Cibus (December 2017)

issue â„–

60

the ultimate food platform

December 2017

The Christmas season visits us once again, and we have the December issue of our mag to prove it, in case anyone wasn’t too sure.

We’ve got some of our usual heavy hitters pitching in; Danny Coleiro, Mantas Stockus, Bailey Lalonde, Fran Borg Costanzi, and James Camilleri. They’ve put some good work in, do take a look. If there ever was a time to kick back on a lazy Sunday and ready, it’s today.

Don’t rush it, it’ll be gone before you know it.

Merry Christmas, Happy New year, and good bye!

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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.

Executive editor Jamie Iain Genovese (cibus@timesofmalta.com) Publisher Allied Newspapers Ltd. Printing Progress Press Co. Ltd. Production Allied Newspapers Ltd. Design Krista Bugeja Advertising Sales Marisa Schembri (tel: 2276 4337; marisa.schembri@timesofmalta.com)

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FEATURES 5 TEN THINGS TO PUT IN YOUR 10 19 28 30 37 41 44

STOCKINGS THIS YULE

ANTICIPATION, LEFTOVERS & STOPPING TIME

AT FRANCE’S TABLE IN MALTA

PIZZA IN POZNAN iĊ-Ċavett

DIY GARDEN FRESH CUISINE

OF HORSESHOES AND HEART DISEASE CAFFÉ BERRY

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RECIPES 13 VEAL T-BONE STEAK SOUS-VIDE STYLE 14 PECORINO CHEESE AND PINE NUT RAVIOLI WITH 27 34

HOME-DRIED TOMATOES AND CREAM TIRAMISU

POMEGRANATE GLAZED DUCK WITH BULGAR, CHICKPEA AND POMEGRANATE PILAF

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LOCAL

TEN THINGS TO PUT IN YOUR STOCKINGS THIS YULE WORDS BY

FRaN BoRG CoSTaNzI

It’s that time of year again! The season when jolly music is blasted in the streets, elaborate bulb arrangements illuminate trees and windows and, people see it fit to strap old men in flashy red suits to their balconies as though the world’s most conspicuous gang of thieves decided to rob half the houses on the street simultaneously. You guessed it. It’s Christmastime! No matter where you stand on the spectrum of Christmas spirit, from Grinch to Santa elf, you have to appreciate the oddness of this season. My favourite part of it all is definitely the gift-giving. Few things fill me up as much as watching someone open a present I spent hours toiling over. Perhaps that cheese platter on Christmas day after a four-course meal and a few tots of Baileys is the one thing that ranks above it.

Exchanging gifts is satisfying in itself but giving someone a bunch of tiny presents in a pretty ruby stocking is just plain exciting. Having a brimming stocking waiting for you on Christmas morning is the perfect way to keep the child inside you alive and makes for a great decoration on the days leading up to it. The list of my favourite stocking fillers could probably drape around the Earth a few times so here are a few suggestions for Santa Claus (wink, wink) this Christmas.

You’ll come to notice throughout the list that I am a woman of simple pleasures. Food, drinks and precious miniature versions of things usually put a smile on my face.

Since Christmas is a time of warmth and merriment, the

first thing on my list is hot chocolate. Regular sachets aren’t too exciting but if you really care for the person, home-made hot chocolate can go a long way. Unsweetened cocoa powder, sugar, powdered milk and a bit of salt placed in an airtight zip-lock bag then wrapped in a lovely piece of fabric tied with a Christmas-y ribbon gives the package that Disney-Robin-Hood-money-bag look. Just plain delightful. If this person has gone the extra mile and spared an organ for you or something, you can go a step further and buy a personalised mug (which wouldn’t cost more than ten euros) along with a couple of fresh cinnamon sticks and a bag of mini marshmallows to put inside it. It might seem like a lot of time and effort but what better reason to exert yourself than to put a smile on someone else’s face.

The second item on the list and a personal favourite of mine is a pleasingly-packaged, potent, piquant piece of cranberry cheese (that alliteration was almost as yummy as the cheese is). It can be purchased at your local supermarket and is ideal to bring out on Boxing day when all you have left in your cupboard is sixteen boxes of chocolates and a bag of water crackers. You can grab those crackers and make a fancy-looking platter to binge on when you’re too knackered to make a meal but want to be in-keeping with the season. It might sound weird to marry cheese with fruit but believe me, it’s the partnership you’ve always wanted but never knew you did. Like when that bright soul decided to put carrots in a cake.

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LOCAL

Thirdly, chocolates or cookies. There’s always a relative or distant family friend you call ‘auntie’ that gives you a box of Quality Street at Christmas. Now granted, they are delicious but slightly too unimaginative for my liking. Home-made dessert is so much more personal and far more impressive. If you’re not savvy with the baking skills or don’t have the time to fuss, there is a shop in Valletta called Chocolate District that makes amazing home-made chocolates. They not only look beautiful but taste fantastic too. Deliciousness embodied. a dozen of those chocolates packaged and placed in a stocking make for a great surprise when that special person is rummaging through it.

Booze! It’s finally that time of year when it is perfectly fine to bust out the alcohol at 2pm and receive no judgement because, “U ija! Christmas spirit, ux!”. You can’t really go wrong with a miniature bottle of Baileys, a small bottle of mulled wine or a can of trendy craft beer that everyone seems to be raving about nowadays... unless you’re giving the stocking to a child or a former alcoholic, of course.

Whether it’s to accentuate the Christmas cheer, get into the spirit of socialising with your relatives or to pluck up the courage to sing Mariah Carey’s all I Want for Christmas Is You when that one overeager friend decides that the entire group should sing karaoke (that friend is usually me), liquor plays into the whole ordeal very well. and if the day doesn’t go the way you wanted it to, you can always dip into your stocking stash to numb the pain.

The fifth thing on my list is something I only came across as of late. I’ve always had a thirst for trying new condiments and spices and I recently sampled a particularly ambrosial tabasco sauce and was told that relish like that was hard to come by. Me being the curious little child that I am, I did a little research.

That’s when I came across a website for home-made chilli sauces made in Malta. The company is called Little Rock Peppers and was launched in June of this year. These hot sauces have no artificial preservatives and most are vegetarian and veganfriendly. They are made solely with natural ingredients and come in an array of interesting flavours. Their mouth-watering variety, reasonable prices and offbeat charm is what makes these sauces such a great addition to this year’s stocking.

The last five items are less about deliciousness and more about practicality and convenience. The first of which is the oh-so6 CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017

useful power bank. If your friends or family don’t already have one, make sure they don’t buy one before Christmas comes around. For those who don’t know, a power bank is that piece of magic that recharges your phone when you’re on those final desperate bars of power. It’s an easy buy, not too expensive and would definitely be appreciated by its receiver. another stocking filler that is both technological and practical is the phone mount for your car. It’s not the most exciting gift but is one of those things whose convenience you don’t realise until you have it. Both of these gadgets are definitely worth adding to the cart and would come in handy on those cold winter nights when you’re stuck in standstill traffic and need battery power and a hands-free setting to blare some gangster rap to prevent yourself from having an episode.

The last three fillers are things that are beneficial to have in the cold, busy winter months. a tiny, travelsized diary is perfect to put in a stocking. Its size being one of the reasons why but it also gives the person a chance to realistically calculate how many days it’s going to take for them to break their new year’s resolutions. So, while they dwell on their impending disappointment and drink the last of their mulled wine, they can be comforted by the lovely smell in the air of those cinnamon-scented incense sticks you put in their stocking and the warmth of that hand-sized hot water bottle you also gave them. Their feelings of disappointment and unhappiness will slowly turn to ease and everything will become right again. Would you not love to be the person that remedies those horrible feelings? Then invest!

So, those are my ten favourite tiny things to gift someone. The only way I’d be more satisfied with that stocking is if it came with a pocket-sized Paul Newman and Mark zuckerberg’s PIN number (another great combination). It’s said that you should enjoy the little things in life so take the time to put a little love into your stocking this year. Show the people in your life how much you appreciate them. or you know, just give them coal. It saves money and makes for a great practical joke.

Visit the website: www.littlerockpeppers.com

PROMO

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WOODLAND TIN €15, 250g All butter Scottish shortbread, baked in Edinburgh to our own exclusive recipe Christmas Biscuit Tins at M&STreat yourself or someone special to a festive biscuit selection from M&S this Christmas.There’s something to suit everyone with classic tins such as the Tea Time Selection, including bourbon and custard creams, along with contemporary styles like the Wobbly Santa Tin, filled with chocolate chip shortbread stars.Have a continental Christmas with our hand-made Italian Ricciarelli or Cantuccini, or impress guests with the Lustered Milk and Dark Chocolate Biscuits; delicious served with coffee to mark the end of the festive feast.

