WATCH: Is Pizza Raġel A Thing? We Took To The Streets Of Malta To Find Out In The New Episode Of Lovin Eats
Pizza is to food what geometry is to maths, and while we might not exactly be an ace at the numbers we are an ace at finding some of Malta’s best foodie joints.
Malta’s iconic square pizzas are famous for the thick and exquisite crust, amazing stretchy cheese and for being found all over the island – but where is the best square pizza on the island?
Johnathan Cilia’s back with episode seven of Lovin Eats and he’s teamed up with Bolt once again to show us what’s up with Malta’s square slices…
First stop: Maracana in Birkirkara
As Johnathan points out in the video, this place is the actual reason it can take you half an hour to get through Birkirkara in the middle of the day.
Maracana is so revered by the locals that they’re willing to pull up on the curb to grab a hot piece of cheesy bread. With an obvious kunserva tone in the taste, this slice is definitely worthy of its title: The Traffic Slice.
Our next stop is Alice in Spinola Bay
This place sells their slices by weight, but their recipe tilts more towards the Italian side of things. Simplicity At Its Finest, this slice is definitely approved by our Bolt driver Sylvan (although he went for a Neapolitan slice and Johnathan went for a plain Jane without any toppings).
Sylvan then took us over to Żebbuġ for some tasty education, courtesy of Jeff’s and Sphinx.
Apparently, old-school pizza lovers in Malta used to refer to a pizza with olives as pizza mara and a slice with sausage and eggs is a pizza raġel. Mind. Blown.
But suddenly everything also makes sense. Are we in the pizza Twilight Zone?
No, we’re in Rabat to check in with Pie Master.
Our research told us that pizza raġel u mara’s names originated in Rabat, but the guy behind the counter was clueless when we asked for a slice of either. “Mela gidba, hi’, Johnathan says in response.
Muscat Pastizzeria in Pieta broke the rules by serving up more of a round piece, kind of like a petit pizza.
We won’t complain though, because this baby was covered in mozzarella and felt like biting into a cloud.
Ghaxaq’s Four T’s Pastizzeria was finally crossed off of our lists.
So, you can all stop asking us to pass by in the comments (but do keep those suggestions coming!). If you thought Johnathan went wild for chicken skins, you haven’t seen anything yet when he discovers pizza skins are a thing.
Sidenote: am I the only one who wants to see Johnathan sit down for a slice with Adrian Zammit?