Gozo best ftira and pizza – Free Food Tasting Tour of Gozo!

Gozo best ftira

 

Gozo best ftira preparing and eating in the countryside was the main activity of our amazing free food tasting tour surprise we prepared for our guests from Germany!

After we picked them from Mediterranea Seaviews Gozo boutique accommodation  we visited some amazing hidden local gems, enough to start getting very hungry!

Then, we went for lunch.

No, not a restaurant!

Got to one of our favourite Gozo family bakeries and there we had the Gozo best ftira, the local pizza version perfectly done in the old log oven.

In Malta and Gozo, the ftira has a thicker crust and dough similar to bread making and different toppings.

But the Gozo best ftira looks and tastes are second to none!  

gozo ftira at mediterranea seaviews holidaysongozo.com

There, the bakers and I invited our guests to actually help us prepare the ftiras in the oven.

Guests were simply delighted with such hands-on-activity and pizza making on Gozo.

In these pictures, Rosi and Ewald, our guests are taking out very carefully 🙂 the fresh sheep cheese ftira…

ftira Gozo

…and then also taking out from the old oven the mouth-watering Gozo tuna ftira or pizza.

Gozo ftira making at Mediterranea Seaviews Gozo

The cheese ftira just taken out from the old log oven. Incredible aroma!

Rosi and Ewald could not stop taking pictures!!! 🙂 while at the same time, we were all in a such a hurry to start dining!!! 🙂

Gozo best ftira

After leaving the bakery, we found a secret panoramic spot, away from it all… and there we had the ftiras (plural of ftira) together. 

It was truly another great experience for our guests and a wonderful experience for us hosts.

It’s a huge satisfaction when guests could not stop talking about the local experiences they have just had. They look back at their past holiday experiences…. and soon realise about the BIG difference of staying in a hotel or hotel chain or third party companies or group of holiday homes with so many villas, farmhouses and apartments…..AND the beauty, peace of mind and true experience when guests go local and book direct with the local owner.

Gozo best ftira is very juicy with a crunchy crust – typical of Gozitan ftira bread.  In brief, a ftira or pizza to die for!!! 🙂

ftira Malta

L-ikla t-tajba! / Enjoy your meal!

Ftira making and Free food tasting experience provided to all guests at Holidays on Gozo

 

I Found The Best Bakery on Gozo

Gozo bread

Gozo bread

Part of my work in running boutique self-catering accommodations on Gozo and providing a truly personalised hospitality is certainly recommending the right places, which sites and when to visit and also where to buy authentic locally produced food and eat out.  This is one of such places where to meet locals and eat the local way.

It’s Saturday morning, 6 January 2018.  Just another perfect day with the lovely sunrise and day temperature expected to be 20 degrees Celsius (maltairport.com).

Gozo Malta weather - maltairport.com

It is exactly 7.00am at Debono bakery in the very centre of our village-by-the-sea of Ghajnsielem on the island of Gozo.  Oven temperature is almost 500 F, equivalent to 260 degrees Celsius.  Robert and Terik, the bakers have already been working for over three hours. The freshly baked bread is finally ready.

Gozo bread oven temperature

Unfortunately words cannot describe the aroma of the bread coming out from the bakery oven!  Robert and Terik are very busy bringing one Maltese traditional bread after another, putting each one side by side in long wooden boxes called tilari in Maltese.

After the bread is all taken out, you can still hear the tender sound of the crispy bread.

Malta Gozo bread

The Maltese traditional round bread is locally known as il-hobza Maltija, It is normally baked in two sizes, small and large.  At the bakery, the locals started coming to get the freshly baked crispy round bread.  I could hear a lady asking the third baker Naim for Wahda kbira jekk joghgbok that is one large bread, please.  Another man soon asked for two small ones and very well done – Aghtini tnejn zghar u ftit mahruqin.

The locals have different likes for the bread. Some of them prefer the Maltese round bread more white in its texture that is just baked to the minimum. Others, however, prefer their bread to have a crunchier crust and therefore some Maltese bread are perfectly baked to have that special dark brown crust.

At the bakery, apart from the Maltese round bread, one can also buy the traditional loaf, which is more of an oblong shape. Clients who prefer to have a thicker crust generally tend to buy the local loaf.

Gozo bread Ghajnsielem

By 7.15 all the Maltese round bread and loaves are ready. However for Robert and Terik it was time now to put into the oven more bread doughs.  In a few minutes, all the bread doughs in the remaining four wooden boxes were put inside the oven.

Gozo bread dough

Gozo bread doughs

Gozo bread dough in Ghajnsielem

Gozo bakery Ghajnsielem

Gozo bakery

Meanwhile, Naim was busy using the bread slicing machine to slice both the traditional round bread and loaves and put them into plastic bags. This is normally done after the bread is no longer warm. Some of the locals prefer to have it sliced ready for toasting and sandwiches.

Gozo bread slicing

Gozo sliced bread

At the bakery I could not but notice the delicious local pizza known as ftira.  The ftira is similar to pizza but with a thicker dough and crust as well as different toppings. Basically, at the bakery you find two types of ftira. The tuna ftira and the anchovy ftira. Both of them contain toppings such as thinly sliced potatoes, onions, red tomatoes, capers, olives, olive oil and of course either tuna or anchovy. Being a local, it is not the first time that I have to phone Robert, Terik or Naim to specially hold for me some ftiras because like the bread, ftiras at Ghajnsielem Gozo are sold out in a few minutes!

Gozo pizza ftira

Gozo ftira in Ghajnsielem bakery

Of course if you are on holidays on Gozo and would like to try some bread, at the bakery you can find also the ftira tal-hobz or pizza like bread which is perfect for toasting or filling with ham or cheese or tuna and salad. So, the next time you visit the bakery and you ask for a pizza style ftira, kindly identify if it’s tuna or anchovy you prefer. If you simply ask for a ftira you will be handed the pizza like bread you can then fill in with your favourite cheese, ham, salad and other fillings.

Gozo food

Gozo ftira bread

Other bread you will certainly enjoy would be the buns locally known as panini. These are very popular with families to prepare a healthy school lunch for their children but also for parents themselves at work!  There are also the mini loaves, bziezen zghar. In the local street food, you will find these widely used for burgers and hotdogs as well.

 

Best time to visit?

Certainly in the morning when the bread is just ready.  Absolutely irresistible!  You can just eat the bread by itself or as the most popular Maltese snack, hobz biz-zejt that is crispy bread with halved red tomatoes, olive oil, sea salt, freshly grounded pepper, Mediterranean capers and fresh basil leaves.

Opening hours

It is open every day – mornings and afternoons. Freshly baked round bread, loaves, buns and mini baguettes, tuna and anchovy ftira every morning from Monday till Saturday.  Saturday and Sunday evenings are pizza making only.  We’ll talk about that in another post.

How to get here

From the Mgarr ferry terminal take bus #303 or #323 and stop at bus stop named Loretu.  The bakery is just across the Our Lady of Loreto Square, Ghajnsielem.

Will the baker understand me?

Yes definitely.  Maltese people are bilingual. Maltese and English are both official languages on the Maltese islands.  Practically the whole population speaks both Maltese and English and a large majority speak Italian and some German and French.  Besides, people here are friendly and helpful.

Gozo hobz biz-zejt

L-ikla t-tajba!  Enjoy your meal!

 

Checkout our latest new addition: an amazing boutique beach apartment just 40 sec walk from Xlendi beach.

Xlendi Central Apartment