TEA TIME SELECTION TIN €15, 650g Filled with a selection of classic favourites including bourbon biscuits, custard creams and cookies.

MILK, DARK, WHITE CHOCOLATE FLORENTINE SELECTION €19.95, 330gA trio

of milk chocolate, pecan and salted caramel florentines, dark chocolate and ginger florentines and white chocolate and orange Florentines.

SNOWING STAG SHORTBREAD TIN 8

€15, 650g All butter Scottish shortbread, baked in Edinburgh to our own exclusive recipe CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017

Marks & Spencer has plenty of beautiful gifts to choose from this year, from truffles to biscuits and chocolates. Biscuit tins, like the Robin Tin, are joined by decadent gifts including the Dulce de Leche Truffles, Sparkling Caramels and Christmas Tea. The Gastronomic Collection is made up of innovative chocolate flavours, ideal for foodies. The eye-catching Union Jack and Telephone Tins have iconic British packaging and are filled with melt in the mouth shortbread.

FEATURE

ANTICIPATION, LEFTOVERS & STOPPING TIME

WORDS BY

Danny Coleiro

This statement is probably not the most mind-blowing fact that you’re going to read today, but the chances are that if you are anywhere near my age, and were a kid back then, you just did a bit of old-school mental arithmetic, immediately followed by a brief ‘Holy Macaroni - he’s right!’ moment. and round about now you’re possibly wondering where the last twenty years of your life went. and that’s because it’s true what they say - time does indeed speed up as you get older. Well, it’s almost true. i mean, the planet doesn’t actually spin faster around the sun just because you’re blowing out the candles on yet another birthday cake, but it sure seems that way. (Seriously… it’s nearly Christmas again. yes, already. it seems like just yesterday that it was last Christmas… we’ve only just taken the Christmas tree down… and so on and so forth…)

There are a multitude of theories as to why time seems to suddenly be in more of a hurry to get… er… itself over with as we age which, i suppose, is just a different way of saying that nobody really knows why it happens - but i won’t go into too much detail because this is, supposedly, an article about Christmas, with a nice little recipe 10 CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017

FEATURE

for focaccia thrown in for good measure, seasonal cheer, and a great way to get rid of all that leftover Christmas turkey. But we do have a little time to kill while i try to figure out how to get from this to that and from here to there, so let’s have a quick look at one of my favourite explanations for this phenomenon. it’s a fairly simple idea - new experiences are remembered more clearly, and as we get older, we have a lot less of them. Childhood, on the other hand, is packed with new experiences - the first day of school, the first time you rode a bike, the first kiss, and, basically, the first everything. We measure the passage of time - which is not exactly linear but a big rubbery thing that bounces around all over the place - by using big events as signposts, which creates the perception that the time in between each big event is blurring by in the blink of an eye. in other words, as you age and your new experiences become fewer and further between, time, in retrospect, seems to move faster. at this point, you may be wishing that you had skipped through all this timey-wimey stuff and gone straight to the recipe, because if you’d done that, you’d already have the five hundred grams of strong ‘00’ flour ready, sifted, and waiting in a mixing bowl. you may even have added the pinch of salt and the teaspoonful of garlic powder by now. But then again, this piece of writing is not exactly linear but kind of rubbery and bouncing around all over the place too, and you would have completely missed the reason why, despite being forty-four-and-two-thirds years old, i’m still young enough to do stupid stuff. like counting my age in fractions as well as years, for example. you see, if the above theory is the right one, then it stands to reason that if you want to slow time down as you get older, then you need to keep on introducing new experiences and big events into your life. as we age, we increasingly become creatures of habit - we need our routines because they give us order and a sense of security. But routine tends to make today a repetition of yesterday and a preview for tomorrow, and pretty soon they all blend into one… and time speeds by…

Which is what makes Christmas different. it’s a big event. i am a fully-functional, forty-four-and-two-thirds-year-old adult, but come Christmas, i become a child all over again. it’s my favourite time of the year. We still have our routines, of course, but at Christmas we refer to them as ‘traditions’, and that’s okay, because while routines tend to be… well… routine, traditions become traditional because we actually enjoy doing them again and again. That gives us something to look forward to, and that, in turn, slows time down.

Because, according to another theory, anticipation stretches on forever, as any child waiting for Christmas morning will tell you.

Speaking of anticipation, you might want to add seven grams of instant yeast to 300ml of tepid water, and give it a quick mix.

Where was i? oh yes… i’m a kid at Christmas. i don’t mean, of course, that i wait up for Santa Claus on Christmas eve. That would be stupid. everyone knows that he only comes when you’re sleeping, and he knows exactly when that is.

He also knows when we’re awake, which is at approximately six in the morning, when two excited children burst into our bedroom insisting that it’s time to get ourselves downstairs so they can empty out their stockings. We don’t open any of the bigger presents - we have our Christmas traditions after all, and one of them is that presents are opened later in the day - but the stockings are fair game. So, while the kids are rummaging around in a pair of overgrown socks and tearing the cheap wrapping-paper off the even cheaper contents… …now would be a good time to make a well out of the flour in the mixing bowl and pour the yeasty water into the middle of it.

Use a wooden spoon and slowly stir the flour into the water a bit at a time, until the mixture is too thick and sticky to stir any more.

Tip the whole lot out on to your kitchen counter. This is where you can get creative and add any herbs or spices you like - sage and fried onions work well, as do, alternatively, chopped sun-dried tomatoes and oregano. Chilli flakes are never a bad idea. Knead the lot together until they turn into a nice smooth ball of goodness, then put it back in the mixing bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and leave it alone for about an hour and a half. it may seem like a long time, but it will have doubled in size by the time you go back to it, and it will seem like only a couple of minutes ago. oh, and while you’re busy doing nothing, you might want to pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius…

Christmas is all about family, and we spend the rest of the day bouncing around from one side of it to the other, stopping off midway at my parents’ for Christmas lunch because my mother can do stuff to a turkey, a load of potatoes and traditional Christmas veggies that borders on sorcery. or saucery, if you count the gravy. There’s always enough to feed a small army, and that’s great, because that means that there are plenty of leftovers, which we take home with us because, well, sorcery.

We then move on to another side of the family, which is where Father Christmas comes ‘round and gives everyone presents.

There’s a lot of singing of carols involved, and ringing of bells and ho-ho-ho’s. and, once again, plenty more leftovers. and there are more leftovers still when, later that night, our friends come over to ours and we have nibbles and a night-cap.

By Boxing Day, leftovers are all that’s left. and all the leftovers that are left are turkey, which doesn’t seem so magical now that it doesn’t have all the trimmings to maintain the illusion. it’s a bit dry, and it needs a certain something to bring it back to its former glory…

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FEATURE …so, put the dough on to a baking tray lined with grease-proof paper and use your fingers to flatten it out until it’s spread across the tray. you can make it as thin as you like, but i like to leave it about half an inch thick so that it’s thick enough to cut in half horizontally when it’s ready. Poke your fingers in it to form dents in the dough, because it helps to hold the toppings in place, it makes the focaccia go all nice and crispy, and it looks pretty cool. you can top it with anything you like, but i recommend sprigs of rosemary and halved cherry tomatoes, crushed sea salt and freshly-ground pepper. Then drizzle a splash of olive oil over the lot, and toss it into your oven for about twenty minutes, until golden brown. and that’s pretty much it. Take it out of the oven, let it sit for a few minutes, and then you can go nuts. leftover turkey never tastes better than when it’s sandwiched in focaccia, smothered with mayo and covered in melted cheese. Throw in the last of the sage and onion stuffing, if you like. Pile what’s left of the cauliflower cheese on it. in short, do whatever you like. you are a fully-functional, responsible adult, and although you should probably know better, feel free to just go right ahead anyway… it’s absolutely delicious, and the first bite will have you looking forward to the next, and the one after that… it might even slow down time. and while you’re chewing over that, have yourselves a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy new year… just don’t forget to hide the stupid stuff from the kids.

StRaND PalaCE MEatS ltD.

VEAL T-BONE STEAK SOUS-VIDE STYLE INGREDIENTS 4 x 400g veal t-bone steaks, 150g white truff le butter 2 tbsp fresh chopped oregano, smoked sea salt white pepper and olive oil OPTIONAL: Sweet and smoky bacon chutney, 6 red onions, finely diced 200grms quality smoked streaky bacon, cut into lardons 1 cloce crushed garlic, 70g castor sugar 50mls sherry vinegar,1 tbsp concentrated cherry tomato paste ¼ tsp smoked paprika METHOD This is the most tender and beautiful cut of meat, a real luxury Holding a Chef De Partie for any meal. The bacon Chutney adds a sweet and smoky position at ‘Sale Pepe’ taste.

