Where it comes from
Stuffat tal-fenek became the emblem of Maltese identity under the Knights of St John, who restricted hunting — eating rabbit (fenek) became a quiet act of defiance, and the fenkata feast a national institution.
On the plate
Pull a piece of rabbit and it slides from the bone into a dark, wine-rich, tomato-deep gravy flecked with sweet peas. Bite: the meat is lean and tender, the sauce savory and slightly sweet from kunserva and long-cooked onion, the wine giving body and the garlic and bay a warm backbone. Mopped up with crusty bread after a first plate of the gravy-dressed spaghetti, it is the Maltese feast itself.
How it works
Browning the lean rabbit builds flavor and color before braising keeps it from drying out. Tomato paste (kunserva) cooked before the liquid deepens into sweet-savory umami. The wine both tenderizes and reduces into the body of the gravy; peas and carrot added late keep their sweetness.
Variations
Fried-rabbit (fenek moqli) version first, garlic-and-wine only. With the liver stirred in. Served as two courses (spaghetti then meat). With potatoes braised in. Bay-and-clove forward. Hare instead of rabbit.
On the Palate
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
9 steps · Show ↓45 min active · 120 min waiting
How it's made
9 steps · Show ↓- 110 min
Joint 1 rabbit (about 1.2 kg) into 8 pieces; pat dry and season.
- 212 min
Brown the rabbit in 3 tbsp olive oil in a heavy pot; remove.
- 36 min
Soften 1 sliced onion and 4 crushed garlic cloves in the same pot.
- 43 min
Stir in 2 tbsp tomato paste (kunserva) and cook 2 min.
- 54 min
Pour in 300 ml red wine and scrape the base; reduce 3 min.
- 65 min
Return the rabbit; add 2 bay leaves, 2 chopped tomatoes, and water to half-cover.
- 792 min
Cover and braise gently 90 min until the rabbit is fork-tender.
- 822 min
Add 150 g peas and 2 sliced carrots; simmer 20 min more.
- 911 min
Rest 10 min and serve with the gravy, bread, and often a first course of the braising-juice spaghetti.
