Heritage Malta is organising a lecture entitled ‘A Taste of the Grand Tour’. The lecture by Liam Gauci will be held on the 24th of October at The Malta Maritime Museum at 6pm, and will be a follow up to the Heritage Trail on Military and Naval aspects of 16th and 17th Century Malta which is to be held on Sunday the 19th of October during which participants will be visiting St Agatha’s Tower in Mellieha, the Cottonera bastions and the Malta Maritime Museum in Vittoriosa.

Entrance to the lecture is free of charge.

During the lecture, which will be in English, Mr Gauci will be talking about food aboard sailing boats in the 18th century. From research of travellers’ diaries Mr Gauci discovered that the familiar minestra and brodu were already being prepared during these journeys as were less familiar foods which have long been lost such as Bottarga, Porcini , mutton eyeballs for the proeri (children employed aboard), and rum mixed with black powder to invigorate one’s self before battle. The lecture will deal mainly with the diaries kept during the journey of Don Ignazio Saverio Mifsud (1722-1773) who formed part of the nucleus of Maltese letterati active in Malta during the mid to late eighteenth century as he travelled from Malta to Rome aboard a speronara in 1746.

Liam Gauci is curator of the Malta Maritime Museum, who has read a degree in History at the University of Malta, his B.A. dissertation was entitled “Food aboard Maltese galleys in the 18th Century”. He is now reading a masters degree and is carrying out research for his thesis entitled “Sailing in the 18th Century Mediterranean”. The Heritage Trail ‘Military and Naval aspects of 16th and 17th Century Malta’ will be held on Sunday the 19th of October 2008. Participants will be meeting in front of the Hotel Phoenicia at 8.45am and will return to Valletta at around 1pm. Tickets, costing €15 for the general public and €12 for Heritage Malta members, must be bought beforehand from the Heritage Malta Head Office in Merchants Street, Valletta. For booking and more information phone Heritage Malta on 2295 4312.

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