Not child's artwork, but messy, gooey, gorgeous prinjolata carnival cake

This is a cake designed to appeal to kids, or the kid in us adults. While Christmas cakes are ice-rink smooth perfection, the prinjolata, which starts appearing in cafés and confectioners in late January and therefore well before carnival, is a mound of mess. Splattered with melted chocolate, pine nuts and glacé cherries glowing neon artificial green and red, the prinjolata is like a kids’ art session crossed with a Betty Crocker Angel Food Cake.

Its name comes from prinjol, pine nut, which is similar to the Italian word, pinoli. But pine nuts seem to be just a bit of decoration. The cake itself, which can be a counter-top mountain (as in the St James’ Cavalier café), is made of cream, sponge, citrus peel and biscuits. It has a substantial calorie count with its condensed milk and a bit of a boozy bite to it with its Vermouth content.

My son drools when he sees it. I have to say my stomach turns at its grotesque carnival appearance. But I do admit that it is the epitomé of pre-Lent excess and puts the Protestant Shrove Tuesday pancake in the shade. The prinjolata certainly does use up any fattening ingredients that might be in the store cupboard.

If you feel like giving it a go at home, this seems a good recipe source for it. Decorating it could make for a fun mid-term activity with the kids. If you fancy tasting it, cafés sell it by the slice, and some places have smaller, almost individual-sized plated domes of it for sale. You’ll need a sweet tooth to enjoy it; seeing it is the greater pleasure I think.

Photo: Peter Grima [Know Malta]

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Behind the mask of madness lies a heap of history.

Carnival is on the horizon. If you’ve children, carnival seems to happen almost back to back with Christmas and New Year as kids always leap at the next chance to have a holiday. So, with around three weeks to go, I am being told of local shops with costumes for hire and pestered about hiring one now, should the best be gone by the time I bother.

Carnival’s history in Malta is well documented here. It was a key festivity in the religious calendar in Malta under the Knights of St John. While encouraged at first, its growing licentiousness, rowdiness, brawls and wild festivities in general made some Grand Masters curtail and even censure it in various periods.

Certainly, it has included elements that might make today’s kids pale as they make their annual and harmless trek mid-term to Valletta to see the floats in their ‘grand défilé, with the King Carnival pride of place. You’ll find the 2010 Carnival Programme (12-16 Feb) here. Carnival is centred on Valletta, where the city gate was demolished in the late 1950s, as urban legend has it, to build one high and wide enough for floats to pass through!

Some aspects of the darker sides of carnival’s history – the macabre, lewd and grotesque – live on. The Nadur carnival in Gozo, is one of the only surviving spontaneous (rather than totally organised) carnivals today, and definitely includes some blacker moments, though probably none as vicious as those in the times of the Knights. Last year’s did see some of the revellers, who had dressed as nuns and one as Jesus, hauled up in the courts for violating a ban on villifying the Catholic Religion. The case spawned a Facebook group calling on lots of people to go to the Nadur carnival this year dressed as Jesus.

If you do delve into the history of Malta’s carnival though, you’ll find the debate about its returning to its roots (whatever they really were) has come up time and again over the centuries. No single era seems to have harnessed carnival and avoided its propensity to surprise, defy, and live on!

For children though, carnival is an annual and predictable event. It’s a time to not wear school uniform, and to eat a gooey mound of prinjolata (a carnival-time cake of sponge, cream, citrus peel, glace fruits, biscuits and more calorific things) and to enjoy the organised processions in Valletta.

Photo: Courtesy of Valletta Suites

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There's always something headlining in Valletta

Notte Bianca isn’t the only weekend a year it’s worth visiting Valletta to get a cultural fix. You know autumn has set in, chillier evenings aside, when Valletta venues start packing in the events. And this weekend is no exception. We’ve done a quick round-up of some of the highlights that are worth heading to il-Belt for this Sunday. Halloween flavoured of course, but with some music and drama thrown in. Whether you’re going to the capital for morning coffee and newspapers or a post-prandial stroll and tea, try to make time for, and support, something cultural while you’re there.

