BAKE IN TIME
Ella Messi speaks to Joseph Cassar – a lecturer at ITS who is also involved in ‘Taste History’ - a historical and unique dining concept created by Heritage Malta where guests get to eat in centuries-old ambience and to taste food consumed in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Tell us about your culinary background?
In 1998, I enrolled in a four-year Diploma course studying Food Preparation and Production at ITS. The course included a one-year internship, which I carried out in the UK. During the last 20 years, I worked in various restaurants and hotels under many talented chefs, mainly serving a la carte menus.
When did your love for cooking begin?
My love for cooking started at the age of 10, when I prepared a Swiss roll on my own. I used to spend a lot of time with my mother cooking and baking. She is an amazing cook and cake decorator!
“through research and experimental archaeology in the kitchen, we are recreating the tastes of the past, learning a little bit more about our small island nation”
What's your cooking style?
I love to adapt French classical dishes by incorporating current trends. When tasting a new dish I believe that it is very important to give that element of surprise by creating new textures in order to stimulate all our senses. I love to combine the art of cooking and science.
So, you're a lecturer at ITS; what do you teach?
For the past three years I have been lecturing at ITS, mainly teaching kitchen and larder, food trends, dairy processing and products, kitchen management, food fraud and other various modules at Higher National Diploma and Degree Level.
Tell me more about Taste History? And what can people expect from the menus?
Recently, a group of my students got involved in Taste History - a dining concept that was created by Heritage Malta. The food has been prepared in the same manner that used to be prepared back in the day, thus offering a unique, historical dining experience. This dining concept is based on continuous historical research of historical recipe books and kitchen inventories, that is carried out by Mr Liam Gauci, Mr Kenneth Cassar and Dr Noel Buttigieg to give the opportunity to guests to taste food that used to be consumed during the 17th and 18th century. Hence, through research and experimental archaeology in the kitchen, we are recreating the tastes of the past, learning a little bit more about our small island nation.
Have you ever taught past ITS students that have taken Malta's culinary scene by storm?
As mentioned above, I am relatively new to ITS, however in the past three years I have seen a good number of young talented chefs that I am sure will succeed in their professional journey.
What are your favourite three dishes to cook?
I would go for fresh stuffed pasta, slow roasted pork cheeks and a pan-seared Mediterranean fish. Nevertheless, I love to cook anything which is local and in season to get the best of the product.
What are your favourite Maltese dishes to eat?
Hard to tell…I just love good food! You cannot say no to fried rabbit with thyme and garlic, roasted lamb and stewed artichoke hearts.
What inspires you in the kitchen?
Creativity is my inspiration. Cooking is definitely not a boring job as a chef has the opportunity to keep motivated by creating new dishes. Having students wanting to start creating menus for their assignments and coming up with various ideas and then developing those ideas into something practical and successful, is an amazing experience.
What advice would you give anyone wanting to become a chef?
The first step in becoming a chef is to achieve the required culinary qualification from a culinary institute such as ITS. It is very important to start from the basics to build-up the necessary skills and knowledge in order to work in a kitchen in a professional manner. Then it is imperative to gain experience from the industry and anyone who wants to become a chef must be ready to work hard for long hours. Nevertheless, it is a rewarding job which gives a lot of self-satisfaction and brings about opportunities.
Food connoisseur, curiosity feeder and travel queen. A londoner, Elsa has lived in Tokyo and now based in Malta. I like what I C: Cheese, cats, consuming cuisines, canines, cooking, clothes and countries. I also like taking long romantic walks to the fridge.