Restaurant in Portomaso Season the veal on both sides with sea salt and white helped Chef Dario perfect pepper then dust with the chopped oregano. the technical part of his Place the veal into vacuum pouches and add professional cooking basics. an equal amount of the truff le butter to Having explored Michelin Star standards in the UK each pouch at the ‘Flitch of Bacon’, Seal the pouches and cook sous Essex which is the vide in a preheated water bath at sister restaurant of 55 degrees for 1½ hours Garnish the plate with two Michlen Star In a sauté pan add the lardons french fried onions on top of ‘Midsummer House’ in Cambridge, gave Chef Dario of bacon and cook until crisp, the steak and plate on a bed of the necessary tools to garnish and present food in a then add the finely chopped mixed farm mushrooms with sensory manner. Presently Chef Dario operates a onion and season with a little salt cream and spinach.

Professional Mobile Chef service in Malta which focuses Gently fry the onions and garlic on live cooking concepts and food entertainment for the until half cooked, add the sugar, domestic user, corporate, commercial establishments and vinegar, paprika and the tomato paste restaurants. Namely, the First Mobile Pasta Parmegiano Service and cook out for 20 minutes or until sticky in Malta, (a live cooking pasta concept cooked in a 24-month and chutney like old giant Parmigiano cheese wheel). Other cooking themes In a sauté pan add a little oil and the butter. Quickly fry the such as ‘Chef Dario Burger Me Concept’ which features a blend mushrooms and season to taste. Add a little of the juices from of prime quality chuck-roll and brisket from Strand Palace the veal pouches to enhance the f lavours Meats being minced and formed into burger patties on site and Take the veal from the pouches and pat dry. In a very hot in front of guests are also available. Contact Chef Dario on 7766 Cast iron pan, sear the veal t-bones from each side 7787 for your unique themed cooking night creation or Serve with any side and the optional smoky bacon jam. through Facebook by searching for Chef Dario.

CHEF’S TIP

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PROMO

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PROMO

direction In the right WORDS AND PHOTOS BY

jamie iain genovese

What, exactly, is a Culinary Director?

‘Holistic’ would be the word for it; the role of executive Chef combined with management of the food and drink department. it allows Ramon to apply his vast experience and knowledge of the kitchen to the strategic and operational side of things – resulting in a more streamlined connection between what were traditionally two different departments. if you are the type to learn by doing, then you could place yourself in his able hands. But thankfully, Chef Ramon has made it even easier for us by being kind enough to share the recipe for the ravioli.

O CH EESE AN D P N I R IN E CO I L S , A S B U E NU N H S -DR P IE F RE

T DT OM

10ml olive oil

LI VIO

R A ES AN O AT

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INGREDIENTS

30g spring onions

50ml fresh cream

5g fresh garlic

5g chopped parsley

5g fresh basil

Salt and cracked pepper

10g sliced sun-dried tomatoes

200g Pecorino and pine nut ravioli

D CREA

METHOD

M

Pan fry spring onions and garlic in olive oil, add the sun-dried tomatoes and cook until golden brown. Add the fresh basil and stir fry with the mix.

Add the fresh cream. Season with salt and cracked pepper and toss the cooked ravioli (pre-boiled in boiling water), let it simmer for one minute to reduce with the sauce, then add the chopped fresh parsley, toss one last time and plate.

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PROMO

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LOCAL

At France’s Table, in Malta WORDS AND PHOTOS BY

jamie iain genovese

s always, when working for a magazine, the need for new perspectives and stories propels. in truth, however, the more you write, the more stories walk their way into your life. Head Chef Christèle Robin-Le Roux welcomes me to the kitchen of the French ambassador’s residence. she is a warm woman, all smiles in the morning, with automatically tinting glasses that lighten in the dark and darken in the light. she rides a motorcycle, she has a fully French accent colouring her english, she likes nathan Fillion’s Television show, Castle. she is accomplished, working here as the head chef, and has been in catering since she was fifteen years old. she received her cooking diploma at seventeen and took this time with me to thank her mother, her parents, for pushing her to do another year: at pastry school. “if you know cooking, it’s good, but if you know cooking and pastry it’s a plus.” and she has, in front of her, ingredients to make a fresh orange marmalade. originally from Tulle, her family moved around a lot, following the lead of her father’s employment. When she started culinary school, she was in vichy. she was initially reluctant to do the extra year at school. Learning French cuisine and working her way around – financially independent and travelling the world – was what she wanted out of life. in fact she worked her way up from

dish washer to pastry chef, changing restaurants after a maximum of six months, learning the à la carte menus and the products and seasons in different parts of France. she did this for ten years. she worked to learn about gastronomy in Paris, worked in fish restaurants to learn about fish, she worked near the borders of geneva, she worked in Cannes, she worked and she worked. once she could manage her own kitchen, she felt could say ‘okay, let’s go now.’ and go she did. she came to malta by chance, “To be honest, i did not know where malta was.” But a friend of her suggested it, and she was won over with the promise of abundant work in the many restaurants and hotels, the friendly people, and their familiarity CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017 19

LOCAL with the English language (it is nigh impossible to build towers or build kitchens if there isn’t a common tongue, a lingua franca).

She arrived here, worked with Chef Sultana for a while, and wrought herself the opportunity to see as much Maltese cooking as she could. She tried going back to France for a while in ’08, but it didn’t stick. Christèle had to return to Malta.

It had to be said, that what was most important over the years was the satisfaction of those who eat your food. “You do this job if you like to please people,” not for the money, not for the lifestyle, surely not for the joy of working sixteen-hour shifts.

(Christèle shared a little quote from an anecdote, of the time when she decided to tell her parents of her choice to enter culinary school: ‘Okay, good for you my daughter.

One thing: forget family meetings, forget holidays with us, and be sure that when we, all the people, will be on holidays you will be the one working for us.’ It’s a chilling perspective, to say the least.) In fact, at the time of her graduation, the man presiding over the function and handing out the diplomas said, with the qualifications of all of Christèle’s classmates in hand, that in two years 10% of those graduating that day would drop out of kitchen work, in 10 years more than 50% would be gone, and in twenty years you would be lucky if there were 1% left. Dire odds.

‘Never tell me the odds!’ some of you might quip, what’s with all the doom and gloom anyway?

Nothing, if not to simply highlight how crucial it is to know what it is you’re getting into. Since Marco Pierre White, the rise of the ‘celebrity chef’ has seen a lot more cooks in the kitchen, many of whom are in for a rude awakening. Keep in mind that at the time of Christèle’s studies the chef’s life wasn’t grand: the ranks of cooks were made up of those that declined formal, academic education. I can only imagine what the situation is like now. Still, the essential truth cannot be shaken: this is a line of work for those who love to serve, your highest pay will always be praise. Christèle says what her teacher said to her: “Cooking is easy, everyone can do it.” So, what makes a chef different? “50% is knowledge, 25% is observation [the studying of books and colleagues alike], and 25% working with your heart.”

The service has to be consistently good, all throughout, which is where that skilful observation comes into it. “My chef was always behind my back, he would know if I made a mistake, he knew it, because by the sound of the knife or someone’s attitude you would know they made a mistake. With the waiters I don’t need to be over there, I don’t need to go where they are serving, but I tell them ‘Look, can you get me this?’ or ‘Check this!’, it’s part of the job, we have to have control over everything. The customer doesn’t need to know what’s going on, they need to be well served – from the beginning to the end. It’s more important, I have the image of France to take care of, you know? The 20 CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017

knowledge, the service, it has to be perfect, to the point. I don’t want the guest to ask ‘Can I have sugar?’ No, the sugar should be at the table when you serve a coffee, you know what I mean?”

I did. It is here in my interview that Chef Christèle displays her prowess in a way I figured would be unlikely: cutting up oranges.

Foolish of me, I suppose, to not expect a chef’s skill to be so evident in the handling of a blade, but her knife was quite literally gliding through the flesh of the orange, leaving the pith behind – something I later on learn to be quite crucial in the making of marmalade for the Embassy.

How did she come upon the chance to cook for the French Embassy, the French Residence? Chef Christèle emphasizes the importance of people. “People. The important [thing] is the contact, if you find the right person. Like today, I am here because of Madame Ambassador. If she hadn’t come to eat when I was working I maybe would never have met her. It’s contact.”