The First Malta Comic Book Convention

31 October – 1 November
Entry: €7 per day, €12 both days. Children under 11 enter for free.
This is history in the making as it’s the first such convention held in Malta. A friend’s daughter, who is participating with her own art work, is ‘very excited’ to be rubbing shoulders with David Lloyd who did the art for the comic versions of “V for Vendetta”, “Time Bandits” and the “Dr Who” magazine which is published in the USA. That gives you a flavour of what’s in store. Just about everything to do with comics is going to be showcased at the two-day event. Other comic industry names include: Staz Johnson (Spider Man, Wolverince); Mike Collins (Doomsday, American Gothic); Yanick Paquette (X-Men, Superman); and Brian Bolland (Batman, Wonder Woman); and Sean Azzopardi (Twelve Hour Shift). Full details, see St James Cavalier website.

Scream for Halloween

Sunday 1 November: midday, 3pm & 6pm shows. Price euro 10.
Kids’ drama performance at St James Cavalier, billed as ‘the original Malta-Made Musical Monster Show’; suitable for kids aged 6. As with almost all drama aimed at youngsters these days in Malta, tickets for this sold like hot cakes. So much so in fact that there’s now an extra performance Sunday 1 November at midday. So it’s still worth checking for availability if you thought you’d missed out. See St James Cavalier website or call the box office: 2122 3200

Valletta Waterfront Halloween

Every Saturday and Sunday from 1-4pm, the Waterfront hosts family entertainment and street animation. This Sunday 1st Nov. should be taking on a Halloween guise. See vallettawaterfront.com for more info.

And now for something different…

St Catherine of Italy Chapel – Sunday morning concerts

Sunday 1 November: Baroque Jewels for Flute & Harpsichord.
Works by: Valentine; Telemann; Vivaldi; & Blavet.
Entrance: free, but Euro 5 donation appreciated.
Don’t forget about this gem of chapel and its wonderful lunchtime concert programme that’s become a regular winter feature, running Thursdays at 12.30 and Sundays at 11am. Details from St James Cavalier.

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Now, do I look at the score, or the conductor? Tricks of the trade in the choir competition!

This weekend sees the annual Malta International Choir Festival (30 Oct – 1 Nov). Annabel Mallia is a veteran of the competition, but even for her, this year is a whole new challenge. Here, she talks about what goes into the event and why it’s a delight for the audience.

‘This is an intensive period’ reads the memo from our conductor, Hugo Agius Muscat, and it certainly is with something going on six out of the seven days which end in a ‘Grand Closing Concert and Prize Giving’ on Sunday 1 November at 5.30pm at the Catholic Institute, Floriana. Nineteen choirs will be taking part in the event, including three choirs from Malta. The international contingents come from Germany, Bosnia Herzegovina, Spain, Hungary, Croatia, Latvia, Norway, Sweden and Slovenia.

My choir is St Paul’s Choral Society and we have been practicing for weeks. We are going to sing five pieces a capella; unaccompanied. We will feel very exposed, standing on the large stage at St Publius Church, Floriana, at 1pm Saturday, singing pieces in Russian, Latin, Italian and English not only unaccompanied but off-by-heart: bringing our music is strictly forbidden by Hugo. It certainly makes for a better performance if we all know the pieces perfectly and can then watch the conductor rather than bury our faces in our scores and ignore his frantic arm-waving. And we do know the pieces well; we’ve even been coached in Russian pronunciation by the Russian daughter-in-law of one of the choristers.

A highlight for us is meeting the other choirs and having the opportunity to sing with them all together in the spectacular setting of St John’s Cathedral on the Saturday at 8pm. We’ll be nearly 600 choristers in total, all ’singing together for peace’; it’s a moving, hopeful and uplifting joining of people from different walks of life, different beliefs and nationalities: our common and binding interest being the making of music, sacred and secular.

