The famous Italian-Australian comedy trio Sooshi Mango hosted celebrity chef Shane Delia on their podcast to discuss food, culture and the catering industry.
Shane Delia, the son of Maltese migrants in Australia, has built a major catering and hospitality business and is best known for his Melbourne restaurants, including Maha and Biggie Smalls. His cooking is strongly influenced by his Maltese heritage, Near Eastern cuisine and the migrant food cultures that shaped Australia.
Sooshi Mango, made up of Joe Salanitri, Carlo Salanitri and Andrew Manfre, are descendants of Italian migrants and have built a large following through their comedy sketches about Italian-Australian family life, migrant culture and food. They have also expanded their brand beyond comedy, including into podcasting, live shows and food-related ventures. Sooshi Mango also plan to give a show in Malta in October, however they said that they can’t find a venue yet.
The podcast revolved around the intricacies and challenges of the catering industry before moving into a discussion about the cultural characteristics of Maltese and Italian food. Shane Delia gave a description of ħobż biż-żejt, which immediately aroused the interest of his hosts. He described ħobż biż-żejt (bread with oil or oily bread), as bread dressed with olive-oil, black pepper and salt, and tomatoe paste, and topped with capers and other ingredients which usually include beans and tuna.
According to Shane Delia, the most famous Maltese dishes are rabbit, bigilla and pastizzi although he asserted that pastizzi are a snack and not a dish. Other dishes that Shane Delia mentioned are the timpana and the aljotta.
They then discussed the history of their parents, recounting how they worked hard every day to provide for their families. Shane Delia recalled that his father worked at the Dunlop factory.
You can watch the podcast below.
Newsroom
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