How does she prepare her meals? “I know what I want to do. I try to not always keep the same things, I try to follow, a bit, the season. To use the food and family market; if it’s the fall I use a bit more mushrooms and a bit like this.” In other words: change it up, keep it seasonal, keep it local. This makes sense, it keeps the cost low while the quality is high. Sure, this means oysters aren’t prepared and eaten fresh like they would be in France, but that is the sensible choice. The menus, for the large part, are quite neutral and don’t pose any threat to the gluten intolerant; but even more specific circumstances would be accommodated for, after all, what’s the point of having fun cooking if the guests won’t have fun eating?

LOCAL “It’s like when you’re home and you have some guests coming.

You’re not going to cook the same for this type of guest or that one because you know they won’t enjoy it, so why bother? I would enjoy to cook it but if no one eats it, and they leave it on the plate…that’s a nightmare for me, ah?” She gestures, “That’s not possible.”

The kitchen is simple, sparse almost, but moderately spacious.

Chef Christèle mixes the oranges into a pot, she pours sugar in – but not too much! After all, there is no pith, so the bitter white fibres of the orange will not be fighting the sweetness of sugar.

This keeps the sugar content lower than that of traditional marmalade, and is the result of embassy guidelines on cooking; health is wealth, after all.

waste output has decreased dramatically (from six bags to one or two), the menu suits the needs of those it serves, and is meant to be overall healthier to begin with. A set of initiatives that anyone, really, can get behind.

Chef Christèle also told me about the importance her mentors and teachers had on her. One of the most marked ways this is true is how she learned to take pride in her work, to keep trying to be better and better.

She shared this anecdote with me: While working under a pastry chef she was tasked with the making of a chocolate wall clock, fifty-five centimetres in height. She was so proud, she wanted to display it in the shop display. She, in pride, showed the chef and said ‘Ah, you see?’. The chef replied, ‘Yes, but this is wrong, and this, and this too.’ Twelve hours of hard work, and the Chef could look right through it. “No, look,” he explained, “you have to learn, you can always do better, because if you spend five more minutes on this your work will be better. Okay? It’s good, but next time it has to be better.”

To anyone that has worked in any craft or creative field, this sentiment should ring true.

This spirit of teaching is part of why the French Residence has a partnership with ITS, where students join large events in return for remuneration and credit for what they’ve done. One such yearly event they participate in is the Goût de France, a bi-lingual pun that can be read as ‘Good France’, in the week of the 21st of March, an initiative inspired by Auguste Escoffier (Christèle: “To French chefs, he’s like our Pope!” in the sense that he’s almost like a founder. I wonder if this explains chef’s hats.) and his ‘Epicurean dinners’. The ITS students of various skill levels get to learn more about preparing French cuisine, and those sitting get to enjoy it.

Chef Christèle does this in tandem with one of their teachers, a Mr. Mark Camilleri, to help organise the hands, so to speak. This of course informs a small part of the partnership, as the ITS students also see opportunities to train at the celebrated Bouchons in Lyon.

It’s at this moment that the ambassadress, Her Excellency Béatrice le Fraper du Hellen, walks into the kitchen, ever a champion of high spirits and warm welcomes and eager to tell me all about the ins-and-outs of the kitchen of the French Residence, Christèle’s work, and what they, as part of the French Embassy, would want to do for Malta.

First of all, this is a green embassy, ecologically speaking. No more plastic is used (though food is by-and-large, sadly, packaged in plastics), waste products are used to make compost (no potato skins or citrus fruits, or anything else that makes for bad compost!) and the food is to be focused on the Mediterranean diet. Their 22 CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017

So, what’s next for Chef Christèle? There’s le Quai d’Orsay, for starters. Le Quai d’Orsay is home to the French Ministry of Foreign affairs, famed for its state dinners hosted by the government or its ministers. Famous for its architecture, its aesthetic, its history, as well as the food. Chef Christèle, after what must have been a seriously impressive Goût de France meal, has been invited to assist the chef there for a week in March. It’s no small feat, I assure you.

I asked Chef Christèle for her thoughts on the matter. “I am very, very, happy with this opportunity, but, well it’s only November and I’m already stressing about it!” giddy, laughing with a smile that stretched from ear-to-ear.

I asked her, then, for some parting thoughts before we closed the interview. One thing, “Be closer to your roots, don’t lose them.”

INGREDIENT

PHOTO BY

24 CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017

jamie iain genovese

INGREDIENT

CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017 25

TIRAMISU

STrand PalaCe lTd.

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

50ml Espresso coffee 50g amaretti Biscuits 65ml amaretto 8 savoiardi Biscuits Cocoa powder (for dusting the top) 300g mascarpone 165g pasteurized egg yolks 55g caster sugar 15ml marsala

For the cream, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until doubled in size, Add half of the amaretto and the Marsala to it and whisk until fully incorporated, Add the mascarpone in three parts and whisk until everything is incorporated For the assembly, start by crushing the amaretti biscuits and put in the bottom of the Martini glass, Dip savoiardi biscuits in the espresso coffee and put them on top of the amaretti biscuits, Divide the remaining amaretto and pour on top of the savoiardi biscuits, Put the cream in a piping bag and pipe it on top of the biscuits Dust with cocoa powder serve

Hammett’s Gastro Bar is the latest addition to the Sliema sea front, a stone’s throw away from the hustle and bustle of the town centre. The outlet is brought to you by multiaward winning restauranteur Chris Hammett from the Villa and offers a casual drinking and dining experience serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. The chefs at Hammett’s Gastro Bar use the freshest of local ingredients, imaginative cooking techniques, and flavours from around the world to create beautiful fusion dishes designed for sharing.

Variety being the spice of life, plates are tapas style, allowing you to try a few dishes, or share many with your friends. The bar offers an array of craft beers, an extensive wine selection, flagship spirits and an extensive gourmet cocktail list using fresh fruit, homemade syrups and infusions. If none of the drinks jump off the menu, experienced mixologists are available to create a cocktail made just for you. With a perfect location near Sliema town centre and stunning views of Marsamxett Harbour, Hammett’s Gastro Bar is an ideal place to relax and recharge.

CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017 27

FEATURE

28 CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017

FEATURE WORDS BY

James Camilleri

s

omeone needs to teach the Poles how pizza works. it’s around 11pm. We are cold, tired, freezing, kind of peckish, and really cold. The cobblestones have that slick but threatening sheen, a constant reminder that dry weather is only ever temporary and the rain drops will come a’ dripping (or a’ pouring) soon enough. We search for something sanitary to eat, but we’re getting desperate. looks like it’s going to be döner in pita again, and i resign myself to barbarism once more. a few meters from the Turkish place though, i glimpse the slightest glimmer of hope. Hope, alas, is by far the cruellest of mankind’s punishments. if this were a properly scripted horror movie, this is the point where the entire audience would shake their head and gently but morosely place it in their hands. my life, alas, is a poorly-scripted tragicomedy penned by a novice playwright in their fourth, fifth, or sixth tongue. We stopped in front of the pizzeria. We went in.

The fact that it was called “De Grasso” should have warned me. i should have listened to the voices, both the real one beside me and the other ones i still haven’t quite discovered the origin of.

The restaurant itself looked ok, besides a clearly dysfunctional dependence on the Lobster font, which i have nothing against per se, but is now so overused it just screams Kitsch Cafe, Kitschland.

Free kitsch, extra kitsch also included. But i digress, lazy typography is not the charge for today’s hearing. i skimmed the menu (ignoring the internal anguished screams of “lobster? again? really?”) and settled on a calzone. seemed to have a bit more meat than i’d generally expect from a calzone, but protein is nice and what you can’t see because it’s sealed inside a closed pizza can’t hurt you. another warning sign, retrospectively, was the fact that the first ingredient on every single pizza item on the menu was “dough”. i’m not sure why they felt it necessary to inform me that they put the pizza toppings on dough. i always thought it was sort of intrinsic to the nature of a pizza. it was sort of like a slightly deranged used car salesman overzealously explaining to you that yes, everyone else’s cars were perfectly acceptable, but his cars, you see, had wheels. Yet another red flag succumbing to my mental colour blindness, i placed the order.

We sat down, tired and fighting off an overhanging sense of dread. i placed my beer down on the table. The server didn’t understand what i meant by “small”. Or maybe a pint is considered small up north. my beer had a straw in it. Just mine, not the other one. Do people drink beer with straws? is it only men in Poland?

Do i look like the kind of man who would drink beer through a straw? so many questions. Within a few minutes, one of the servers placed two small jugs of sauce at our table. Whatever for, you may be asking yourselves at this very moment. What sort of heathen eats pizza with sauce? They seemed to be some sort of garlic sauce and some sort of viscous tomato-based mistake.

looking back, perhaps the sauces were there to offset the inevitable fusion reaction that would eventually take place in my stomach. another silent warning blissfully ignored.