We have studied and we want to do well. But as the event dawns, the worries set in: will the other choirs be full-time professionals, or are they like us – housewives, architects, bankers, doctors, students and teachers? They are on holiday in Malta; we have to fit in our commitments to the competition around the routine of work and family. It’s an ambitious challenge and may the best choir win!

More Info
For more info, and to download a detailed programme of the event see: Malta Council for Culture & the Arts

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Wine bar in eroding Fort. Birgu reborn in the 21st century.

It’s that time of year for festivals. Last weekend was Valletta’s show with its Notte Bianca; this weekend we cross Grand Harbour for the Birgu Festival (Vittoriosa) which runs 9-11 October. Autumn is for festivals what summer is for festas. Yes, there’s a difference – in brief, festas are religious in origin; festivals are more about pageantry and celebrating a locality’s uniqueness, be it in history, crafts, food, traditions or whatever.

The BirguFest isn’t something just dreamed up. It’s a fixed event now, having been around on and off since 1990. For those interested in a blow-by-blow account of how it became one of Malta’s best loved, most attended and colourful festivals, there’s a full history of it on the Birgu Local Council website. So, we’ll keep the background short…

Why the BirguFest?

To quote the local council, “BirguFest is an extravaganza highlighting Birgu’s glorious past and celebrating Malta’s oldest maritime city”. Today, people have a far better understanding of the importance of Birgu in Malta’s history – its landmark, Fort St Angelo, saw off the Saracen’s Great Siege of Malta in 1565. But, until the early ’90s, most of the Three Cities area, including Birgu, was somewhat in the doldrums; run-down, neglected, off the tourist trail and associated with industrial Malta (dockyards). The Birgu festival was born in part from the need to focus attention on the area’s amazing wealth of heritage and to heighten awareness of what the city has to offer locals and visitors. And it has done just that, most successfully; thanks also to an energetic Birgu mayor.

Highlights of BirguFest 2009

The programme is extensive with open-air events, historical reenactments, street theatre, concerts (everything from choral to traditional and ethnic-inspired music), state museums and palaces open to the public beyond regular hours, and historical street scenes replete with hawkers of traditional Maltese foods.

Each day’s programme starts between 09.00 – 09.30 and runs till the early hours. Given the expected crowds, official parking is being organised (so follow the signs – see the Birgu Council website for info). There is lot to entertain families, with kids no doubt appreciating the reenactments that include scenes from the time of the Great Siege, such as life in the Dominican Priory, the Turks discussing battle plans, and the reaction of poor, local folk to impending invasion!

Don’t miss!

Tribali – Malta’s anarchic, ethnically-inspired band has a huge following, so don’t miss this last chance to see them in 2009. The concert is at the Birgu Bastions in Couvre Portre, which will be candlelit for the occasion. Doors open at 7pm and tickets are 12 Euros (in advance), 17 Euros at the door and 25 Euros for VIP tickets which include an after part at D Centre in Birgu. Tickets on sale at all Puma shops or D’Centre in Birgu, or see: www.jaggedhouse.com. For more information call ticket hotline 99017470 or email: dcentrebirgu@gmail.com.

‘Birgu by Candlelight’, on Saturday 10th, 18.30 onwards, promises to be a magical and atmospheric event. Streets are lit as they would have been before electric lights, thanks to Vittoriosa residents doing their bit and positioning candles and lanterns everywhere they can.

The Jackson Pipe Band, from 19.30 on Saturday in various streets. The Jackson family band plays traditional Maltese instruments including a kind of bagpipe. There is a remarkable story behind this family group.

Info

Full programme and background, see: http://www.birgu.gov.mt

Photo: Andrew Galea Debono

Postscript: Birgu or Vittoriosa? Birgu is the local name for the city which the knights named Citta’ Vittoriosa after its role in the victorious defeat of the Saracens at the 1565 Great Siege.

