Sept 2015 - Week 3

Monday was dead calm; the boats at anchor sat stock still as if on dry land. We ended an uneventful day with a flatbread for me and chicken salad for Sam.

Tuesday was busy! I went shopping and got a haircut. My hairdresser, from Liverpool, must be the only bloke in Malta with dyed blond hair and a fake suntan. I went to the Atrium and HomeMate and finally I have found BBQ fish grills – wire frames that hold fish in place while you BBQ them. I drove to Xemxija via Golden Bay and had an excellent cappuccino and a carrot muffin (again). And, honest Indian, I did lots of work too! Sam didn’t come with me as she was feeling a bit off colour. There are more bugs about now – flies, beetles, gnats and mozzies to name a few – so we are being careful to keep our windows and doors shut or fly screens in place. Shouldn’t be for long though. In a couple of weeks October will be here and with it we can expect some cooler weather with a bit more rain. For dinner we had pilau rice, roasted chicken and salad.

Wednesday we had a replacement dining table delivered as the existing one had been delivered new with a small mark on it. The guys assembled the new table and left but we realised it was too narrow so they came back and put the old one back up again!

We went to Miracles for a pre-dinner drink then went on to the New Madras Indian restaurant, our first visit there. It is just a short walk from Bugibba square. It was okay, which means not great but not poor either and we will go back. Everything was too salty, the papadams slightly singed, the Bombay potatoes tasteless (like roast potatoes with some tasteless herb and spice mix added) and the two air conditioners were hopelessly inadequate for the room.

But on the positive side, the onion bhaji and chicken 65 were good, if salty; chicken 65 is apparently a dish of chicken breast pieces covered in 65 spices and lemon juice and deep fried. For my main I had chicken Jalfrezi which was nothing like any chicken jalfrezi I have had previously and didn’t have any fresh chillies in it. However, it was a tasty, if too salty and otherwise mild, stir fried dish of chicken, green peppers and spices. Sam had butter chicken which was good (except for the salt) and we had sides of Bombay potatoes, and naan breads (which were excellent).

The service was friendly and not too hurried. The room itself was small with not many more than 20 covers. The toilets were spotless. Oh, and we were interrupted by a passing cockroach that skipped across the room to a spot under a table by the window. The diners moved and the staff rushed in; I missed the denouement, but I’m guessing a certain amount of squashing under foot and scraping up was involved! Given Malta’s climate, I suspect most restaurants could say, “There but for the grace of God go I,” so we shouldn’t judge too harshly on that score.

Let’s face it, the New Madras is not the Taj Mahal of Douglas or the Pavilion of London, but on balance it was worth the visit and we will return. Our waiter did promise to rein in the salt next time. If, however, you have a heart condition, you may wish to consult your doctor before risking the salt overload.

And, you may have guessed, we went to the Ice Cream Factory on the way home. Actually, it seems to have changed its name along the way to Sotto Zero. Sam and I shared a cup with two scoops; stratiacella and cherry. Ooh yeah baby ooh, ooh!

Thursday we went to the Atrium and bough a decent set of oven-proof saucepans. The saucepans provided by the landlady are adequate but the Atrium has a 40% off sale so it made sense to get some decent ones before the winter arrives, when we will more likely be living on casseroles and soups. Sam had physio on her back. Other than the we worked a lot.

I cooked one of our favourite vegan meals for dinner; chickpea and grilled vegetables casserole. I BBQ peppers and aubergines and mix them with onions, garlic, tomatoes, stock and spices and it tastes fab-u-lous!

Friday the temperature rose back up into the 50s. I am pleased to be able to report that our new small saucepan is excellent at heating up baked beans. After lunch we went for a 45 minutes swim in Ghardia Bay. The shallows were like a warm bath – the sea temperature today was 27° - so we swam out a bit to cool off. The sea besides us suddenly erupted with gazillions of small fish leaping frantically out of the water followed by a large fish seeking a late lunch. Other than that it was wonderfully peaceful just to float in the clear, calm turquoise water. On the way home we stopped at Xemxija Café for cappuccinos and cakes, and we bought fruit from the fruit and veg man who sets up his mobile shop in the car park there every day.

The hills around Mellieha look parched after a long summer. The rocks and earth sit impassively waiting for the autumn rains. They are a deep terracotta and call to mind the desolate foothills I saw in New Mexico. Adobe buildings wouldn’t look out of place here. And if Clint Eastwood rode by on a lathered horse we wouldn’t bat an eye. Cicadas call incessantly, a natural soundtrack to our lives this time of year, and one I will miss in the months to come. Perhaps it’s my imagination but I get a sense of anticipation of change, as if summer is giving us its last gasp effort to cling on but knows it must soon let go.

For dinner we had roasted butternut squash smothered in left over chickpea and BBQ vegetable casserole and it was delicious.

Saturday the humidity returned with a vengeance and that, combined with temperatures in the sun soaring into the 50s again, made going outside a punishment. But we had to; we went to Sirens to get a partial refund of our membership fee, then on to Pash for a very nice cappuccino, then we did some shopping for dinner. I don’t think wild horses could have dragged us outside again and we spent most of the day in the lovely air conditioning.

Dinner was fantastic. The lampuki season has arrived. Lampuki is the Maltese name for mahi mahi, a fish in the dolphin family that actually looks very similar to mackerel in shape. We had them simply seasoned with salt, pepper, lemon juice and parsley and I BBQed them to perfection. We ate them with potato wedges lightly seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne. Talk about lip smackin’ good!

Sunday was breezy which gave us a break from the humidity. We went to Miracles for breakfast, a cappuccino for me and a cappuccino and bruschetta with feta cheese for Sam. We wandered on and bought a couple of CDs and ended up at Sotto Zero. I had peanut butter crunch and amaretti and Sam has stratiacella.

That evening we went out to celebrate – it is a year to the day since we arrived in Malta! We went, as usual, to Miracles for a pre-dinner drink then tried a new restaurant, Venus. I have reviewed it on my food blog, so rather than repeat that here, you can read the review on the blog itself.