Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/364850
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 17 AUGUST 2014 10 News IT was a cold November morning back in 2011 when I visited Joe's Pastizzi, a small shop on Dundas Street West in Toronto. The area is home to most of the city's Maltese businesses and is a hub for expats. St Paul the Apos- tle Church prides itself on being home to a Maltese-Canadian par- ish and Joe's is one of a handful of shops in the area that make and stock Maltese food products. Walking in felt like a time warp. The walls were covered with framed pictures of everything from Maltese football teams (their play- ers no doubt retired by now) to the definitely retired yellow buses. Net TV played in the background. A very old calendar displayed pic- tures of Sliema, Valletta and Bu- gibba before development trans- formed them so profoundly. The interior would not have looked out of place in a village teashop on the pjazza. Mass let out and churchgoers huddled into the small shop and out of wet coats and hats. The crowd was mostly elderly, though a few grandchildren sat on knees here and there, picking at almond biscuits. Strains of Maltese rose above the chatter, with varying degrees of Canadian influence stretching the vowels all the way across the Atlantic. My host was an expat herself, on- ly a few years out of Malta. As she got to talking with her friends, one elderly gentleman turned to me and asked whether I was Maltese. I said I was. He asked which vil- lage I was born in. I told him. With that knowledge and the mention of a single surname, we discovered that his sister had worked with my grandmother, back when they were both teachers in the late 50s. It is astounding that such con- nections remain traceable. Sev- eral years and several thousand kilometres separated this man and the homeland he remembers, but the reach of memory remains as strong as ever. Joe's was testament to that – the Malta these patrons remembered no longer exists. What they were experiencing was the country they took with them when they packed their bags all those years ago. The blaring television, sitting beside some sepia family photos taken on some zuntier or other, was testa- ment to that. Why, then, was Joe's packed with people that Sunday morning? The microwave wouldn't stop pinging; the staff was in overdrive. It seemed like everyone wanted a coffee and 'wiehed irkotta, wie- hed pizelli'. That post-mass ritual had survived over the years. We ordered two ourselves and tried them. The taste? Well it didn't have that loud, crackling crunch but for a little pastry made a con- tinent away from home, it wasn't half bad. You wouldn't think pastizzi have this much power over a room full of chilly expats but it and other Maltese cuisine are exactly what gives this place and others like it their purpose. Food is an intrinsic part of home – one without the other makes both incomplete. Food, unlike home, can be transported and en- joyed far away. Food, also unlike home, is made anew every day – the key to a safe, beloved series of memories right there in Toronto or Melbourne or London. Joseph Pace, who owns Par- parellu in Hammersmith, says that patrons often feel like they're back home when they eat in his café. And that is something he and his staff encourage. "Most of my staff are Maltese and we are proud to give our fa- mous Maltese hospitality. I believe that the whole customer experi- ence is important not just to offer great food," he explains. "Also for our Maltese clients it is important that they can come to a place and speak our language." Laura's Catering Service in Mel- bourne produces Maltese spe- cialties that draw patrons from all over. "We find that we have clients driving hours to purchase our food, some as far as interstate Queensland and Adelaide," says the head chef. "95% of our retail clientele are Maltese, mainly the older genera- tion, and 90% of our catering cli- entele are European, with the ma- jority being Maltese." Here, far away from the con- straints of tradition, new and unu- sual interpretations of pastizzi are sold alongside the two traditional types, including curious combina- tions like apple and blueberry, and pizza flavor. Finding ingredients does not pose a problem. "Getting our hands on imported Maltese ingre- dients is not difficult in Melbourne but some Maltese herbs are hard to find as the seeds are not com- mon. Traditional food is hard to make because you have to keep it as authentic and traditional as possible." Parparellu on the other hand, ships the pastizzi in directly from Malta. "I wanted them to be com- pletely authentic. Whether it is the taste, shape and texture," Pace explains. Other foods like ross il- forn and rabbit are cooked fresh. A cosmopolitan city such as Lon- don makes even the most obscure ingredients available. Whatever the process involved, pastizzi remain top sellers for both Laura's Catering Service and Parparellu. And because eating is inherently social, places like and Joe's in Toronto become a focal point for communal reminiscence, the maintenance of a shared lan- guage – including some dialects, preserved in pristine condition through years of linguistic isola- tion – and the reinforcement of a bond that has already weathered many years of unique challenges. Pastizzi in particular are the per- fect ambassadors. Small, portable, freezable and simple to make, these much-loved snacks remain a favourite with expats and a de- licious curiosity for those who might never have even heard of the place the Maltese call home. And what could be more Maltese than sharing a chat and a coffee with friends over a heap of fresh pastizzi? The humble (but well- travelled) pastizz The Maltese diaspora spread us out across the two hemispheres, as far off as Australia right up to Canada. But RACHEL AGIUS wants to know how the expats have managed to stay close to the homeland through a small, flaky pastry. North America Joe's Pastizzi Plus, Toronto Malta Bake Shop, Toronto Michigan Italia Bakery, Michigan Malta's Finest Pastries, Toronto Britain Parparellu, London Mediterranean Delights, Peterborough Mama Malta Pastizzeria, Aberdeenshire Rococo Restaurant, Surrey Mediterranean Pastry, online Maltese Cross Food Store, online Australia Laura's Catering Service, Melbourne Bite Size Delights, Sydney Anthony's Pastizzi, Melbourne Pepe's Pastizzi Products, Sydney The Original Maltese Café, NSW Cafe Valletta, New South Wales Falzon & Sons, Victoria Neriku Pasta Traditional Handmade Maltese Food, NSW Pastizzi Café, NSW