Europe
Snacks from Malta
Maltese snacking is a pastizz, ricotta or mushy-pea pastry from a hole-in-the-wall, eaten walking. Kinnie, the bitter orange soda, is the drink. Qagħaq tal-għasel, honey rings, and prinjolata at Carnival. Galletti crackers with bigilla bean paste. This is a ricotta diamond pastry and a soda that tastes like herbs, not an Italian cannoli pasted south — even if Sicily is visible on a clear day.
Updated August 27, 2026
- Signature snacks
- Pastizzi, Qagħaq tal-għasel, Galletti with bigilla, Kinnie
- Flavor palette
- ricotta pastry, bitter orange soda, honey ring
- When people snack
- pastizzi for breakfast and Kinnie with galletti
- What travelers buy
- pastizzi eaten hot, honey rings, Kinnie, galletti
Pastizzi are triangles or diamonds of shatter pastry, ricotta or pea, sold from windows at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Kinnie is bitter, orange, herbal, the soda you drink with galletti. Mqaret, date pastries, fry at termini. None of this is a Sicilian cannolo, even when the pastry DNA is close.
Honey rings keep. Pastizzi do not. Pack qagħaq tal-għasel and Kinnie.
Questions about snacks from Malta
What snacks is Malta known for?
Pastizzi, mqaret, honey rings, galletti with bigilla, Kinnie, and Carnival prinjolata.
What is a pastizz?
A flaky Maltese pastry filled with ricotta or mushy peas, eaten as a cheap all-day snack.
What is Kinnie?
A bitter orange-and-herb soda unique to Malta, drunk with savory snacks.
What travels?
Honey rings, galletti, and Kinnie. Pastizzi should be eaten hot.