Enjoying ftira... with a spread of history

A food historian is out to convince the Maltese that they should rally behind the initiative to register the ftira on Unesco’s list of Malta’s Intangible Cultural Heritage. By Fiona Galea Debono The next time you bite into a crusty ftira on a quick guilt-tripping lunch break, think that this is more than just a chunk of bread – and a whole lot of carbs – but also a slice of intangible cultural heritage, and that “its production and consumption need to be considered before it is too late”. That may be quite a mouthful when you are just minding your own business, piling on the pounds. But for food historian Noel Buttigieg, ftira is his bread and butter in more ways than one – research into its past and its preservation into the future has been ongoing for 11 years. At a time when the consumption per capita of Maltese bread is decreasing, ftira becomes an immediate contender, he laments. “While the Maltese still consume bread, the market today is spoilt for choice. We have developed a taste for other breads [rather than Maltese], and the local market is now also importing it. “We are not saying that ftira is at risk, but its production and consumption need to be looked into before...