The pizzas arrived. it was only then that i realised the extent of the establishment’s cluelessness. my calzone was…not. it was flat. and open. and sprinkled with bacon, sausage, and misfortune. it bore no resemblance to a calzone at all. i suppose the most i can do is commend them for remembering to put the dough in. The shock subsided eventually, replaced by outrage and then an intense and unfathomable sadness. i took a deep breath and bit. it wasn’t that it was bad, so to speak. it wasn’t even that it was oily enough to boost the american economy for a few years if it made its way stateside. it was just that despite my noble efforts to avoid the sort of trashy drunk-person-food that kebabs tend to be, i managed to stumble across something even higher up the drunkpeople-food intensity scale. This pizza was the kind of thing a very drunk kebab would eat when it had exhausted all other options and eaten all its friends and was still hungry. and i was still stone cold sober; and just plain cold. i took a violent swig of lager in an attempt to remedy this oversight. The straw bobbed about in a confused frenzy.

Now i have quite a strong stomach. i eat my meat practically raw and have forced all manner of perplexing things into my unsuspecting digestive system, which has always handled everything like a champ. i even eat my own cooking sometimes.

The fact that my bowels twitched in fear the second the first bite of pizza fizzled into my stomach acid is unsettling on a metaphysical level. i walked to the bar for some napkins, lest the oily substance the pizza was secreting burn through my fingertips.

On my way back to my seat i saw a young man eating pasta.

The restaurant also serves pasta. someone had dared order it. Not only that, but he dared to eat it too. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. it looked like someone dropped a pizza so many times it turned into spaghetti. it looked like someone took the tape out of a tapeworm. it looked like God himself had forsaken us in our hubris. i sat down and took another bite, hoping the fear could fight off the encroaching existential despair. it didn’t. my heart burned and my soul turned to ice. i looked at my plate, slice after slice of ectoplasmic pizza stripping away the lining of my throat. my stomach called out in vain. What are you doing?

Think of tomorrow! i thought of the greasy creations of the Pizza Huts, Dominos and Papa Johns of the world with longing. What had we done?

Of course i finished it anyway. i was hungry.

CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017 29

PROMO

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY

30 CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017

jamie iain genovese

PROMO

I

ċ-Ċavett, a nickname given to, and not made for, a man that has opened up a restaurant in mġarr; Ċavett Place. He’s a big guy, clean shaven head, thick eyebrows, thicker arms, and a shaped beard with tufts of gray. The man loves anything inspired by the baroque period and has taken this intrigue into the decor of his restaurant. He almost reminds me of a neater, soberer version of The Witcher’s Bloody Baron, only wearing Harmont & Blaine instead of a plate armour with red robes.

by his tattooist, Kri8or, but there’s also an abundance of mirrors. “They can be better than paintings or pictures, because those are a single image, but a mirror moves with you,” he explains, “they open a room up, and let you look at more of the room, easily.”

This is his first formal foray into the service industry, though he has his beginnings as a dishwasher in his uncle’s kitchen back in the day, back when he was 9years-old. at eleven he could go see his brother, who was living in england at the time, for Christmas. The trip was filled with the sorts of things one does their first time there: madam Tussaud’s, the zoo, ice-skating, that kind of thing.

one painting that does stand out is that of his father and himself, which he keeps by the bar so he can look at it while he works. This sensitive side is hardly a private one, as he uses his popularity to try and publicise things like fundraisers.

at fourteen-years-old he worked as a waiter at Point de View, where his boss had first suggested using pork-collar for BBQ, advice he keeps to this very day.

By fifteen he had left school and was working, here and there, at one point even as the driver of a minibus, or mini-van, i can’t remember what the right term is. Ċavett Place is a lively place, breathing new life into the village piazza, attracting more people to come and spend time there on the weekend than before, i’d wager. Ċavett himself said that there’s something special about being so close to this huge church, and eating your dinner or drinking your drink a literal stone’s throw away. a part of it surely has to do with him as a character, we’re talking about someone that dressed up as Platinette for a Boogie Nights party. ‘Fun’ just about sums it up. on the walls one would find a series of paintings, some

by Patrick scicluna (the uncle of a friend of his), and some

i asked him if he often sees people checking themselves out. “and the men are vainer. i can see it in one of my staff members. if he doesn’t do a blow-dry, or pluck his eyebrows, he’ll call in and say he’s coming late.”

after this, we got around to what it’s like actually running a kitchen. of course, there’s the usual amount of shock & awe that comes with the stresses of management. all too quickly has he realised how important it can be to delegate certain parts of the job, like maintaining inventory, can be. still, there’s a sense of joy in overseeing the organisation of the restaurant, from the design and renovation of dumb-waiters to the planning and use of walk-in freezers and well-made workstations in the kitchen to actually decorating an entire venue to your tastes – including the private hall downstairs, named after himself. as for the food? it’s traditionally focused. There’s some seafood, subject to availability (as is our tradition), there’s snails (bebbux, a runaway hit, as usual), horsemeat, rabbit, quail (a surprising seller, or so i hear), pizzas, and ‘tough’ burgers. What’s a ‘tough’ burger? simply put, thick bread, roughly cut bacon, and a general ‘rustic’ appeal. What’s ‘rustic’? just look, and find out. it’s easy to see a fun time to be had here, and it’s always worth checking out a new place. just speak to the owner, even for a bit, and ask how he’s doing.

CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017 31

PROMO

he Glenfarclas Distillery was established in 1836, on the Recherlich Farm at Ballindalloch, in the heart of Speyside. The licence was originally held by Robert Hay, who was the tenant farmer.

However, after his death the farm and the distillery were left vacant and this attracted the attention of John Grant. The Grant family were prominent local cattle breeders, who were looking for an ideal halfway staging post between their farm in Glenlivet, and the market in nearby Elgin. The cattle drovers and workmen certainly enjoyed the sustenance of a dram of Glenfarclas.

In the 1890’s, John and George Grant formed their own company, J.& G. Grant. After many years of hard work and shrewd accounting, the future of Glenfarclas had been secured, and the Family’s reputation firmly established. A rival distiller wrote to the Grant family in May, 1912: “of all the whiskies, malt is king, of all the kings, Glenfarclas reigns supreme”.

The 1920’s saw the retirement of John Grant, and George continued to run the distillery. So on to 1948, which is remembered as the ‘year of the party’; a social milestone for the Grant family that celebrated several anniversaries, even though the date did not coincide with any of them! At this time it was mistakenly believed that the distillery was first established in 1845, and once the war was over, George saw fit to hold a centenary celebration.

Today, the Distillery’s reputation is well regarded around the world. In March 2006 Glenfarclas was named Distiller of the Year

by Whisky Magazine “for being consistently good and staying true to its core values”. In 2011 the Distillery celebrated 175 years of licensed distilling, with a ceilidh in Warehouse 14, a Royal visit, and the publication of ‘Glenfarclas – An Independent Distillery’ by Ian Buxton. Today the Grant family continue to act as custodians of the Glenfarclas Distillery, and remain committed to the principle of producing superior quality Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky.

32 CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017

The Family

Spirit FROM THE GRAIN TO THE GLASS

Glenfarclas is renowned for its traditional full bodied and well sherried style, and is only ever released at natural colour. To produce Glenfarclas Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky, these three essential ingredients are required: pure spring water, malted barley, and yeast. Only the finest ingredients, combined with the unique size and shape of the copper pot stills, traditional distillation methods, the specially selected oak casks, and the style and location of the warehouses, are all important factors determining the final unique character of Glenfarclas.

The Glenfarclas range consists of the 10 Years Old, 12 Years Old, 15 Years Old, 17 Years Old, 21 Years Old, 25 Years Old, 30 Years Old, 40 Years Old and ‘105’ cask strength. The most recent selection, The Family Casks (launched in 2007) are a unique collection single cask, cask strength whiskies. The current range comprises one cask from every year from 1954 to 2001.

Glenfarclas Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky continues to impress the tasting panels at both national and international competitions, year after year. Confirming the words of a great rival distiller in 1912, “of all the whiskies malt is king – of all the kings Glenfarclas reigns supreme.”

RECIPE

34 CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017

RECIPE

FOR THE DUCK 2 tsp pomegranate molasses (available in large supermarkets) 1 tbsp runny honey ½ tsp caraway seeds, toasted and ground to a powder in a pestle and mortar or spice grinder 4 duck breasts, skin scored diagonally with a sharp knife

FOR THE PILAF 600ml vegetable stock 250g coarse bulgar wheat salt and freshly ground black pepper 110g canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 2 red onions, thinly sliced 110g dry sour cherries, roughly chopped 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses small bunch fresh f latleaf parsley, finely chopped small bunch fresh mint, finely chopped 110g pistachio nuts, shells removed, toasted, chopped 1 pomegranate, seeds only (reserve 2 tbsp seeds for garnish)

METHOD Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

Place the pomegranate molasses, honey and ground caraway seeds into a small bowl and mix well. Rub the mixture onto the scored skin of the duck breasts.