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Five languages - all in day's work for poet & translator for Antoine Cassar

Antoine Cassar is a rarity in the world of literature; he’s a multilingual poet who writes in five languages. As if that creative talent weren’t enough, he goes a step further towards the impossible in poetry by weaving – in terms of rhythm, rhyme and sense – the five languages into single poems, which he calls Mużajki (mosaics). He also writes of events that shocked the world, and gripped the media, such as the Abruzzo earthquake last April; only his poetry immortalises events that garner only a few days regular media interest.

See Antoine at Notte Bianca
You can get feel for his work and the ‘five-a-day’ linguist-poet on 3 October when you’ll find him reciting his works as part of Notte Bianca cultural night of open-air, street and venue performance in Valletta. Antoine Cassar will be joined at the EU Representation in Valletta by fellow multilingual author Peter Wessel in a musical and poetic performance to celebrate the European Day of Languages. Wessel will be accompanied by musicians Mark Solborg on the keyboard and guitar and Salvador Vidal on the clarinet.

About Antoine Cassar
Born in London to Maltese parents in 1978, Antoine Cassar grew up and studied in England, Malta, Italy and Spain. He lives in Luxembourg, where he works as a translator. He is currently completing a doctoral thesis on the origins of the sonnet. Antoine presented his latest book Mużajk, an exploration in multilingual verse (Edizzjoni Skarta, 2008) at the Leipzig book fair and Berlin Literaturwerkstatt last March with the support of the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts (MCCA). In recent months, Antoine Cassar has been invited to perform his poetry at a number of literary festivals and events across western Europe.

Antoine explains his rationale to write multilingual poetry:”While the inclusion of Maltese confers the poetry that local feel and essence which any work claiming a degree of supranationality should harbour, the braiding of languages in the mużajki (Mużajk is the title given to the project, but the name of the form need not be written in any one particular language) allows me to listen to the voices within and around me without the pressing need to translate all thoughts, ideas and emotions into a single tongue.” A thought that no doubt resonates with many a hard-pressed translator who cannot find the right expression to render one language into another.

His poetry highlights
In mid-May this year, Cassar was invited to the Københavns 4. Internationale Poesifestival, organised by the Copenhagen Literaturhaus with the support of the Danish Arts Council. One of the most popular events was a projection of poetry films in which Cassar showed his two Maltese videopoems ‘Ċomb’, a violent description and lament of last December’s bombardment of the people of Gaza, and ‘L-Ajkla’, on April’s earthquake in the Abruzzo region, where Cassar lived in the winter of 1999/2000.

Cassar’s main event at the Copenhagen festival was a ground-breaking reading dedicated to what was advertised as ‘translingual poetry’. In 2004, three European poets, unbeknown to one another, embarked upon three seemingly similar yet essentially different individual projects of multilingual verse. Five years and a number of awards later, these same poets – Peter Wessel (Denmark/Spain), Øyvind Rimbereid (Norway), and Cassar himself – were brought together in a common reading in Copenhagen. Although the practice of writing poetry in a blend of tongues is by no means a novelty and has been taking place naturally for centuries, there was a fresh, contagious interest in multilingual verse among cultural organisers and literary critics.

A few weeks after Copenhagen, Cassar took part in Onzè, the eleventh edition of the Mediterranean poetry festival of Palma de Mallorca. Among the invited poets were Giuseppe Conte, one of Italy’s most renowned contemporary writers. At the event, Cassar gave prominence to his poetry in Maltese, choosing to recite Madrid Madrid, a long alliterative poem playing on the consonant group M-D-R (marid, imdardar, irmied…), documenting the four exciting, yet difficult years he spent in that city until soon after the March 2004 train bomb attacks in Atocha, where one of those to reach their final destination was his colleague Juan Pablo, with whom he often travelled to work.

In July, with the support of the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, Cassar teamed up again with Peter Wessel and Øyvind Rimbereid for a second fully multilingual reading at the Poesiefestival Berlin, one of the largest literary events in Europe. Cassar recited the English adaptation of a work entitled ‘Merħba, a long narrative poem which celebrates the friendliness that welcomes travellers the world over, despite the tragedies and conflicts lived by families and communities on a daily basis, and the shrinking of our planet at the hands of global commerce.

