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57
Q
is for qassatat
The aromas that hit you as you
wander down back streets of Maltese
towns are proof the inhabitants love
pastry. Qassatat – crunchy round
shells of short-crust pastry filled with
ricotta cheese, peas or spinach – come
top of their list. You’ll find them in
pastizzerijas and cafés across the
country. Sink your teeth into the best
ones at Crystal Palace, just outside the
mdina in Rabat and the Nadur bakery
(
St James Street
) on Gozo.
O
is for offal
European street food has its roots in
cheap, filling fare for labourers and
peasants – which is where offal comes
in. Nerbone, in Florence’s Mercato
Centrale, has sold
lampredotto
, a
stomach sandwich, since 1874; in
Istanbul, try
kokoreç,
an intestine and
sweetbread kebab, at the Kral Kokorec
stand (
54C Büyük Postane Cadisi
);
and in Tel Aviv, have the mixed grill
at Sima (
24 Harbaa Street
): hearts,
livers, spleen and lamb in flatbread.
N
is for nieuwe haring
In the same way that the French await
the arrival of the Beaujolais nouveau
each year, so the Dutch anticipate
the arrival of the
nieuwe haring
(new
herring) at the end of spring. After
thorough cleaning and preservation in
salt, the fish are served raw, garnished
with onions and sweet pickles from
vans all over Amsterdam, like the
revered family-run Stubbe’s Haring,
at the end of the Singel canal near
Amsterdam Centraal station.
P
is for panzarotti
Standing in line with well-dressed
businessmen and hungry shoppers
outside Luini (
16 Via Radegonda
) in
central Milan, you could be forgiven
for thinking that these fried dough
crescents are a local speciality. Not
so – the city has Giuseppina Luini
to thank for bringing the recipe
from her native Puglia back in 1949.
Traditionally stuffed with tomato and
mozzarella, panzarotti also come with
other fillings, both savoury and sweet.
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