Maltese classics: pudina tal-ħobż
In most cultures where bread is baked, there are recipes which were originally devised for using up old or stale bread, so that it is not wasted.
The food of Porto
This was not only so in Christian Europe, where traditionally bread was held to be sacred because of its association with Christ, making it a ‘sin’ to throw it away, but also in Islamic cultures, where one of the staple recipes is for Omm Ali, a pudding made with old bread or left-over pastry (see Samira Jamil’s recipe in her article about Ramadan, in this issue). Nowdays, we bake these recipes for the sheer pleasure of eating them, rather than to avoid wasting stale bread, and so they are often made up using fresh bread. Stale bread gives a better consistency.