Heat an ovenproof non-stick pan and add the duck breasts, skin-side down and cook for 1-2 minutes to caramelise the skin.

Turn the duck breasts over and cook on the other side for 1-2 minutes.

Transfer to the oven to cook for 8-11 minutes for medium, or until cooked to your liking. Remove from the oven and set the duck breasts aside to rest for five minutes.

For the pilaf, place the vegetable stock into a pan over a medium heat and bring to the boil.

Add the bulgar wheat and bring back to the boil. Reduce the heat to simmer for 5-8 minutes, or until the bulgar wheat is tender and all the liquid has been absorbed.

Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then add the chickpeas and mix well.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a deep non-stick pan until hot. Add the onions and cook for 3-4 minutes, until softened.

Add the cherries and pomegranate molasses, and cook for further 3-5 minutes, until the onions are caramelised and the cherries are beginning to soften down.

Add the cherries mixture to the bulgar wheat and chickpea mixture and stir well to combine.

Add the chopped parsley and mint, pistachios and pomegranate seeds.

To serve, cut each duck breast in half on the diagonal and place onto a plate. Spoon the cooking juices over and a garnish with few pomegranate seeds. Spoon the pilaf into a bowl and serve alongside the duck.

CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017 35

DIY GARDEN FRESH CUISINE

FEATURE

WORDS AND PHOTOS

Bailey lalonde

ommon stipulation is that the reality of building and maintaining a garden is somewhat exclusive to people with the luxury of time, or who live in a rural setting. Global macro trends over the past half-decade, show us that there is a consistently emerging trend of bringing nature into cities. Bosco Verticale in Milan, italy and the Garden City of Singapore, are some iconic examples of international cultures bringing plants, sustainable buildings, and community rooftop gardens into the urban setting; even green spaces built into the interior design of many projects, both residential and commercial.

Traditionally, gardening food for one’s family has been an activity that tends to take place in the countryside. in recent years, with the mass overproduction of food in many places around the world, more and more people are embracing the green space trend; if you can live in Manhattan or even Sliema and have a small garden with some potted fruit and vegetable plants on your roof, or at least fresh herbs on the balcony, why not do it?

For most of us who have grown up buying our food from grocery stores or markets, the idea of growing food, even in an urban setting is a foreign one. What many people discover when tasting home grown produce (especially grown with your own hands) for the first time, is the astounding difference in flavour, colour, freshness and juiciness. if you are looking to move towards a more plant based diet, the keys are good quality produce and a plethora of fresh herbs and spices. The easiest first step to take for setting up your own garden is a small bed of fresh herbs; this can be on your balcony, terrace or sometimes windowsill. you can start with whichever herbs are your favourite, but i like to have a base of basil, parsley, rosemary, mint, sage, and cilantro. Baby tomatoes and peppers are manageable and delicious small-scale plants to have as well. Planting a mini bed with these few ingredients in them will let you feel the benefit of having tasty, diverse flavours in your food, without constantly filling your cabinet with expensive dry herbs.

if you have the luxury of space, in the sense that you have land, or access to a rooftop or terrace, then you can even add a range of vegetables and maybe even fruit trees. Maintaining a small personal garden really doesn’t consume much time on a daily basis.

The initial stage of building the garden beds, filling them with soil, and planting the seedlings is the most time-consuming part. depending on if you are building it alone, how many beds you want and how much time you can put in, this could take a few hours of concentrated work, or a weekend of working on the garden a few hours a day. Before this step, you need to assess the hours of daily sunlight your plot receives. For some people, the act of building a garden may seem physically daunting, but anyone can do it. The process is rewarding in a very grounding way; CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017 37

FEATURE being outside, connecting with nature while creating an environment where nature can co-exist with you. after the garden is built, day-to-day maintenance consists of watering the plants once or twice a day. every few days, when you think of it, check out the garden bed for any weeds that may have popped up, which is more fun than you would think and only takes a few minutes. once they grow to the point that they are yielding (13 weeks on average), you can browse the garden and base your healthy, delicious lunch plan on what is fresh in the garden that day.

For a year in 2015, i had the pleasure of living in St. Helena, in napa Valley, California. The valley is dreamy; from gorgeous rolling hills, to diverse postcard worthy seasons. The world class wine doesn’t hurt either. For me, one of the best parts of living in this luscious part of the world was that i was able to plant and grow my first vegetable garden. i was fortunate to live in a beautiful house on a vineyard down by the river.

The owner of the house had three one-and-a-half meters by twoand-a-half-meter garden beds already built. i did however learn how to build these while volunteering in high school and they are quite simple and straightforward to construct. Since i already had three empty ones available for me to use, i began researching the plants that grow in autumn and winter in that part of the world. i then mapped out a plan of which ones would be planted where, based on the amount of space each species needs between each seedling to thrive (all researchable simply online). after creating my map, i went to the local gardening store and selected all of the vegetables i wanted to grow, as well as three bags of organic soil. it took me about two days of working for a few hours each day until the garden was completely planted; each day, the plants grew bigger. as a few weeks went by, the plants were getting bigger and stronger, until finally, baby veggies started to sprout. i was pleasantly surprised by how quickly they grew. Before i knew it, every day new vegetables were ready to harvest and eat. another great contributor to the amazing garden to table set up that i had in my back yard, was that we had chickens and an orchard of fruit trees. i decided to take advantage of this opportunity, and began cooking and eating a primarily fruit, vegetable and fresh herb diet,

38 CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017

with some eggs from the chickens. i have always had a passion for cooking, but this approach really pushed me out of my comfort zone and brought my food to the next level.

Rather than planning a meal and then going to the grocery store to get all of the things on my list, i would go walk through the garden and fill a basket with everything i could find that was ready to eat. after browsing the garden, if i needed some additional ingredients i would go to the local market; often what was in the basket was more than enough to eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Combined with the simplicity in cooking that i have learned from a few italian Mamas and nonnas, this garden-to-table method, drastically improved my culinary skills. Maybe it seems difficult to conceptualize planning a meal around a few fruits and vegetables.

The process i follow is harvesting and then washing them in a sink full of water and vinegar to really clean them. once everything is clean, i cut off the ends and peel the skins of the appropriate vegetables; all of the scraps go to out to feed the chickens. i like to experiment with different ways of cutting vegetables and fruit as i enjoy the multitude of different culinary experiences it enables with the same product. Generally, when cooking vegetables, i like to make a soffritto; sautĂŠing oil, salt and pepper, with onion and or garlic, and sometimes ginger. often, i will add fresh herbs or red pepper into the soffritto, depending on the culture i am taking inspiration from with any given dish. other base ingredients to experiment with are

FEATURE

wine, red or white, different vinegars, and or lemon zest and juice.

My favourite way to do this is by intuitive experimentation. Based on the philosophy of italian culinary, it’s best to stick to one or two flavours per dish; opting for simplicity helps to emphasize the delicious natural taste of the produce you are working with. of course, occasionally an experiment may turn out not to be what you were going for, but in my experience, more often than not, when following these simple guidelines, the outcome is delicious. of course, if you have space for a full garden, you will have a range of fresh produce that is hard to match in a small urban dwelling.

However, even with a window sill miniature herb garden, it is a notable step in a more cost effective, nutrition filled and tasty direction. as mentioned before, many cities are now embracing the rooftop or community garden trend, which enables you, if you have a bit of dedication, to parallel the experience of a countryside garden in the city. Contrary to popular belief, leading a primarily plant based diet without sacrificing flavour can be easier and much less expensive than buying all of your groceries from the store. if you are curious about having more fresh produce in your life, gardento-table culinary practice may be a fun world to explore. in my experience, cultivating my own personal garden has brought me closer to nature, more grounded in myself and helped me to drastically improve my cooking. it even creates an abundance of healthy delicious produce for future months, friends and family.

PROMO

40 CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017

FEATURE

OF HORSESHOES AND HEART DISEASE WORDS BY

James Camilleri

P

oznan – a dainty old city in the north of Poland. like a scene straight out of an animated Disney classic: complete with vividly coloured buildings, huddled-up cobblestones, and charming but completely incomprehensible locals. There’s a lot to write about Polish cuisine – all of it delicious and hearty, with the occasional dash of intrigue or outright terror – but i’d like to share the secrets of a very particular pastry that’s unique to Poznan. The saint martin’s croissant (or “rogale marcińskie” if you happen to have the extra two or three tongues that seem to be required to speak Polish) is only produced in Poznan and the surrounding villages, with around 120 bakeries having the official certification required to produce and sell the sweet.

