xufi's hobz biz-zejt

that means bread with oil

and that will sound bad to any english speaking individual
however to anybody who is maltese speaking
"hobz biz-zejt" will bring forth beautiful images and sweet delightful tastes of this local food item

hobz biz-zejt
exists in many forms
here are a couple

if you are maltese you can easily mention dozens of good places to eat this
one of my very favorites is the ftira biz zejt from xufi in mosta

since i live in mosta
i ve been a regular to this place for a very long time
officially xufi is called "Olympic Bar"
however "ix-xufi", the family nick name serves as the bar's name much better throughout the town

the plastic sign saying "olympic bar" has some local mediterranean magic to it that make the writing "olympic bar" read as "shoofee" in this part of the island

i have a feeling that half of the old men sitting around this bar petty talking the rest of their lives away do not know that they are in the olympic bar

furthermore there is nothing olympic about it
except the maltese ftira biz-zejt which is of greco-roman divine proportions

the old men sitting there discuss diverse philosophical and socio-political subjects ranging from accusatory-partisan squabbles to arguments on football expertise, from smoking marijuana sometime back in the day to the gutsy feats of 'cicciolina' the pornstar

if you hear:
"ghamillu wiehed vojt"
this means that a patron at the bar has ordered a tea, with milk and no sugar

the customers vary from tourists to resident pensioners, to the frequent police officer and passing-through workers usually covered in fine white dust (from sand- papering walls not from accidents in cocaine transportation)

anyway the crowning star in this whole set up is the ftira biz-zejt which i always accompany with either an ice tea peach or a "te bil halib tal-bott u tnejn zokkor"

the range of ingredients to stuff in the crispy ftira are considerable and the result is always good unless you exaggerate with very different ingredients

in the mornings you will find a wider selection including meat or plain ommelettes, fried pork sausages, and bacon

the usual is tomato paste, vegetable oil or butter, tuna fish in oil, lettuce, tomato and onions, two types of cheeses, a few types of ham and salami, boiled egg, pickled boiled egg, pickled vegetables, peppered cheeselet, bigilla, and more

in comparison to other available fast foods
this traditional food item completed in seconds at your own choosing is a very healthy snack or meal, which is extremely tasty

foreigners might find some of the ingredients strong tasting
but if they do they shoulda stayed the fuck away from the mediterreanean

the maltese ftira is infact this
the mediterreanean in a sandwich