British colonial Malta : a melting pot of culinary diets (1800-1900)

Abstract

In 1844, seven British subjects stopped at Malta on their homebound trip from India. Among the several observations recorded after a twelve-day period of quarantine in the Lazaretto detention quarters of Malta (Galea, 1966), one of the members of this group put in writing the reactions of some of his friends during a particular dining experience of a three o’clock dinner. These compatriots reacted with adjectives such as ‘suspicion’ and ‘distrust’ when this perspective, claiming the service to be good and clean, ‘comprising of English and French modes de cuisine as well as could be desired.’ He then lists the selection offered in this table d'hôte: …soup à la Julienne, and a dish of horse mackerel; roast beef à l’Anglais (the beef comes to Malta from Tunis, and after serving quarantine, is fattened for the table); a fricandeau of sweetbread in a well-flavoured sauce; a stewed breast of mutton mashed potatoes, a macaroni, peas or French beans, or artichokes, an apricot tart, cheese and a salad. Oranges, cherries and strawberries compose our dessert, and we drink a pint of Marsala (Anon., 1844, p. 60).