Malta, or should I say Gozo, has its first artisanal brewery with the opening in June of Lord Chambray at the Gozitana Agricultural Village in Xewkija. While on a visit to Gozo, I went to meet Samuele d'Imperio, the managing director of Lord Chambray to discover why they set their eyes on making Malta's first craft beer. He told me the family had been visiting Gozo every summer for the past 25 years and it was always their dream to eventually buy a property with a view on Malta's sister island. They finally bought a property in Fort Chambray around five years ago. It has always been his parents' dream to retire on the island of Gozo. His father, an accountant, is around five years away from retirement. Samuele, also an accountant, fell in love with craft beers during a year working with Deloitte in Sydney. "We love Gozo and we wanted to do something for Malta and Gozo. But this is both my family's and my first experience making beer." They are however in good hands. … [Read more...]
Lord Chambray – Malta’s first artisanal beer
Craft or artisanal beer has taken the beer scene by storm worldwide. Craft breweries are opening and beer lovers are slowly starting to move from the commercial beers to microbreweries. Even in countries where beer does not have such a tradition, the rise of artisan beers has been astonishing. The concept of an artisanal beer is different and once you get accustomed to the taste it is not easy to return to a commercially brewed beer. Living in Belgium means that I get to taste many great craft beers all with different flavours and styles. But it is also exciting to discover that this new trend has reached the country where I was born and lived for most of my life. Malta is therefore following in this trend thanks to an Italian family, with a love for Gozo, who have invested money to launch the country's first artisanal beers. When I read about Lord Chambray a few weeks ago I knew that this was a very important development for Malta and Gozo particularly since Malta already … [Read more...]
Tmun in Mgarr harbour, Gozo
Visiting a fishing port has a certain allure to it. Gozo’s fishing port of Mgarr is a small but picturesque harbour which is busy particularly in the summer months with the constant shuttling of visitors from the island of Malta for the period in mid-August around the feast of Santa Maria. Mgarr harbour with its small passenger terminal is no longer just a fisherman’s harbour particularly since tourism on the island is an essential part of the island’s economy. Nevertheless over the past years, it has become the venue of a number of interesting restaurants and bars just alongside the fishing boats many of which were out at sea. One of the best restaurants on the island can be found here. It-Tmun rose to popularity in Xlendi, a sea-side resort on the other side of the island before it moved to Mgarr a few years ago. Tmun in Mgarr has gone from strength to strength. Now this is a family which is renowned in the Maltese restaurant schene. Leli, the owner of the restaurant has … [Read more...]
Fit for a Masterchef challenge
The guests are about to arrive in 40 minutes, you are around 30 minutes into your food preparations but given the choice of menu you have to cook everything at the last minute. Your kitchen equipment all runs on electricity. And suddenly there is a power-cut and you don't know when it will be restored again. This would be a challenge fit for an episode of Masterchef or the French version Top Chef where the chefs are given countless challenges to try and cook their way out of a tricky situation. Yesterday evening Malta suffered a nationwide power cut and the challenge to continue with my plans was probably fit for a future episode of Top Chef. The cause of the power-cut was a fault in a generating unit in the power station followed by an explosion at a distribution centre resulted in the whole of the island being without electricity for several hours. The temperature is still high, above 30C, and the small gas lamp is emitting heat making the conditions in the kitchen pretty tough. … [Read more...]
Recipe 5: Raw marinated prawns with orange zest
The cicadas are screaming like there is no tomorrow, it is impossible to walk in the sun as the temperature soars above 30C. To joke, some people bluff that if it gets any hotter, they might fry an egg on their car bonnet. This is life in the Mediterranean on a hot summer's day. To refresh oneself in these conditions, water is essential, either to drink and rehydrate or else to jump into and cool down. Then comes the evening and the cicadas make way to long lazy evenings, preferably outdoors. There is a smell of burning charcoal wherever you walk. People are outdoors because the houses inside still retain the heat that has accumulated during the day. As the sun starts to set, a nice breeze suddenly arrives. This is the time to enjoy the fruits of ones work. In this case, the recipe below is the essence of simplicity. What you need is a good relationship with your fishmonger. Tell him or her what you have in mind, make sure what you are buying is extremely fresh and then let … [Read more...]
