This is my grandmother’s Gozitan ftira, and one of those recipes that has always been made more by feel than by exact measurements. When I asked her for the recipe, there was no written version to follow. It was more along the lines of a cup of flour, a bit of milk, a little of this and that. I’ve made it a few times and worked out the quantities so I could finally write it down as a recipe.
My mother has her own version, too, which uses a much lighter dough, but my grandmother’s is the more traditional style. In Gozo, ftira is a rustic, pizza like bread with the toppings baked directly onto the dough, and thinly sliced potato is an essential part of it. In Malta, when people talk about ftira, they’re usually referring to the round, crusty bread used to make a filled sandwich, so the two are quite different.
The toppings can vary depending on what you have or what you like. My grandmother usually makes hers with tuna, while I’ve used anchovies here, which is one of the more traditional combinations.
I was also surprised to find milk in my grandmother’s dough when I was working out the recipe. It isn’t something I would have automatically expected in a simple bread dough, but it gives the dough a lovely softness and helps it brown beautifully in the very hot oven.
