was saying something different. Within a month of following my new health regiment, i dropped from 50 kilos to a mere 39.
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FEATURE The same i weighed at age fourteen. Being a model, many of my peers assumed i was starving myself in order to be skinnier. in reality, i stopped exercising and started eating huge meals before bed in an effort to keep on weight. i am very much aware that 39 kilos does not look good on a 165cm, twenty-four year old woman. in the month i was in Malta doing my health program, i went to five different specialists and had several treatments and check-ups; each one with their own consensus and none with a clear solution. everyday people were telling me to eat and gain weight, repeatedly informing me how unhealthy and unattractive i looked at that weight. This simply added to my concern about my health, as well as insecurities. once i found out i could eat nuts in order to get healthy fats, i started gorging myself with them in a desperate effort to pile on the pounds… apparently, it’s not actually healthy to od on nuts. Without being able to exercise, i carried on doing my best at following the health program; stretching, meditating, singing, dancing, eating vegetables, drinking my tinctures, until i went for a check-up. The doctor weighed me and told me that i was far underweight for my BMi and i needed to gain five to ten kilos right away. How does one gain ten kilos while eating only vegetables? My boyfriend came to visit from italy. i had been telling him about all of the comments i was getting and what the doctor said; through facetime he couldn’t really tell what they were talking about. once he arrived in person and realized that he could see all my bones, he said “i don’t care about your diet, you are way too skinny… it’s not healthy. you need to eat.” The funny thing about weight is, it’s very difficult to see on yourself when you have gained or lost too much. To me, i looked thin, but i could see my flat stomach, which i have never had as well as my bone structure being more defined. apparently to an outside onlooker, i actually just looked like a skeleton. i took his advice and we started eating a lot. Making sure i was getting at least three, very filling meals a day; you name it, animal products, carbs, veggies, dairy – essentially i went full on in the opposite direction i had been going in, with the exception of sugar overload. after eating all i could for about a month, i have gained back five or six kilos. now attempting to find a balanced, healthy, holistic approach to these challenges, i have put veganism on hold until after i have completely healed my gut lining and restored healthy digestion. essential in this diet is the removal of sugar, starch, yeast and grains, and last but not least, stress. yes, i said stress! i found out from one of the specialists i visited, that regardless of my diet and lifestyle, if i am continuously chronically stressed, the issue will thrive. Well that sounds a bit complicated, no? How does one remove all stress from their life? From work to duties, family to friends to relationships, mercury retrograde… figuring out how to remove stress from my life has been quite the process. eastern philosophy has many practices for stress management and balance. another genre to dive into an immerse myself in. What an overwhelming 24
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thing for over seventy percent of the population to go through and solve for ourselves. diet, supplements, exercise, relaxation practices, treatments, specialists, a never-ending list of banned foods; certainly not a walk in the park. it wasn’t until i met with Caylynn, the ayurvedic Practitioner in la that things started to become clearer and less stressful. She expressed to me how much simpler it can be. in today’s world, hardly any of us follow a eating schedule; i know i don’t. like all things in nature, the moon, sun, tides, menstruation to name a few, digestion works in a cycle. according to Mrs. Rodecker, this is the first step to a healthy gut. Hot lemon water is a good thing to start the day with, before eating anything at all. eat a small, preferably warm, light meal for breakfast, within an hour of waking up. around 1:30 or 2 pm, eat a large and diverse meal, balanced between the varied food groups. apparently incessant snacking throughout the day isn’t actually the best. Three hours before bed, eat a light healthy meal. also, drinking water while eating doesn’t actually help; on the contrary it is quite the hinderance. Funnily enough, when she said it like that, it was so clear and simple all the sudden. of course, it takes a bit of effort to design and operate an eating schedule if you are like me, in a different place every week and working around my own clock. needless to say, not much of my life until now has run on a schedule. liberated perhaps, healthy, not so sure. Food for thought and healthy digestion. She stated that removing sugars, yeasts, starches and grains from my diet does make sense, as these directly attack what i am trying to heal, but moving through it with a less extreme, more balanced method is the way to go. There are however some less common grains that are tolerable. Filling up on good healthy fats, veggies, vitamins, medicinal foods like raw ginger, garlic and turmeric are instrumental as well. The eating schedule is something i never considered, but according to ayurvedic Medicine, it is the first and one of the most important steps to healthy digestion. Rather than stressing myself out with all of the things i can’t eat anymore, with Caylynn’s guidance i have transitioned to following an eating cycle, as well as adding in the good things one-by-one, and naturally the bad ones start to fall away. i am happy to say, i am back to my healthy weight and now i can start with light exercise and my new, balanced approach to healing my gut, lots of water, and meditation. Since this is such a common problem amongst humans today, i hope this research and experience can help those of you who are reading it and seeing some commonalities between me and my situation and yourselves. Gut health is a hugely important thing to have under control; if your digestion doesn’t work effectively, you will not absorb the nutrients you are feeding yourself, regardless of what that is. digestive issues gone untreated can run wild into a wide range of debilitating, serious and sometimes fatal health problems. There is no time like now to heal your gut and in turn, feed your body what it needs to thrive.
