A 90-year-old obsession with Maltese tomato paste

If traditional foods form part of the people who consume them, then the Maltese may have an artisan tomato paste called 'kunserva' running through their veins.

Kunserva spread on bread- just how the Maltese like it. Photo courtesy of Magro Brothers.

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If you’ve ever watched a home cook spread tomato paste on their bread instead of butter, you may think that they’ve zoned out and made a mistake.

Fear not. Their thick lathering of red paste on crusty white bread is no accident. It’s the intentional mealtime indulgence of the Maltese — those living in Malta and generations of people with Maltese blood living in Australia.

“People wonder why we spread ‘ketchup’ on our bread,” says John Magro, chairman of Magro Brothers, the family business that’s been making kunserva on the Maltese island of Gozo for over 90 years. “We tell them it’s not ketchup: it’s kunserva.

“The Maltese have very few products that we can say are our own but kunserva is genuinely Maltese."

It brings them a sense of nostalgia about Malta and Maltese culture abroad.

The artisan ingredient, known as kunserva, is an authentic tomato paste that can only made from Maltese tomatoes grown outdoors in Malta’s alkaline soil, under 40-45 degrees Celsius temperatures. These tomatoes, infused with the soul of the Mediterranean sun, are picked during eight specific summer weeks of the year and then made into the country’s traditional tomato paste.

Gozitan farmers pick tomatoes in the thick of the Mediterranean sun. Photo by Magro Brothers.

The condiment, which looks like tomato paste from other countries, carries a sweeter flavour that’s attributed to the Maltese 'terroir' and other growing conditions. Compared to some tomato pastes made elsewhere, kunserva is also less concentrated.

“It’s a product that the Maltese living in Malta and people of Maltese heritage living overseas in countries like Australia, the UK, Canada and America have been eating for generations.

“Kunserva reminds them of their childhood – the dishes their mum or nanna (pronounced 'nunna') used to make for them. It brings them a sense of nostalgia for Malta and Maltese culture abroad.

Old photo of a farmer picking tomatoes in Gozo to make kunserva. Photo courtesy of Magro Brothers.

An ancient tomato tradition

For centuries, Maltese families made their own kunserva using tomatoes grown in their backyard. Then in 1934, Magro Brothers standardised the recipe of tomatoes, salt and sugar and commercialised the country’s most recognisable food item.

Since then, the company has never missed a production season – not during World War Two or the COVID-19 pandemic. The recipe has also remained unchanged – Magro tells SBS there might be serious consumer backlash if it were ever modified.

“We make roughly five million 400-gram cans of kunserva each year. Don’t forget that we are a country with only 500,000 people. Yet, the Maltese people living in Malta and abroad – in places like Australia – manage to consume that many cans a year!”

Ravjul topped with kunserva sauce, just like John Magro's grandmother used to make it. Photo courtesy of Magro Brothers.

Kunserva is life

How can one cultural group of people eat so much tomato paste? Apparently, the attraction lies in its versatility.

UK chef and TV personality, Ainsley Harriott was introduced to kunserva when he visited the Mediterranean country to film Ainsley's Taste of Malta. He used kunserva to make stuffed eggplant and kapunata.

Kunserva is also eaten every day on the popular sandwich snack, hobz biz-zejt. It's consumed at dinner in pasta sauces, rice bakes, stews or broths, and meat or fish marinades.

Magro remembers how his nanna (grandmother) used to fry garlic and kunserva before adding it to ravjul (Maltese ravioli). It was also featured in her special baked macaroni .

 

"She used to place a layer of macaroni, made with a minced meat mix that included kunserva, in a dish. On top, she would place seared pork chops before adding another layer of macaroni to finish.

 

"When the dish was finished cooking in the oven, we'd have two courses to eat. The first was baked macaroni and the second was pork chops, moistened by the kunserva mix surrounding it. The taste was fantastic."

It seems that the Maltese have kunserva flowing through their veins. As Magro says, local people can hardly remember a time when they didn't eat it.

“In Malta, we eat kunserva as babies. When children go to school, their mothers prepare slices of bread spread with kunserva instead of butter. You’ll see kunserva presented beside butter for bread rolls in most restaurants across Malta and Gozo.

"The taste of kunserva reflects everything about Malta, the Maltese soil and our Mediterranean location...That's why we just love it.”