Rabbit is the Maltese national dish. A fenkata is not one plate.
It is two courses from the same animal, eaten slowly, usually with a group, and often booked a day ahead.
The two courses
First comes spaghetti in the sauce the rabbit was cooked in. No meat, just pasta and the sauce.
That course is the one people underestimate. It arrives in a quantity that assumes you are hungry.
Then the rabbit itself, either stewed in wine or fried with garlic, with chips and vegetables alongside.
Eat less of the first course than you want to. The second one is larger than it looks.
Why it needs ordering ahead
The meat is cooked slowly and the sauce comes out of that cooking, so it cannot be started when you sit down.
Several places want a day’s notice, especially for a table of more than four.
Ask when you book rather than when you arrive. A restaurant that serves it instantly is reheating.
Expect two to three hours at the table. A fenkata is an evening, not a dinner.
Where it is eaten
Inland villages rather than the seafront.
Mġarr in the northwest is the best known for it, and there are places in the middle of the island that do little else.
Baħrija and Mtarfa are the other two names that come up. So does Nadur in Gozo.
Prices sit around €20–€30 a head for both courses, and the wine on the table is usually house wine by the jug.
Fried or stewed
Fried with garlic is the sharper of the two, and the garlic is not shy.
Stewed in wine is softer, and comes with potatoes and vegetables cooked in the same pot.
Neither is more authentic than the other. Plenty of places will do both if you ask.
About the bones
Rabbit is a bony animal and it is served on the bone. That is normal here and nobody eats it delicately.
Ask for a second plate for the bones if one does not appear.
Why rabbit
Hunting rabbit was banned under the Knights and reserved for the Order. Eating it became a small act of defiance.
That history put rabbit on the table as the national dish rather than fish, on an island surrounded by sea.
More on what else turns up on a Maltese menu is on the food page.
