Today was another lazy day much like yesterday. We stayed in the flat during the morning, me reading and Christine taking care of finances and emails. Around noon we made our sandwiches and set off for the rocks. It has remained in the mid-70s and partly cloudy, so it has been perfect weather for picnicking, sunbathing and swimming.
We found a reasonable spot on the rocks and ate our sandwiches. After a short rest, we then made our way into the water, which also has remained at a nice temperature for swimming. I don’t like swimming in cold water, and this sea temperature for me is just in that bearable range. I can get in the water pretty easily. Christine swam down along the shoreline a long way and enjoyed every minute of her swim. I’m a float person and don’t swim per se. I’m in and out within a few minutes. Nevertheless, it’s lovely being in the sea.
We lounged on the rocks for quite a while and finally took ourselves back to the flat. We have an engagement tonight; Carol Farrugia invited us to her flat for dinner. It’s Lampuki season and she wanted to cook us a lampuki dinner. We needed to rest up for that because first, the invite was for 7:30, and second, visiting Joe and Carol requires a lot of stamina. The 7:30 start time sounded like midnight to us since we’ve been in bed before 9:00 several nights the last week.
The Farrugias flat is a few blocks away in an old Maltese-style building. They’ve lived in their flat since they were married, 1975. Joe and Carol have differing opinions about many things, especially furnishings and what’s of value. Joe is old-fashioned and loves possessions handed down from generation to generation. That’s really important to him. It’s not to Carol and they spar over Joe’s stories about inheritances and items that others received that Joe was lamenting. Sitting at their dinner table is rather like watching a tennis match, our heads swiveling between Carol and Joe as they talk over each other. Joe is very proud of a beautiful old clock he inherited (which we had heard about in 2016) and as he talked about it, Carol said the same thing she said before, “oh no, not that clock again.” Joe loves clocks and has many, but Carol requires that all the strikers be disabled. I think the type of banter between them is what they have been doing over the years of their marriage. It is both entertaining and exhausting. Both feel very strongly.
Carol is a good cook, but she doesn’t cook much anymore, so her invitation to cook for us was very special. In our visits to Malta, we’ve seen lampuki on menus, always with a note “in season,” but we’ve never been in Malta during the lampuki season until now. Carol wanted to cook us lampuki, an important Maltese staple when in season. I knew it was fish, but I didn’t know anything about it.
Lampuki is the Maltese name for the dolphinfish (not to be confused with dolphins), dorado (Spanish name) or mahi-mahi (Hawaiian name), a kind of fish that migrates past the Maltese islands during the autumn. The fishing season for lampuki is from 15 August through to the end of December. How lampuki are caught is an ancient tradition.
Fishermen cut and gather the larger, lower fronds from palm trees which they then weave into large flat rafts. The rafts are pulled out to sea, usually with the small traditional fishing boats known as Luzzu, but can also be pulled out to sea by using larger modern fishing boats. Around midday, lampuki school underneath the rafts, seeking the shade as the fish are essentially surface dwellers. The fishermen first stay 15-30 feet away from the raft and repeatedly go around the raft pulling a silicone squid jig behind them until they catch something; they then leave the lampuka hanging off the side of the boat until other fish come and school next to it; then a mesh net is thrown over the schooling fish. This method is known as kannizzati and has not changed significantly since Roman times. The lampuki are used both for local consumption as well as export.
As anyone who has had mahi-mahi knows, lampuka is a wonderful white fish. It has lean flesh with a mild, sweet flavor profile, moderately firm texture and large, moist flakes. I loved it! Carol served it with caponata, rice stuffed tomatoes, and a lovely veggie antipasto plate. She is a good cook. And to top it all off, she made a trifle for dessert. I think Carol was most pleased with the trifle. She was like a kid serving and eating it.
It was an enjoyable evening, but we were practically nodding off at the table at 11:15, so we took our leave with kisses and warm wishes to each other. Carol and Joe have been very kind to us during our visits, especially Carol, who stays in touch and is anxious to tell us about activities around the area that we might be interested in attending. We so appreciate Carol and Joe. I’m really happy that Carol reached out to Christine on Facebook 3 years ago and reestablished contact. And we are happy that Eve has established a relationship with Carol’s daughters, Francesca and Rowena. Family connections are important.