Book review: Shadows in the vineyard – the true story of the plot to poison the world’s greatest wine
What kind of man the cellarer of the Monastery should be 1) As cellarer of the monastery should be chosen from the community, one who is sound in judgement, mature in character, sober, not a great eater, not self-important, not turbulent, not harshly spoken, not an off-putter, not wasteful. 2) but a God-fearing man, who will be a father to the whole community 3) He is to have charge of all affairs 10) He must regard the chattels of the monastery and its whole property as if they were sacred vessels of the altar (Chapter 31 of the Benedictine Rules, as posted in English inside the Burgundy's Abbey Notre Dame de Citeaux) So starts the book, Shadows in the Vineyard, the true story of the plot to poison the world's greatest wine. The author Maximillian Potter admits at the end of the book that when he came to write this story for a magazine and later turned it into a book, he knew very little about wine. This is all the more amazing because the book reads very well, has … [Read more...]
What I enjoyed reading this week (6)
Here is a list of interesting articles I have come across this week. Enjoy your Sunday with these nice reads. You will find a great article about wine fraud and counterfeiting from wine searcher here which is food for thought especially for the risk it involves of buying expensive wines. For those in the know, drinking wines from Fleurie or Morgon may no longer be considered as inferior pleasures. Have you ever wondered in awe about wine sommeliers and their incredible depth of knowledge about wines. Here you will find what it takes to become a master sommelier. Chablis is a fantastic wine region and wine that is excellent with seafood. Here you will find a great lesson about Chablis. Fast food has a very bad reputation for health. However, eating in restaurants might not be any better according to a study. If you are heading to Amsterdam any time soon here is a list of 10 pop-up restaurants or food hotspots you can find in this Dutch city. … [Read more...]
In Valletta head to Cafe Cordina for the perfect coffee
It is a cliche that has been written about many times but one which has stood the test of time. Valletta is a city built by gentlemen for gentlemen. It is Malta's capital city with a population of just under 7,000. Known in Malta as il-Belt (the City in English), it is essentially a Baroque city build in the 16th century built just after the Great Siege of Malta when the country was under the rule of the Order of St John. I will give you an insiders guide to Valletta in the coming days. But in the meantime, I will share one cafe which you should not miss when you are in Malta. Practically, every visit by locals to Valletta has to include a stop in one of the many cafes which can be found in this architecturally stunning city. There is however one cafe, which stands above the rest because of its stunning location, tradition and quality and because it has the only coffee counter on the island. This is Cafe Cordina. A walk down Valletta's main street, Republic Street leads you to … [Read more...]
Recipe 4: Pasta with fresh tuna and slivered almonds
The good fresh fish shops in Mediterranean countries are a joy to visit. When you have a kitchen available, all you need is to just follow your instinct and choose what is fresh and appealing. A visit to my favourite fish shop in Malta led me to fresh tuna, which at the moment is available in abundance and incredibly cheap. What I miss most about the Mediterranean is sea urchins or what we call in Maltese rizzi and in Italian ricci. I have been dreaming of a Spaghetti ai Ricci for a rather long time now. It is the thing I probably miss most from my home country But alas it was not available at my fish shop and it seems unlikely to be available anytime soon (probably the restaurants at this time of year buy whatever they can find given it is peak tourist season). There was an incredible choice but given the fact that the fresh tuna looking incredibly good, I opted for penne with tuna. The following is the recipe. Ingredients (Serves 4) 500 grammes fresh tuna … [Read more...]
Brussels: Knees to Chin: Asian, fresh and healthy
The area around Place Chatelain in Brussels is one of my favourite places to just walk around, just sit down for a drink or eat. It has a superb 'village feel' with many boutique stores which are a breath of fresh air in cities that are starting to look the same with the common branded high-street stores. It is one of the first areas of Brussels I discovered when I moved to this city nine years ago. And it is constantly evolving though it hasn't lost any of its charm. Old places which have stood the test of time are complemented by new establishments which open from time to time and which hope to also become regular fixtures of the area. Recently we stopped for a quick bite at Knees to Chin, a newish place on Rue Livorne, in between Avenue Louise and Place Chatelain. The concept is very simple but effective. If you are looking for a quick and healthy lunch this is the perfect place. They make rice paper rolls which you find in Asia. Using fresh ingredients these rice paper … [Read more...]