RECIPE
VEGETABLE PIE
RECIPE BY
Liz Said
INGREDIENTS
PREPARATION
250g short crust pastry 350g zucchini 350g carrots 250g aubergines 1 red pepper (optional) 40ml extra virgin olive oil For the white sauce 300ml milk 25g flour 25g butter Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg 40g grated parmesan 2 eggs Salt and pepper to taste
1. Preheat the oven to 180C 2. To make the white sauce, pour the milk in a saucepan together with the nutmeg and bring it to the boil 3. Meanwhile, melt the butter in another pan, add the flour and salt and mix well; stir in the milk and parmesan and mix well; let it cool to room temperature 4. Butter a 23cm shallow cake tin; roll out the pastry and line the pan, trimming the edge if necessary; prick the base with a fork 5. Beat the eggs and add to the milk and flour mixture and mix well; pour onto the base of the pie; peel the carrots and using a potato peeler, cut the zucchini, aubergine and carrots lengthways, into ribbons 6. Decorate the pie with the vegetable ribbons by placing them in circles all-round the pastry, until the base is covered; brush with the oil and season to taste Bake in the pre-heated oven for 50/60 minutes; allow to cool and then cut into slices and serve.
Serves 6 people
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LOCAL
CULINARY ACADEMY WORDS BY
jamie iain genovese
T
he academy currently resides in sappers street, valletta, in a space that is i believe being borrowed from Architecture Project, because of course they would prop up such a thing.
moving on, i was paired up with XFM’s Hannah Cramer whom i embarrassingly didn’t know since i don’t listen to the radio but proved to be an excellent partner nonetheless.
The particular session i was invited to was a private one for ‘media people’ or ‘influencers’ or whatever, which was surprising to me because i couldn’t influence a dog to eat steak. But, i digress.
‘Cooking class’ might not be a new concept, but there’s nothing new under the sun, is there?
We paired up into teams that would take on a recipe prepared by the academy’s… tutors? Chefs? Teachers? The twenty-somethings that boot-started this whole thing. Their age is hardly a disadvantage: one of them knew more about bread than i know my own bed. 26
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You could, however, always learn something new, and i look forward to learning a whole lot of new things and sharing them in these pages.
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LOCAL
But, for now, something small: ᛫ Sharp knives are safe knives. ᛫ Get your fingertips out of the way when chopping. ᛫ Pinch the base of the blade (where it meets the handle) with your thumb and index finger for better control of the blade. ᛫ Paella is a political dish, and I didn’t make a real paella. ᛫ Paella rice is super fun.
