Too old to trick-or-treat? Try a meal at the Inquisitor’s prison

If you are too old for trick-or-treating this Halloween, you might be up for a night in a 17th-century prison cell at the Inquisitor's Palace. But before heading to bed, you can feast on toast, kawlata (vegetable soup with pork) and a roasted pig, which years ago would have first been let loose on the streets with a bell hanging around its neck. This unfortunate ħanżira tal-erwieħ (pig of souls) would have only enjoyed its freedom for a few days, roaming the streets while parishioners fed it, until they cooked it on All Souls Day to feed the poor. Another traditional Maltese dish, also dubbed tal-erwieħ, was a large pot of vegetable soup that was prepared around the same day. Guido Lanfranco has documented the tradition of helping the poor, through the distribution of food, as a means of offering prayers for the dead. In the run-up to All Souls' Day, neighbours would fill up a cauldron with vegetables, beans and sometimes pasta. The minestra, or kawlata in some cases, would be distributed among the poor, who turned up with a can or a small pot. On November 4, these two dishes will be served at the Inquisitor's Palace in Vittoriosa during a Heritage Malta thematic supper topped...

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