Ġbejna

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Ġbejna (plural ġbejniet) are cheeselets made in the Maltese Islands from goat’s milk (although ġbejniet from the sister Island of Gozo are frequently made from sheep's milk), salt and rennet. In Malta, virtually all sheep milk and most goat milk is used for production of these cheeselets, much of it through family-owned cottage industries. They are prepared and served in a variety of forms: pickled, salted (ġbejniet maħsula), peppered (ġbejniet tal-bżar) or dried (ġbejniet moxxi), or as a plain, fresh cheeselet (ġbejniet friski or ġbejniet tal-ilma). Legend has it that earlier generations used sea water, rather than rennet, as a curdling agent.

Prior to Malta's accession to the European Union, the EU accepted Malta's request to protect the traditional Maltese ġbejna, along with irkotta (Maltese ricotta).^[1]

Ġbejniet are a key element of Maltese cuisine. They are used as an ingredient in the traditional Maltese form of minestrone soup, soppa tal-armla (widow’s soup). They are also served with the fresh, local sourdough bread (ħobża tal-Malti)^[2] or unleavened bread (ftira) for breakfast, and are a staple component in the ubiquitous Maltese appetizer platter, along with bean tapenade (bigilla), sun-dried or fresh tomatoes, capers (kappar), olives (żebbuġ), Maltese sausage (zalzett Malti), traditional Maltese water crackers (galletti), Maltese ratatouille (kapunata)^[3] and grilled vegetables. Lately, finer Maltese restaurants have revived the custom of using ġbejniet rather than ricotta cheese as a filling for qassatat^[4] and ravioli (ravjul)^[5].

Ġbejniet are formed in cheese hurdles (qnieneċ or qwieleb) made of local, dried reeds, altough now plastic ones are used. They are traditionally dried in small ventilated rooms (kmamar tal-ġbejniet), with windows protected by a special mesh mosquito net (nemusiera).).^[6]