Stuffat tal-Fenek

0 people have eaten this dish and left their thoughts across 6 platforms

Synthesised from Google · Yelp · TripAdvisor · Reddit · 2 food blogs · Updated August 2026

The story the reviews tell

Stuffat tal-Fenek is Malta's national dish—a slow-braised rabbit stew that tastes like generations of defiance simmered down. Wine, tomatoes, garlic, and cloves darken the broth while the meat turns tender and yielding. Sometimes the sauce coats pasta first, then the rabbit follows; sometimes it all comes together. What began as quiet resistance to the Knights' hunting bans became something far more lasting: a dish that multiplied in popularity as rabbits multiplied on the island.

What makes this version distinct

Stuffat tal-Fenek is a type of rabbit stew in Maltese cuisine. It is the national dish of Malta. It is typically slow-cooked or braised with wine, tomatoes, garlic, bay leaves, cloves, salt, pepper and vegetables. It is sometimes served in two courses by pouring the sauce over pasta as a first course and serving the rabbit and vegetables as a main course. The dish may have originated as a form of symbolic resistance to the hunting restrictions imposed by the Knights of St John. The dish gained in popularity after the lifting of restrictions in the late 18th century (and by which time the indigenous breed, Tax-Xiber, had multiplied and prices dropped) and after local domestication of rabbits, a practice which may have been imported from France.

Signature elements