During my most recent weekend escape i had the opportunity to learn about the history and craftsmanship behind the st martin’s croissant in a little interactive museum solely dedicated to the treat. after what seemed like an eternity of waiting in the biting cold

(wrap up tight and make a reservation, the attraction fills up much quicker than you’d expect) we were jostled into a fairly large room by our jovial chef/guide/entertainer. Once everyone had settled into their seats we were treated to a brief history of the room. it formed part of a bakery and was over 500 years old, with one rustic wall dating back past 650 years. There was even anintricately panelled ceiling that had survived the centuries completely intact, as someone had decided beautiful craftsmanship was not to their taste and covered the gilded artwork with panelling to keep it out of sight.

The legend of how saint martin became so closely associated with a Polish pastry is an interesting (and definitely highly embellished) one. many of you are probably aware that the man was not canonised for his baking skills. rather, saint martin was renowned for being a very generous man, one day ripping his own cloak in two to keep a freezing beggar warm at night.

CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017 41

FEATURE He was later visited in a dream by Jesus Christ who thanked him for clothing him – a tale no doubt engineered to elicit generosity from the faithful. and elicit generosity it did, or so the Polish legend goes. a Poznan local was once deeply struck by this very story during a sunday sermon, and walked off home thinking about what he could possibly do to make himself a better person. He thought himself into a deep slumber, where the saint himself trotted through his dream, astride what i can only assume was a rather disgruntled horse, as it was missing a horseshoe. The villager awoke with a start to see a horseshoe beside him, and it was then that he was struck with the solution to his existential conundrum. He would bake a new kind of croissant and hand it out to the poorest of his countrymen for free.

The goods would be shaped like horseshoes to honour the inspirational saint. The more well-to-do citizens of the city would not be so lucky however, as the Poles are great entrepreneurs and penny pinchers (more than the scots, our guide explains proudly), and our protagonist made his fortune selling his wares to those that could afford to pay for them. Or so the story goes.

As we licked the

inducing goodness. This whole process tends to take around three hours, so the croissants aren’t really something you can whip up in a hurry.

Once the food’s history (fictional or otherwise) sugary remnants of had been covered, it was time to get down to our croissants from Once the dough is ready, it needs to be cut into making one of the infamous croissants. members of our fingers, our host triangles (think giant pizza slice) and rolled into its the audience would be called up to help with the pulled our final form. apparently, a baker from Poznan once baking process as the guide explained each step of experimental croissant won an international contest with his croissants – the way. The first of these volunteers was a tiny from the oven. not because of their excellence, but because he little girl who unintentionally retreated into her decided to perform the pastry-cutting step of the chef’s hat as she scrambled off her seat. (“Child recipe with sabres instead of a kitchen knife like a labour,” the guide exclaimed with a cheeky grin, well-adjusted human being. Whether the prize was just before readjusting the little girl’s hat and given out of admiration or fear was not something that was helping her around the table.) The tiny chef, alongside another discussed. The next audience member in line for cooking duty audience member, rolled the yeast dough into balls at the behest was called up. it was the young lady who had previously voiced of the immensely talkative (but undeniably entertaining) guide. what we were all thinking and complained about the city’s The little girl rolled hers into a strange, brain-shaped construct, seeming predisposition to sexism. i suppose it was slightly poetic prompting the guide to ask her where she was from. “eeeeerm… that she was given an aggressive-looking sabre to cut the dough ” she replied in bashful confusion, until one of her parents with. Then again, it was slightly ironic that she failed to make a interjected in a quiet whisper: “the United states”. “Thought so, dent in the substance with a weapon half her size. Clearly swords the balls look different there,” he quipped – a reference to american do not excel in culinary scenarios. “football” for those of you whose heads are in the gutter – and then enthusiastically moved to the next step in the intricate croissantThe dough was eventually cut to something approximating a making process. This involved removing the gas from the dough, triangle and the magical filling was squeezed out along the length he explained, while violently smashing the dough ball into the table of the triangle. The filling traditionally consists of crushed biscuits, and then punching the ever-loving breath out of it. after getting peanuts and walnuts, raisins, eggs, almond flavour (emphasis on a couple of “big, strong men” to roll the dough out – and being flavour here) and the special ingredient… white poppy seeds. called out by an audience member for this persistent vein of sexism apparently poppy seeds are usually black (as most of you know), – the baker explained the rest of the dough-making affair. sometimes grey, and somewhat rarely, white. These fantastical white poppy seeds somehow get to Poznan all the way from The dough used in the st martin’s Croissants is a form of puff California. in all honesty, they tasted a little bit bland – we got to pastry, and what we had witnessed until that point was only the sample them as a jar was passed around – but they add an first part of many iterations. in order to make puff pastry, the interesting twist to the mixture once they’re baked into the dough is flattened out and slathered in butter, then folded in on croissant. Once the dough is nicely coated in filling, the triangle itself and left to set. This triple-layered dough is then flattened, is rolled into its traditional crescent shape, heartily brushed with slathered, and folded again. and again, and again, until the final an egg wash, and popped into the oven. product is composed of no less than 81 layers of cardiac-arrest42 CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017

as our experimental croissant slowly baked, we were treated to a film about the history of Poznan (subtitled in that godawful font Lobster, like everything else in this typographically-challenged country) while we snacked on some of the previously prepared st martin’s Croissants. The taste was somewhat peculiar yet familiar at the same time. it distinctly reminded me of the local almond tart or figolla, although not a particularly fine one due to the over-reliance of almond flavouring. seriously enthusiastic chef dude, easy on the almond essence. i can taste the plastic in this. i will presume that this was an accident involving escaped livestock and spilled flavouring in the kitchen, or something. it was actually quite rich – i don’t think i’d be able to eat a whole one, and i could out-eat a plague of locusts. as we licked the sugary remnants of our croissants from our fingers, our host pulled our experimental croissant from the oven.

This was the moment of truth. You see, not all horseshoe-shaped puff-pastry creations can be called a st martin’s Croissant – they have to be weighed first. The sweet must weigh between 150 and 250 grams to be eligible for official croissant status. One gram over or under that range and it can’t be sold as a st martin’s Croissant. it’s probably thrown into an icy river or fed to a dragon or something instead. luckily for us, our mini masterpiece made the cut with a generous weight of 225g. Our croissant had a future!

The ingenious things human beings can do with their food never ceases to amaze me, and stumbling across unique meals and nibbles in forgotten corners of the planet makes suffering airport security worthwhile. With our brains (and our stomachs) slightly fuller, we were eventually ushered back into the biting cold of the Polish autumn, clutching a glossy certificate that proved we sat through the masterclass. Gotta give your esteemed tourists a pile of crap for their luggage, otherwise they’ll never come back. speaking of which, i never did find time to sit in a coffee shop and devour a croissant, so i guess i’ll be popping back over to Poznan before my knees give out.

FEATURE

Caffé Berry WORDS BY

MANTAS STOckUS

THE IDEA ‘I was always dreaming to open a coffee place, a place that would be a synonym of quality, a place where people would be able to find food and drinks made of high quality, healthy, friendly products. I believe it is very important. All my life I was working in coffee shops, simple ones. There I had a chance to see what types of products are used for making coffee, preparing food. I didn’t spot high quality ones. I wanted to start a place where things would be different,’ says Ewa.

DEVELOPMENT OF KNOWLEDGE ‘There are places where you can find written ‘Healthy Food’ but, in my opinion, you have to check if what is written is true. For example, you take a pack of biscuits on which is labelled healthy.

For most people that is enough, but it shouldn’t be. Unfortunately, today you cannot trust the food industry and have to take care of yourself by reading what the biscuits you took are made of.

Sometimes, you will find that the ingredients are not so healthy at all. Sadly, marketing makes people blind to what is truly healthy.

I want to help them by showing the path through which I have walked myself.’ She adds, ‘The most interesting thing that I have discovered about people is that most of them are very closed44 CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017

minded. They stubbornly believe that a burger they are eating is healthy because McDonald’s says so. Our mission is to educate people, help them to distinguish what is good from bad. In fact, our first year was a bit difficult because we had to explain to customers why that small piece of cake is 3.50 and not 1.50 Euros.’