The Merħba poem has also been adapted into Italian, and was recently declared a finalist of the literary prize Insieme Nel Mondo 2009.

For more information on Cassar’s poetry, including audio recordings, videos and reviews, visit http://muzajk.info.

Photo: Antoine Cassar at the Berlin Poetry Festival. © gezett.de

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Fireworks are fine. But the point of petards?

There are some who say that Malta is made for summer, and summers are made for festas, beer and fireworks. For example, on tomorrow’s calendar is the Lija festa, and half of Malta – the one half that loves fireworks – will make the pilgrimage to Lija and its environs to watch the place ‘go up in smoke.’ In Lija’s case, the coloured fireworks are veritable works of art.

Fireworks have always ruffled emotions in this country – and none more so than petards, or murtali, the colourless ‘big bangs’ that are let off during the day. If you want to get a flavour of what we’re talking about, there’s a short clip here. This summer, a Facebook group has been set up calling for a total ban on petards. The group has gathered nearly 1,600 members in just over a week, and an online petition is being prepared, presumably to be presented to Government at some future date. The petition is here.

There appear to be two broad schools of thought about petards:

Don’t ban them

1. Petards are part of Malta’s heritage.
2. Petards make a festa.
3. Petards honour the saint during the day.
4. If you don’t like petards, you are not a true Maltese patriot (and hence should never come close to a festa).

Ban them

1. Petards constitute noise pollution.
2. Petards are dangerous (accidents at fireworks factories are frequent, and often fatal).
3. Petards terrify babies, kids, the sick, the elderly, tourists, and anyone who has a problem with 153 db of unsolicited noise.
4. If you like petards, you are uncivil, a Neanderthal and bring shame to your country.

Where do we stand?

I love the coloured fireworks – they remind me of everything that is awesome about growing up on this island. And I hate petards with the vehemence of someone who, like most parents, had to explain to a child, at some stage, that Malta was not at war, that the window panes would eventually stop trembling and that if you close your eyes tightly and cover your ears, it will all go away, like a bad dream.

I live in the hope that petards will be banned in my lifetime.

Photo: Andrew Galea Debono

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The empty stage of Malta Jazz, soon to be fleshed out!

Hot and sultry is how the Malta Jazz Festival should be. And this year’s is no exception. Earlier this week, down at Ta’ Liesse, below Valletta’s bastions, work was finishing on setting up the stage, and temperatures were hovering around 32°C. Hot metal by day at Ta’ Liesse, cool jazz and more by night.

Things kick off tonight at 20.00hrs when Brad Mehldau graces the Malta stage for the first time.

The Malta Jazz Festival 2009 promises to be a key event in the Malta Arts Festival diary, pulling crowds as in times past. Get there early if you haven’t bought a ticket yet. We’d really recommend the three-night ticket as it’s a bargain (euro 30 for silver ticket) for the venue and artists.

How to get there:

By public transport: all buses lead to Valletta. Ta’ Liesse is a pleasant 10 minute walk from the bus terminus

By car: Parking in Valletta after 6pm is free. But get there early. Either park in the centre of Valletta and walk down or by one the perimiter roads.

By boat: Catch the ferry from Sliema to Marsamxett. Then walk around St Elmo and the Mediterranean Conference Centre, and you’re on your way.

Drive part of the way: the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts has organised transport from the Park & Ride in Blata-l-Bajda, operated by the Malta Transport Authority, straight to Ta’ Liesse. The service will be available on all three nights of the 16th, 17th and 18th July and run between 19.30 and 12.30am.

If you’re still in doubt about whether to bother or not, see our post on eight reasons to go to Malta Jazz. Don’t miss out on a truly world-class event.

For more info, see:

Official website: Maltajazzfestival.org
Malta Jazz Festival Blog:

Photo: jazz fan Gege Gatt.

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Chill out at Malta's music gigs, but choose your drinks wisely.

