Nothing tastes better than a rustic dish made with produce that has just been harvested straight from the land. Anyone who has ever experienced that is unlikely to dispute this claim. With that in mind, picture a traditional ftira being served to guests at the end of their tour of the fields and greenhouses at the Malta Sunripe visitor centre. Ftira, which looks like stuffed bread, is unremarkable in its appearance. It is also easy to prepare as an everyday lunch: Leavened dough is rolled out and topped with raw tomatoes and onions, as well as anchovies and olives. Drizzled with olive oil, the dough is folded over and baked at 180°C for 45 minutes until golden brown. The final result is a juicy, crispy and, above all, extremely tasty – even exquisite – bread-based meal. This dish is not only extraordinarily delicious but also so intimately linked to Maltese culture that UNESCO declared it Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2020.
From field to fork
"We serve ftira as part of a rustic meal that also features other produce from our farm," explains Joseph Muscat. "This allows visitors to get to know the fruits of our labour for themselves after taking a tour through our fields and greenhouses." Joseph Muscat manages his family's small-scale farm, which grows several crops. For the past two decades, he has also recognised and embraced the benefits of agritourism. As a matter of fact, hospitality is in his blood. Following a walk in nature, tourists are shown an engaging short film – available in 11 languages – that elaborates on what they have just seen. Malta Sunripe is more than just a farm that grows vegetables; it also has a section dedicated to turning freshly harvested produce into local delicacies, thereby literally shaping Maltese food culture.
Mgarr Valley
In Mgarr in the west of Malta near the megalithic temples of Ta' Hagrat and Skorbain, we are in one of the island's oldest towns. Home to some 3 000 residents and surrounded by farmland and vineyards, it is also not to be confused with the ferry port town on Gozo that shares its name. This Mgarr is nestled in its namesake valley, a few kilometres from the famous beaches of Gnejna Bay, Ghajn Tuffieha and Fomm ir-Rih. Beaches and bays are never far away in Malta.
Small-scale farming
Joseph Muscat comes from a farming family but started his own working life in a completely different sector, spending 16 years in banking. During his free time he helped his father and brother build greenhouses and eventually joined the family business full-time when his father retired. The combination of farming, turning the vegetables he has harvested into delicacies and giving guided tours clearly brings him joy. The tours of the calcium-rich farmland, typical of Malta, and his DIY greenhouses south of Mgarr take place all year, except during the hot summer months. This is followed by an informative film shown in a handsome auditorium and a rustic lunch featuring the farm's own produce.
"This way, our visitors understand that the undertakings of this small family-run farm are incredibly diverse and span more than 20 different plots of land. Because fertile and viable agricultural land is scarce in Malta, our fields and greenhouses are not homogeneous or contiguous." Our main focus is tomato cultivation, spread over 1.5ha of greenhouses. There is also an olive grove of just under a hectare and a 2ha vineyard planted with the indigenous grape varieties Gellewza and Girgentina. The family also works 6ha of open land, growing a further 35 crops in total. "Among other things, we cultivate heirloom vegetable varieties such as the Rosalia aubergine. This is a variety that my grandparents used to grow, and we have revived traditional artisanal methods to do so. Our very diverse range of produce makes our farm stand out from the rest and remain relevant. This approach poses plenty of the challenges for us but is all the more fascinating for our visitors."
Climate change
For several farmers, including Joseph Muscat, opening their farms to tourists is specifically a way to promote sustainability in their activities. "Thanks to EU subsidies, we have been able to build a visitor centre where we can also showcase the ways in which we prepare our vegetables artisanally, adhering to time-honoured recipes." During our visit, workers can be seen busy manually filling jars with elongated shallots in the open workshop. This is a simple pickled delicacy that is sold on site and online, along with various other food items produced here. By keeping the production in-house and running agritourism programmes, this artisanal farm has diversified to generate additional income and better meet its high running costs.
