Pastizzi and the Road to Culinary Excellence: Malta’s Absence from the TasteAtlas World Food Awards

The TasteAtlas has published its rankings for the best food cities in the world for 2024/25. No Maltese city is among the 100 best cities in the TasteAtlas World Food Awards; however, the study confirms that pastizzi is the food most closely associated with Malta today.

According to the TasteAtlas Awards, Naples claimed the top position, reflecting its globally renowned culinary traditions. The first twenty cities listed were:

Naples, Milan, Bologna, Florence, Mumbai, Rome, Paris, Vienna, Turin, Osaka, Madrid, New York, Genoa, Nice, Lima, Jakarta, Kyoto, Gaziantep, Ferrara, and New Orleans.

Notably, cities in Italy, Malta’s closest neighbour, dominate the list. Others, such as Catania and Palermo, who share demographic similarities with Malta, also rank within the top 100.

The rankings are based on 477,287 valid food ratings for 15,478 foods across 17,073 cities. In this extensive evaluation, Maltese cuisine has an average score of 3.84, ranking it 36th among European cuisines. While this highlights an appreciation for Maltese culinary traditions, no individual city in Malta, including Valletta, was featured in the global rankings. Iconic dishes such as pastizzi and ħobż biż-żejt are notably recognised. However, their ratings—4.2 for ħobż biż-żejt and 4.1 for pastizzi—may fluctuate slightly due to the dynamic nature of TasteAtlas’ user-based evaluations.

Thanks to its culinary staples like ħobż biż-żejt and pastizzi, Malta achieved 84th place globally in the TasteAtlas World Food Awards 2024/25, with its cuisine holding an average rating of 4.0. This ranking underscores a growing global appreciation for Maltese dishes.

The absence of any Maltese city in the rankings as a culinary destination highlights a significant opportunity for Malta’s tourism sector to position its cities, particularly Valletta, as hubs renowned for their culinary experiences. While it is undeniable that towns like Naples, Rome, and Osaka benefit from significantly larger populations and well-established gastronomic reputations, smaller cities such as Palermo and Catania demonstrate that size is not the sole determining factor for inclusion. Valletta, or indeed any other Maltese city, has the potential to leverage its unique Mediterranean culinary heritage to carve out a distinct niche in this competitive arena.

Developing this aspect further could enhance Malta’s tourism product, attracting visitors seeking authentic food experiences. Achieving this will require targeted efforts, such as promoting local gastronomy, investing in culinary festivals, and fostering collaborations between chefs, restaurateurs, and tourism authorities. While challenging, this focus on gastronomy could significantly bolster Malta’s appeal as a food destination.