Malta: Part Six

Our final day's adventures took us off to Marsaxlokk, a traditional fishing village at the south of the island. After a fairly lengthy bus journey (and some slight confusion over stops!) we found ourselves walking along the pretty sea front of the village. 

Floating in the bay were brightly coloured, traditionally hand painted fishing boats. Many of these had eyes painted on their bows, which superstition says protects the boats from danger. These little traditional boats provide the fresh fish cooked up in the numerous restaurants spaced out along the sea front.

After wandering the length of the village, we settled down in one of these little restaurants and tucked into some of the local produce, all of which tasted wonderfully fresh! 

The village was incredibly pretty and it was interesting to see how the fishermen still used the traditional boats to catch fish. However, before long, it was time to return to our hotel and hunt down dinner!

That evening (our last evening!) we walked into the centre of St Julian's and chose a restaurant called 'Zest' which turned out to be a real treat! The menu was, as far as I was concerned, perfect. Advertised as 'east meets west', it was full of sushi, Thai curries, Japanese grills and noodle-y dishes. I was in heaven!

We ordered off one of their set sharing menus and tucked in to the mountain of food which then appeared.

Firstly, an amuse-bouche and cocktails.

Then, we started with sushi, sticky chelsea buns, chicken and lamb satay, dim sum parcels and a fantastic glass noodle salad. 

Followed by a trio of thai curries (Lu had another noodle dish as well but I can't quite remember what it was!).

And then delicious deserts which included a fiery chocolate and chilli fondant with raspberry sorbet.  

I just wish I'd had more room to eat more- by the end I was bursting!

Zest was fantastic- the food amazing and the staff incredibly accommodating. They had delivered a truly wonderful last meal on Malta. 

I had a brilliant holiday visiting Malta. Not only was the island beautiful, but everyone we met was incredibly friendly and willing to share something about the island and its fascinating history. I learnt more than I could have expected from such a short stay and I would love to return in the future to find out more! 

Cooking with Croissants

Jossi has a bit of a Nigella Lawson obsession. Luckily, she wouldn't be so mean as to keep this all to herself, so we got cooking!

Nigella does a fabulous range of express recipes which all look totally delicious and from my experience so far, really are quick and easy.

We chose to make this truly scrummy caramel croissant pudding - it literally took us about 10mins plus cooking time. We (being the poor impoverish students we are), skimped a little and just used 250ml of milk instead of 125ml of milk and 125ml of cream. For the same reason, we also missed out the bourbon, but it still tasted amazing!

Be careful when you're caramlising the sugar- I have to admit Joss and I burnt it the first time. The sugar retains a lot of heat, so as soon as it reaches the temperature where it starts to burn, you can whip it off the hob as fast as you like, but the damage is done- the sugar will carry on cooking. We found we had to watch the pan like hawks and the moment we saw the tiniest bit turn brown, we turned the heat right down. Then, when about 2/3 of it had caramalised, we turned the heat off completely and the sugar finished its self off.

This is where we burnt it first time- obviously not paying attention!

Being a bit more careful second time around...

Custard time

I'd definitely have to agree with Nigella when she says this is a meal in its self, but that didn't stop Jossi and I polishing off the entire dish!