To give an idea of their local flavour, literally, it is a habit for national pavilions at international fairs and events to treat visitors to nibbles representative of their culinary delights.
Slices of Feta cheese are proudly served by Greek delegates, Cypriots may come up with their Halloumi and Germany is likely to present Bratwurst.
Those manning Malta’s stand know exactly how to compete and attract interest: pastizzi (baked pastry filled with either ricotta or mushy peas), imqaret (diamond-shaped date-filled pastry), bigilla (paste made of dried broad beans), ftira (flattened sourdough bread) and ġbejniet tal-bżar (pickled and peppered round cheeselets made of sheep milk) never let them down.
Only, while the foreign items are among the most popular food products enjoying protected status, 17 years after joining the EU, variants of the humble Maltese savouries can be made by anybody, anywhere without any restrictions whatsoever.
At least, the humble ftira was last year inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, becoming the first Maltese local product to obtain formal international recognition.
May the ftira success herald a more widespread recognition of the Maltese culinary heritage and traditions. However, judging by recent experience, that may prove to be an uphill battle.
An attempt to apply for the EU’s protected designation of origin status for the ġbejna failed. This was not because the product did not make the grade but on what appears to be purely commercial grounds.
The Maltese sheep and goat herders had submitted an application to the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority to set the ball rolling to get the EU label. The application defined the ġbejna as “a fresh cheese produced with whole raw milk from sheep of the ‘Maltese’ breed and its crosses and that are registered in the Maltese archipelago islands, including Malta, Gozo and Comino”.
It also argued that the ġbejna has become an integral part of the country’s culinary heritage and even made its way into several Maltese expressions and idioms.
In an ‘opinion’ last summer, the regulator concluded that the “proposed protected product name/term is not being recommended with the wording ‘Ġbejna’ due to the current lack of consensus of the relevant and interested stakeholders”.
A spokesman told Times of Malta the term ġbejna had come to be used across the board to refer to cheeselets and not specifically those made using traditional ġbejna techniques.
The herdsmen pointed their finger at Malta Dairy Products, though a spokesman said the company favours protection and obtaining an EU food quality label for the ġbejna whether made from sheep’s, goat’s or cow’s milk.
In fact, the bone of contention seems to be the sheep’s milk the herdsmen say must be used to produce the ġbejna whereas many of the mass-produced variants available in supermarkets are made using cow’s milk.
Of course, if an EU label is obtained, cheese producers would only be able to use the term ġbejna if the product is made according to a strictly traditional recipe and herding guide as approved by Brussels.
There may still be a glimmer of hope.
The agriculture authorities had moved to save the ġbejna from potential extinction a few years ago by protecting it from EU restrictions on milk products.
Surely, an effort can be made to bring the herdsmen and milk products processors closer to agree on a common stand and find a way to have this traditional Maltese delicacy recognised.