Food, family, food, fun and more food

I became part of a wonderful extended family 3 years ago when I met my equally wonderful boyfriend. I have grown more fond of them all as the years have progressed.

This family is Maltese, which is really funny considering my late husband was also Maltese (one could say I have a very specific 'type'!)

Part of the beauty of this is that I already know about the nuances that a Maltese family brings. As someone who has been exposed to this from quite a young age, I can almost understand the language!

But perhaps my attraction to this group of people is because I am such a foodie, and the maltese mamas.... gosh can they cook! My boyfriend has a wonderful mama who was a dedicated and loving mum to 4 children, an amazing cook, and a generous and kind soul.

"Mama Gatt", as I call her, threw me a surprise birthday dinner last night with the entire family. It was amazing! As always, we started with soup. Tomato soup. But as always hers had a twist.

Bacon!

Coz Mama Gatt understands that bacon makes everything better :)

Then an amazing dish that I have heard so much about over the last 3 years, Laham Fuq il-Fwar (pronouced lamb fool fwah). Until last night, when I asked how this dish was spelled, the rest of the family thought it was lamb. Nope, it's Maltese steamed beef. And it simply falls apart.

It is served with mashed potatoes and peas, and there are some pretty specific rules around dishing it out, as another "in-law" discovered as he went to cut the meat.... the entire clan of siblings descended on him, shouting instructions over each other in their haste to preserve the structure of the meat, and the "proper way" to eat this dish! Suitably put in our places, we both sat back while Papa Gatt, the patriach of this quirky clan, showed us how it was done - meat, then mash and peas, the pour the gravy over the mash and peas.

The dish was, to put it mildly, succulently delicious!

But wait that was by no means, all!

We had, not one, not two, but THREE desserts!

Mama Gatt had remembered me saying in passing that my favourite sweet dish of hers is apple crumble. This simple dish that I have made plenty of times before, becomes a culinary miracle when made in her kitchen! It is both crunchy and caramel-y all at the same time... and got all the leftovers to myself! ha!

There was also lemon meringue pie, a family favourite, and chocolate cake with cute candles. All in all, the spread was exactly what I call a manifestation of why we have bodies and taste buds. In short, it was utterly satisfying.

But. more satisfying was the feeling that I have been one hundred percent accepted and embraced into their lives, and that is infinitely better than anything you could dish up.

Blessed doesn't begin to cover it :)