A Vegan Wedding: One Maltese Restaurant’s Mostly Meat-Free Celebration And The Challenges It Faced
Veganism and vegetarianism are taking over but if there’s one thing that’s synonymous with food in Malta, it’s wedding season, and more and more couples are looking for meat-free options for their special day.
Lovin Malta reached out to The Sixth Leaf, who recently catered a massive wedding that served mostly vegan and vegetarian food to get their take on whether this environmentally friendly and animal-free option could become the norm in Malta.
However, it quickly became clear from the owners that there are major challenges for the vegan industry in Malta and is looking for ways that the rest of us can integrate this in our lifestyles a little more.
The July wedding was in itself a rousing success, with chefs serving up some delicious looking dishes that catered to several different dietary needs.
It wasn’t a small menu either, with The Sixth Leaf presenting 33 items, 19 of which were vegan, 10 were vegetarian, two were pescatarian, and only one dish included meat.
Here are some of their stunning vegan and vegetarian items:
1. Goat cheese and purple yam parfait, and Pickled pumpkin roses stuffed with spicy matcha green tea and avocado mousse garnished with micro amaranth.
2. Beetroot cannoli with smoked bell pepper puree and a cheesy cracker, and pecan and cognac pate with red currant chutney.
3. Poached mango nigiri with spicy avocado mousse and hibiscus salt, and smoked carrot falafels with basil hummus and edible flowers.
Goats cheese and purple yam parfait (left), and pickled pumpkin roses stuffed with spicy matcha green tea and avocado mousse garnished with micro amaranth (right)
The menu was coloured with extraordinarily creative items which both sound and look delicious. Yet, when speaking about the creation process, the owners admitted that it wasn’t all fun and games.
“The experimentation process consists of constant fights and arguments – there are a lot of feelings involved. But once we have the final product it’s all worth it,” Penka said.
“If you don’t go through all those feelings and emotions you won’t come up with that final product that makes you proud. It makes us appreciate the product so much more,” Waleed Bayumi, Penka’s husband and co-owner of the restaurant, said.
When asked about creating the wedding menu, they explained that it involved a lot of different factors.
“We came up with the menu out of nowhere, it’s how we always create new dishes – just using our sick minds,” Penka joked.
“We used some of the items from previous menus since we change it every four to six weeks according to what’s in season. However, the new items were just a product of brainstorming, research, and speaking with our clients. We love it,” Waleed explained.
Beetroot cannoli with smoked bell pepper puree and a cheesy cracker (left), and pecan and cognac pate with red currant chutney (right).
Despite their admirable passion, the couple did admit that the process came with some challenges.
“Right now, there’s a shortage of staff and there are even less staff that are educated about different food preferences, intolerances, and allergies. This makes the process a lot harder for us.”
“We understand what we need to do and we are well prepared, however, the difficulty comes with the logistics of products – there is a very small market of vegan products in Malta. It’s very hard to find new places or suppliers that sell some of the products that we need.”
“In fact, we’re currently suffering from the lack of availability of a lot of grains which are one of the main components in these diets. And we’re not talking about the usual grains like rice, we’re talking about grains that are very common in other countries but impossible to find over here. However, when there’s a will there’s a way,” Penka continued.
Poached mango nigiri with spicy avocado mousse and hibiscus salt (left), and smoked carrot falafels with basil hummus and edible flowers.
They further explained that while there is a slight price difference, it would not be that much more expensive to finance a vegan wedding.
“To be honest, there are still many products that are more expensive than the normal ones, especially since we still have to pay VAT on some of these items, like soy milk.”
“In general, while there are some items that are more expensive, there are others that cost the same as the traditional dishes. Let’s say that vegan catering at a wedding might cost around 10% more than a traditional one.”
Vegan steak florentine
All-in-all the pair are very passionate about veganism, vegetarianism, and a healthy and sustainable lifestyle in general.
In fact, they won the Best Healthy Restaurant of the year from the Malta Business Awards.
They also ensured that none of their items at the wedding had any form of plastic involved – be it casing or cutlery. This is something that they practice at their establishment too.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of demand in Malta, they had to alter their vision and include some meat and fish items into their menu at The Sixth Leaf.
However, they hope that, in time, Malta will adapt to a more vegan-friendly lifestyle, and they can go back to their original dream.
They explained that the best way that this can happen would be through education. Citizens should learn about the benefits and drawback of all types of diets and be encouraged to step out of their comfort zones a little, as should fellow chefs.
Of course, there is a big responsibility when catering to people with different food preferences, establishments should be well researched and educated on different diets to ensure the best quality.
Ultimately, their final message was don’t knock it until you try it. Vegan food isn’t just plain salads and vegetables, there’s a world of flavour that can be discovered if you just explored less-conventional menus.
The pair take a lot of pride and joy in their work, and through speaking with them we could tell that they’re constantly creating and experimenting with new ideas and flavour to provide their customers with the best products that they can.
So, if you feel like taking a small step out of your comfort zone, go visit The Sixth Leaf – they have plenty of options that will leave you happy and satisfied.
Would you be interested in having a vegan wedding?
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