With the Isle of MTV, Malta, just around the corner on 11 July, and a lot more events coming up, we’ve some survival tips for those going to be out at music gigs in Malta this summer.

July in particular is jam packed with events. There’s something for everyone, even on a small island, ranging from pure nights of mayhem thanks to Sunglasses at Night by Fabric at Gianpula on the 11 July, Babylon by boat, a Raggae boat party hosted by Juuls on the 19 July, to Laura Pausini Live in concert on the 21 July and the Malta Jazz Festival (16,17,18 July).

So what are the essentials for a perfect night out?

1. Water is absolutely essential! On an island that is hit by over 35°C and very high humidity, keeping hydrated is of utmost importance especially if you are planning to have a little bit to drink.

2. Save cash on drinks:: If you don’t want to spend Eur3 on a drink take your own with you. Please note that some places won’t let you bring in anything of any kind. I am unsure if they have any legal right to do that, but it’s best to be forewarned.

3. Wet wipes are also a very important item to have, because a public toilet used by another 1000 people is not going to stay clean for long. Wet wipes will go some way to putting a barrier between you and some nasty bacteria that tend to breed in the heat and humidity.

4. Footwear: Maybe this is a no brainer but always wear comfortable shoes. Apart from the obvious fatigue reasons, comfy shoes help you negotiate uneven terrains and come to less harm if you get stepped on in the middle of the crowd.

5. Leave Valuables at Home: Malta is billed as a safe country, but things do sometimes go missing. Leave anything you can’t afford to lose at home and if you need to take any valuables keep them safely with you at all times.

6. Dealing with Claustrophobia: Some people don’t know they suffer from claustrophobia until they are in the middle of 5000 people. And in the kind of heat we have now, trying to get out of a crowd isn’t going to be fun. So stay close to your friends – you might need their help – and if you’re feeling unwell, step back. Better to enjoy your favourite band/DJ from the back and stay safe.

7. Leave Drugs Alone: Malta is zero tolerant of illegal drug use. Enough said.

8. Try to respect others around you and the environment.

Photo: Melanie Hart

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Sex and Valletta City? Well, baroque bodices, pouts and poses from Barroco Roll

There are probably few capital cities other than Malta’s Valletta in which, at 10.30 on a hot Saturday morning in July, you can bump into the Speaker of the House of Representatives, with his grandchild in tow, walking rather aimlessly. It turns out that we’re both looking for the troupe from Azar Teatro, Barroco-roll, in Republic Street, and they’re nowhere to be seen.

We eventually find them loafing around a police van at the top of South Street. And the kids gasp. There are six of them, with painted faces and costumes that shout ‘punk baroque’ in every colour of the rainbow. And just as we’re wondering what they’re doing pouting in front of a police van whose wheels are in need a of wash, a vehicle of sorts comes chugging down the road and the king and his driver sashay in, the rest start skating.

And so starts a journey of close to an hour. First haring behind a vehicle which is part duck, part throne, part keyboard – the kids running faster than any of us, up Melita Street, down Merchants Street – and then running in the slipstream of the two girls with their bodices and wide skirts, a guy who bears a vague resemblance to Gene Simmons in his Kiss heyday, another one with mournful eyes and a large hat. It’s like the Pied Piper all over again.

So it’s appropriate that the burlesque show should take place with the Courts in Republic street as a backdrop. The act’s a complete send up of authority and bella figura. I won’t give away the ’story’. Suffice to say that there’s a happy mix of mock striptease, loud toilet humour, exploding cameras, swashbuckling swords to James Bond themes and a man in an orange wig playing air guitar. And yes, I was the unfortunate guy in the audience who was hauled out and picked on, and my nearly seven year-old later said he was getting worried that he might have had to intervene and save me from further humiliation.

If you want to get a taste of what went on, click here.

Check out Azar Teatro’s website here.

If you want to see more of what’s on in Malta Arts Festival, click here.

It’s great to see Valletta, as it waits for the Renzo Piano makeover to become reality, come alive to the sounds of kids’ screeches and belly laughter.

Photo: Alex Grech

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