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Fermentation Atlas

Cereals and bread from Malta and Gozo

Ħobż tal-Malti (Maltese bread)ħobż tal-Malti

A lump of the previous day's dough is worked into a fresh batch, which rests and rises for a few hours. The dough is weighed into 650 g or 1 kg pieces, shaped into round loaves, risen briefly and baked into a crusty loaf with a very soft crumb. Made in 5 steps over 4.8 h – 5.8 h. The longest step, let the dough rise, takes 3–4 h (Malta Culture Directorate 2019).

Key numbers
Main step3–4 hReported[mt-inventory][amp2021]Let the dough rise
Temperature260 °CReported[kliewer2008]Bake
DocumentedCereals and bread4.8 h – 5.8 hMore cereals and breadMore from Europe

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedBakery process with no published recipe. Loaves start as 650 g or 1 kg pieces of dough.
Wheat flour · Some bakers now use more refined flour, which gives a less dense, whiter loaf[kliewer2008]
Dough from the previous day's batch · Gives the slightly sour taste; one Għargħur baker makes his starter dough (tinsila) with yeast, lukewarm water and salt[kliewer2008][amp2021]
Water and salt[amp2021]
Starter: backslop (a lump of the previous day's dough); some bakers also add yeast

Total time across the recorded steps: 4.8 h – 5.8 h

Start
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What changes: A lump of yesterday's dough is kneaded into a fresh batch

Step 1 of 5
Work the old dough into a fresh batch
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: fresh dough.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Ħobż tal-Malti is a round loaf baked for at least 90 minutes at a lower heat. Ftira, cut from the same dough, is flattened by hand and baked in under 20 minutes at 450 °C.

Related ferments

Variants

  • FtiraA flat ring or round cut from the same dough, shaped by hand and baked very hot; see its own entry.
  • Refined-flour and quick breadsSome bakers now use more refined flour or make breads that need no rising time, which gives a whiter, less sour loaf.

Safety

No safety study of Maltese bread was found. It is a long-baked bread with no special hazards.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Bread has long been Malta's staple, and bakeries were once places where villagers baked their own loaves and shared news. In 1919 the price of flour led to the Sette Giugno protests. Qormi, known under the Knights as Casal Fornaro, the bakers' town, is still the island's bread town.

  1. [mt-inventory] Malta Culture Directorate 2019, National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage, inventory form for il-Ftira (submitted with UNESCO file 01580; covers the dough shared with other Maltese breads)gov
  2. [kliewer2008] Kliewer G. 2008, Maltese bread, a changing symbol of the island's identity, Omertaa, Journal for Applied Anthropology (field school in Gozo, July–August 2008)paper
  3. [amp2021] A Maltese Pantry 2021, The effort of our daily bread (interview with a Għargħur wood-oven baker), 15 May 2021web
  4. [wp] Wikipedia, Maltese bread (Qormi and Casal Fornaro only)wiki