Going The Extra Meal

Growing up around the table is the basis for a gastronomic family culture. While Malta, back in the 80s was still underdeveloped compared to what it is today, the meal was a very important family time. It still is today as has been for centuries. In this sense, having a culture for meal-ing together is not necessarily what could be compared to a family culinary culture. To define the latter, I would say that a family culinary culture is one where recipes are passed down from one generation to another. What I am proud to say that my family is remembered for is the mealtime table experience that has left a lasting impact on my life.  The food was simple. Somehow, looking back I could say that the manners by which family members displayed utmost respect and etiquette did not match the food which was simple (yet delicious) basic home family cooking. So it is not for the fancy food or family recipes that my family is best remembered, but for the culture that they brought to th...

The table became a very special place. I, being more of an introvert could freely express myself at the table with others. In the pleasure of good food and good company, with a childhood of experiencing the table as a place of fellowship, the meal became a very important place to be, and thankfully, it is something that we can bank on doing every day, every time we sit down to eat! In all of this, my childhood memories of being at a meal are very special. Mealtime I dare say was extraordinary. People spoke to people with a spiced up familiarity that resembled that expected at a  royal gathering. Togetherness was enjoyed and even though the food was simple and did not match the etiquette by which I was brought up to observe, it made the meal time a place that had each and every one of us happy. It had the air of what would go down in history as a meal fit for the Roman Empire where discussions were kept stringent, customs were upheld, there was also an orderliness in the hi...

Meals were a time when we would calm down after running wild or wrestling with the ‘cousin pack’. The table was solemn, dare to say the sacred time when finally ‘we were all around the table’, meaning that we all had the same voice and mostly the same rights, except for a few consideration. Children ate on the children’s table and had to behave in order not to spoil the adults who joked away and laughed at memories and jokes while they ate and drank together. The children were not allowed to get up from the table except for toilet requirements, we were not allowed to ask for more and had to be happy with what there was on the table (it may sound like a clip out of Oliver Twist, although really it was still great fun). If we laughed too loud we were told to quieten down, for which the measure of loudness was regulated according to whether the adult table could hear themselves speaking to one another across the table. This still allowed ample space for shouting! In the midst of this, I ...