Tuesday Lunch at It-Tokk
Lunch at It-Tokk, the hotel's Maltese lunch buffet, had an unexpected surprise. For the main course, I chose a low-salicylate selection from the buffet: saffron rice, chicken stewed in tomato sauce (with all the high-salicylate tomato sauce carefully scraped off), deep-fried fish filets (much better than the chicken), and an ad hoc pasta salad I put together from separately offered shell pasta, string beans and tuna salad. All washed down with slightly complimentary "still water", slightly less brackish than the tap water. I celebrated this first leisurely meal since my arrival (no tournament to get back to today, except for the unrated do at the Broussons in half an hour) by going back to see what they had for dessert. I chose an unpromising looking layer cake, and was astounded by the first bite I took.
It alternated very thin layers of cake with thick layers of cream. The cake layers were totally saturated with rum; I could almost feel drops squeezing out onto my tongue with each bite. The cream layers were not the light creamy filling I'm used to, but the consistency of cream cheese, with an intense sweetness and dairy richness. The cake layers were just thick enough to give structural integrity to the cake, and to give your teeth resistance and calibration as they passed through the alternation of cake and cream, and for the alcohol in them to swab the dairy fat out of your mouth before the next bite. I felt transported with the first bite, ate a second bite before I could begin to verbalize the experience, quickly remembered to take a photo of what was left, then slowly savoured the rest. At the end, I decided not to go back for another helping, as I think the overall richness of small piece I had will stay with me until bedtime. I've had a few really outstanding desserts in Malta, and I'm happy to add this one to the list. Photos to follow on Facebook.
It alternated very thin layers of cake with thick layers of cream. The cake layers were totally saturated with rum; I could almost feel drops squeezing out onto my tongue with each bite. The cream layers were not the light creamy filling I'm used to, but the consistency of cream cheese, with an intense sweetness and dairy richness. The cake layers were just thick enough to give structural integrity to the cake, and to give your teeth resistance and calibration as they passed through the alternation of cake and cream, and for the alcohol in them to swab the dairy fat out of your mouth before the next bite. I felt transported with the first bite, ate a second bite before I could begin to verbalize the experience, quickly remembered to take a photo of what was left, then slowly savoured the rest. At the end, I decided not to go back for another helping, as I think the overall richness of small piece I had will stay with me until bedtime. I've had a few really outstanding desserts in Malta, and I'm happy to add this one to the list. Photos to follow on Facebook.