According to Ewa things are changing: ‘I see that slowly, slowly people are starting to understand what we are doing here, what our message is, and they are not afraid to ask or consult with us. I am very pleased about it. I believe people need to socialize and through discussion you can learn a lot of new things. In Malta, people don’t do that much. You only see them looking at their cell phones instead to a person in front. ’

THE NAME OF THE PLACE ‘CAFFE BERRY’ ‘Caffe is an Italian word. I chose it because Italy is part of my life, an important part. I have 15 years of experience behind a counter out of which 12 were in Italy. It was one of the best periods in my entire life. There my friendship with coffee started and I am very happy that it is still going on. I wanted to mix two words coming from different languages. Our message is to be open to everyone and that whoever comes would feel like at home. I don’t feel

FEATURE

sympathy to those places where you come and you sense that you are not welcome just because you don’t speak their language. It is wrong,’ adds Ewa.

say no, I will still do it.’ ‘At the beginning when I was preparing the place for opening people used to ask me what am I doing and when I told them they looked at me like I was from another planet.

They used to say, ‘Forget it, you are throwing money away.’’

THE BEGINNING ‘It was a long process until we opened ‘caffe Berry’. You have to start from a scratch: write a project, find a place, create a design of the place, a brand, and, finally, invest your time in experimenting with recipes and products.’

‘I was crazy about making cakes, experimenting with the recipes of coffee. All my free time I spent in the kitchen. Even when I was studying in Italy and working in a coffee place I learned to do Italian coffee but I was open, as well, for other types of coffee making processes.’

POSITIVE STUBBORNNESS ‘I am a person who works from the morning till late in the evening because if you want to achieve something you have to do it, there is no other way. I am very happy and if I would have the chance I would do it again. You decided what you want to do in your life, not others. If I put something in my head, and if even 400 people

THE FAMOUS BRONTE PISTACHIO LATTE ‘After around four months after we opened the place I was making hot mocha for a client one evening. When I was putting the final touches on, I looked at the glass and thought, ‘something is missing’. Then, I started to try various types of syrups. All of them tasted great, but the Pistachio pastry was something out of this world. That is how the famous Bronte Pistachio Latte was born.

People go crazy for it.’

After our conversation, Ewa shook my hand and disappeared behind the door. To do what she loves. Then, I understood why some places are forced to close and some are full of people. The difference, as I see it, hides in Ewa’s last words, ‘I do it for the sake of pleasure, I like it a lot.’

P.S. Pistachio pastry: pistachio, extra virgin oil, rice flavour and brown sugar.

CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017 45

WHAT’S NEW AUTHENTIC GREEK

IFANTIS GLUTEN FREE DIPS – A lovely range of traditional Greek Dips & Spreads. Choose from: Hummus, Tzatziki, Taramas, Htipiti, Eggplant & Cheese with Feta. All the Ifantis dips are Gluten Free.

CULINARY TREASURE

We all agree that olive oil is a culinary treasure: it’s a natural antioxidant, it prevents cardiovascular diseases and helps rising the “good” cholesterol. But what does each variety stand for? What is the use of flavoured oils? There are special occasions where we feel like giving a surprise to our guests, and a flavored olive oil is a sure shot. Flavored oils provide hints of garlic, basil, or lemon to a meal. Have you ever thought your risotto recipe would taste so good with a touch of flavoured oil? Try the Borges AROMATIC Olive Oils.

It is said that one of the best kept secrets by great chefs is the seasoning of their dishes. For this reason, Borges, in collaboration with Ferran Adrià, one of today’s most innovative and trend-setting chefs, presents a new range of olive oil seasonings totally natural and original (without essences, colouring agents or preservatives) with which you will be able to enhance, adjust and enrich the taste of your favourite dishes.

IFANTIS SAUSAGES – Top quality sausages with 85% pork meat using local ingredients. Choose from: Santorini (with sundried tomatoes), Naxos (with graviera cheese), Mykonos (with onions, thyme & oregano), Sparta (with leek) and Mani (with orange). Ideal for BBQ’s but also suitable to pan fry and microwave.

SIMPLY DELICIOUS CEREALS

In this part of the world, we’re all about living life to the full and looking after ourselves – in fact, the people here live for three more growing seasons! We believe one of the most important things you can do is grab a great start to the day by having a really good breakfast and all our recipes are created right here in picturesque Poundbury, west Dorset. We visit our suppliers to make sure we are using the best possible ingredients. We don’t just chuck our ingredients together, we balance and blend them carefully using our knowledge of what tastes delicious.

We don’t scrimp, we make sure our recipes are stuffed full of fruit, nuts and seeds. We don’t forget the flakes – they get as much attention as those fruits. And we don’t just make mueslis, look out for our Granola range too.

ORGANIC MILK

Provamel is Pro Organic, Pro Plant-Based, Pro Local Fields and Pro Happy Animals.

PRO ORGANIC: We are seriously pro nature, all our products are plant-based and organic. Everything we make is organic certified and GMO free, which means less pesticides and antibiotics in your body and our soil. PRO PLANTBASED: All our products are 100% plant-based. The production of plantbased food requires less valuable resources. In fact, compared to dairy milk, our soya-based drinks use 2 times less land, 4 times less water, and 2.5 times less CO2. Provamel products are even produced in a CO2 neutral way. PRO LOCAL FIELDS: When it comes to sourcing our soya, oats, rice and almonds, we choose small farmers over the global market & buy from local organic farmers in Europe. PRO ANIMAL WELFARE: Since Provamel is 100% plant-based and vegan, you’ll find animals in our homes and on our laps, but never in our products.

46 CIBUS | DECEMBER 2017

A NEW RANGE OF THIN CHOCOLATES

Plamil has introduced a new range of thin organic chocolate bars and intensely thick chocolate spreads, So Free. They contain No Milk, No Nuts and are Gluten Free, Vegan and 100% Plant Powered. They are also ethically made using renewable energy. First company to make organic chocolate, Plamil was also the first to make chocolate using rice milk and producing award winning dairy free alternatives to milk chocolate and sumptuous white chocolate. Plamil sources organic and fairtrade cocoa from co-opertaives in the Dominican Republic. It has been ranked the highest in all chocolate ratings by UK’s Ethical Consumer magazine since 2006. The organic dark chocolate range with as much as 87% cocoa has fine aromas and an intense smooth taste, plus bars sweetened with unrefined coconut blossom sugar.

The Plamil guarantee is one of: no milk, no nuts, no gluten, 100% vegan and 100% plant power. The selection of Plamil chocolate comes in 35g and 80g bars. They are available in all leading supermarkets and health food shops.

WHAT’S NEW

THIS CHRISTMAS EXPERIENCE TIMELESS ELEGANCE AT TA’ MARIJA. Combining delicious food and drink with an exciting and friendly atmosphere, Ta Marija have everything you need for a truly magical festive dining experience.

Awarded for 10 times as the Best Maltese Food Restaurant, the stylish surroundings are matched by the quality of our menu and varied entertainment lineup including popular singer Corazon, Willy Mangion, Frank O’Neill, Christabelle Scerri and our resident DJ. Plus, don’t forget their Saturday and Sunday all-inclusive extravaganzas at €25 per person, and their Folklore Dinner Shows every Wednesday. With their festivities line-up they can promise you the perfect place to enjoy a festive feast, in a unique setting, for good value for money. Visit www.tamarija.com to find out more, or call on 2143 4444.

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING WILL SAVE YOU MONEY WITH OUR NEW LOYALTY CARD COLLECT YOURS TODAY!

Start taking advantage of the CoseCasa loyalty scheme. Obtain your bonus card from the counter. Your card is printed instantly. To start accumulating your CoseCasa points you would have to present your loyalty card upon payment at the cash points. Every 100 points collected will entitle you to a €5.00 cash discount at the counter which can be deducted from your next bill when advising the cashier.

For more info visit: http://cosecasa.com/ loyalty-card/ Christmas shopping opening hours: all day, everyday, including Sundays and Public Holidays from 9.00 am to 8.00 pm

Get to know the

Proseccos of

Villa Sandi

his bubbly wine is a perfect choice for many occasions - brunch, lunch, dinner, toasts, picnics and celebrations, to name a few. Prosecco is made from the Prosecco (Glera) grape, in the Veneto region, in the Northeastern part of Italy.

This wine undergoes a fermentation process and the end result is bubbly, fruity and bright - and made for drinking immediately. The main brand offers still, sparkling and semi-sparkling wines and a range of different spirits.

ROSÉ IL FRESCO

The Villa Sandi estates are located in the most renowned areas of winemaking D.O.C. and D.O.C.G. between Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia.

DOLCE SANDI SPUMANTE DOLCE

PROSECCO D.O.C. TREVISO IL FRESCO

ASOLO PROSECCO SUPERIORE

PROSECCO SUPERIORE MILLESIMATO VALDOBBIADENE