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LOCAL
LOCAL
AN OFFICE
STOMACH WORDS BY
30
jamie iain genovese
CIBUS | APRIL 2018
LOCAL
T
he offices at ANCHOVY. are, well, not quite offices. People don’t have a desk at which they sit and turn into a 2x2 home away from home. It’s an open office, with chic design, indoor plants, an office-branded mannequin by the bookcase and some of the better electronic instrumental music to which the staff, be they the many interns from countries like Ireland or the Netherlands, would work. One such example was a song I instantly recognized: Fueled, from the English electronic music duo Isan’s album Lucky Cat. It’s everything you’d want out of a hip workplace. Visiting them on a Monday morning, the entire staff was walking into the kitchen area and the adjacent sofa area for what they called a morning booster. Young, old, Maltese, not Maltese, upper management and fresh-meat intern – they filed in to receive a wintery soup and decompress on the midpoint of their workweek: Wednesday. In this newly
gathered crowd was Ben Borg, the buzzy co-founder (co-, as in, co-founded with his brother, Zak Borg). After a quick introduction, and a promise to have an interview on one of my many visits for the month of March, Ben later circled back to tell me he found a spare fifteen he had right now and asked if I would like to do it there and then, in the now. His eyes darted up and down my face, as if to see if I’d agree before I’d say yes. The interview hit the ground running. Ben would consider himself a foodie – he did, after all, grow up around the chefs at Caffe Cordina, he wanted to highlight how important food can be to someone, how artichokes on a plate reminded him of the skilfully prepared ones that his grandfather would serve him, how good and honest food can help join people together. This, he said, is what informed a big part of their work culture.
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They don’t want to do just take outs, they don’t want to send their workers away for lunch and have them all huffing their way back to work with a Styrofoam/foil container and a plastic bag. So, why not just cook together? Ben highlighted how ANCHOVY. is a brand before it is a marketing agency, how the company does things is more important than what it does. What that means is that production alone is insufficient, and that the way people work, the way they are together, is far more crucial. It’s a very zen way of looking at it, and I’m reminded of the ‘Ship of Theseus’ thought experiment. After all, the only way ANCHOVY. can remain ANCHOVY. if the staff completely changes is if the core values remain: values that are largely people based.
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Of course, what this means is that there’s a strong emphasis on building relationships quickly – and building them well. There are morning boosters, a forced break from work on Wednesday mornings in order to nourish their bodies and get up from the damned computer, and there are Friday cooking sessions where two randomly assigned members of staff have to cook for the whole office – circa 40 people. It works out well, you essentially shell out once every few months when it’s your turn to cook and eat for free the rest of the Fridays. Cooking with someone is a good way to bond with them. Sure, the skills of those involved might be a mixed bag – some of the interns had mentioned how they never really made anything more complicated than a bowl of cereal – but the results turn out to be pretty solid for the most part, and at the very least you pick up a few tips and tricks along the way.
LOCAL
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LOCAL
Sometimes, working professional chefs are invited and they get to showcase their skills, sometimes with ANCHOVY. clients present, which is a real treat for all involved. I was lucky enough to be there when the Head Chef from Charles Grech, Luke Camilleri, served up a wonderful pork crackling with some humble (and buttered) veg. No doubt, incentivising this kind of bridge building within and without the office seems to be a priority: I can only be reminded of the idea of terroir, that you can only farm the soil beneath your feet. Well, I’ve said enough with words, maybe pictures can do better. 34
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LOCAL
GOOD FRANCE WORDS AND PHOTOS BY
36
jamie iain genovese
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LOCAL
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LOCAL
I
n Malta there are 8 restaurants participating, the names of which should be familiar to anyone that likes a rewarding meal: from Bacchus, to De Mondion, Quadro, La Bonne Excuse, Ta’ Frenc, Tmun, the San Andrea in Palazzo Castelletti, and (of course) the Institute of Tourism Studies restaurant. The last one is where this photo story is developed, in the kitchens with the students that worked under the tutelage of the seasoned. It’s a small taste of what a chef’s life is: from the long and late hours to the need for impeccable timing and a commando’s sense of adaptability in order to perform their duties. I tend to find myself at ease around kitchen staff: they always have good stories (enough to make the best writers envious), and their spirits can turn on a dime – from swearing filthily to singing cheerful melodies at the snap of a finger when the pressure is on, sharing orders without a second glance, hands moving over surfaces and tops and knives gliding around. It’s always a sight to behold, the work, a metamorphosis before your own eyes. So, to see these young chefs excel at what they do, and to do it with – and there could be no other word for this – passion, was a fun evening for me. At the end of the day, #GoutdeFrance/#GoodFrance is about the hands that make the food good, and about the food that we can share across cultures and continents alike. After all, a good plate of food can be an amazing lingua franca, though it might not do much if you’re looking for directions.
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LOCAL
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40 CIBUS | aprIl 2018