"Malta's agricultural sector faces huge competition from abroad due to products being imported ," Joseph Muscat comments. But he is particularly troubled by the impact of climate change. "We have only 150ml of annual rainfall, so we are largely dependent on irrigation and greenhouses. To manage the temperature in our greenhouses during an extended heatwave, we frequently spray the glass with lime to mitigate the effects of strong and excessively hot sunlight on our crops." That requires extra effort and makes running a small farm neither easier nor more appealing to the next generation. This is something that Joseph Muscat has also acknowledged. "I doubt my children will take over this business. Merging agriculture and tourism enables us to future-proof our work and make it more exciting. We are quite literally reaping the fruits of this, and tourists consistently respond enthusiastically." And by serving a ftira stuffed with produce from his own harvest to round off the rustic meal, he emphasises his love for his craft.
The third generation of agritourism on Gozo
"The islands of Gozo and Malta are not merely sunny holiday destinations with beautiful beaches," says Maria Spiteri. "At Ta' Mena Estate, we want to show that the local food culture on Gozo is absolutely worth exploring. The Maltese islands have more to offer than a pleasant, stable and sunny climate." In the last century, her grandparents had an artisanal farm where they grew vegetables and fruit, as well as pressing olive oil and making country wine. They were among the first in Gozo to focus on agritourism. As early as the 1970s, they invited visitors to pick their own fruit or harvest vegetables on their farm. "It was a small family-run business like so many others. In those days, most Gozitans had a garden or fields at home where they grew their own fruits and vegetables. They grew strawberries, figs, pomegranates or cacti, which they turned into jam, and local tomatoes to make their own passata or tomato paste. Some had orchards, others specialised in cultivating leafy greens. This diversity fostered a sense of community, with neighbours exchanging their harvests to ensure everyone had what they needed.
Representing the third generation of her family to run their small business in the tranquil Marsalforn Valley, Maria Spiteri has continued to expand operations with a wide range of produce. Oranges, pomegranates, figs, tomatoes and numerous other fruits and vegetables are harvested and transformed into delicatessen items. In addition to this, Ta' Mena Estate encompasses 10ha of vineyards, continues to maintain an olive grove and produces honey. "The tradition of producing homemade jam, marmalade or syrup remains strong among the people of Gozo. Carob tree is the most typical, and we usually use it in the winter months for medicinal purposes. Gozo is famous for its tomatoes, and we are the sole producers of traditional sweet tomato paste, handcrafted to my grandmother's recipe, which involves sun-drying the tomatoes. Even visitors from Malta, as local tourists, can appreciate the quality of our artisanal products; and all because our traditional, small-scale production methods have become something of a rarity."
With this approach, this family-run business aims to garner interest from both foreign and domestic tourists. "We are currently renovating our site and have expanded the farmhouse by adding 10 guestrooms, so we will soon be able to involve visitors more fully in our activities. This will give them the opportunity to learn about our traditional methods and savour the authentic flavours of our produce." Currently, visitors can purchase Ta' Mena Estate goods at the farm in the Marsalforn Valley, where Maria and Marnese Spiteri present an extensive selection of exquisite food items to sample.
Brand-new agritourism on Gozo
The plateau of Kercem on Gozo is home to one of the newest forms of agritourism on the Maltese islands. What stands out first during a visit to Tuta Agrotourism is the breathtaking view of the popular seaside resort Xlendi. Brothers Jochen and Stephan Tabone have been receiving guests at their brand-new hotel since last year. Taking a farm-to-table approach, they source a range of produce to serve at breakfast, and at their restaurant, from their farm 300m away. Nearby, their uncle runs a dairy farm with 70 cows and some greenhouses, which patrons are also welcome to visit. There are expansive and beautifully maintained lawns between the hotel rooms, which have been built as individual, modern units. "We can make use of a licensed underground water source to grow vegetables locally and create a beautiful garden in this environment despite the hot weather," says Jochen Tabone. "However, farming remains challenging. We receive sufficient subsidies, but we nevertheless struggle to sell our produce at a fair price. Fortunately, we also receive subsidies for the development of agritourism, which helps make our diverse activities more sustainable. That's why we have partly shifted to agritourism, which adds an extra dimension to our patrons' stay."
A significant reason for the waning interest in agriculture on the island is the misconception of what farming actually entails. Tuta Agrotourism seeks to address this in part by engaging visitors more directly with farming life. They also hold educational talks explaining the intricacies of agriculture, the skills required and the lifestyle that goes with it. Finally, there is the restaurant, where Stephan Tabone showcases their own produce in distinctly Gozitan dishes brimming with flavour and character.
