Two years before the sun finally set on the Ancien Régime with the capitulation of the Order of St John to Napoleon, the blazing ambition of a captain corsair was snuffed out in a series of errors of judgment that would result in tragedy, a portentous omen of the end of an era.
On April 3, 1796, Captain Giovanni Gera sailed out from Malta on the corvette Santa Catarina. He was accompanied by 125 men, a significant augmentation of the crew of 25 sailors he had previously commanded, and an impressive array of cannons and mortars. Gera’s some 12 years of experience serving under legendary scourges of ‘infidel’ mercantile vessels meant that a license ‘to pirate’ was dispensed without questions asked.
The ship was well stocked with typical provisions to sustain hungry bellies on the hunt. The inventory included pasta, dried beans, salted tuna, sardines, chickens, and tea. Meanwhile, local and foreign wines, grappa, maraschino, and rum helped fortify the spirits of these marauding ‘sea dogs’.
After sailing northeast towards Calabria and then Cephalonia, upon approaching Morea, strong winds drove the Santa Catarina into unfamiliar waters. Captain Gera reassured the concerned Knights aboard that they were heading to a safe anchorage near ‘Isola Prodano’, most likely the island of modern-day Proti.
By the next morning, a grievously wounded Gera had lost over 30 of his crew in a carnage of mistaken identity, cut down by an ambush of gunshot and ignited brushwood raining down from the hills of Prodano. He would die of his injuries a couple of weeks later, cursing his overconfidence, and was buried on the wind-swept island of Stanfadia.
The riveting details of what happened on Captain Gera’s final voyage are documented in Liam Gauci’s eagerly awaited second monograph on Maltese Corsairs, due to be published by Heritage Malta later this year. Readers will have to wait to find out whom the supposed ‘local herdsmen’ mistook Gera for and why some of the ‘assailants’ attempting to clamber aboard the beleaguered Corvette were not actually enemies. All Gauci’s previous research into Giovanni Gera’s disastrous and terminal Corso had been fruitless until a chance find at the Notarial Archives of Valletta, where a bundle of badly worn papers yielded the reasons for his demise, besides an inventory of the food aboard his unlucky ship.
Senior Curator for the Malta Maritime Museum, Liam is also a founding member of the team behind ‘Taste History’. He was quick to seize upon the opportunity to create a special menu for discerning patrons inspired by Captain Giovanni Gera’s final corsair cruise.
Artefacts, paintings and documents such as butcher’s bills, recipe books, ship logbooks and kitchen inventories assist Taste History’s professional team of curators, chefs and food historians to concoct and interpret meticulously researched menus from a bygone era using the finest seasonal and locally sourced ingredients. Corporate or individual clients can select from an assortment of menus as diverse as an Inquisitor’s Lenten repast, a blockaded French General’s dinner, or a Grand Master’s celebratory banquet.
Guests opting for Captain Gera’s Corso menu are welcomed with the choice of a rum punch or champagne. An antipasto spread of galletti and chickpea frittata with delicately sliced Lardo di Colonnata, salumi, artisanal cured ham, aged Pecorino cheese, cold-pressed Maltese olive oil and ġbejniet (local sheep cheese) provides a culinary snapshot of what Gera’s crew might have eaten.
Next on the menu is a chickpea and cumin soup. Crafted from exclusively-grown Maltese chickpeas, hand-harvested and sun-dried on the branch, this soup is subtly seasoned with aromatic cumin and fennel seeds, two spices indelibly associated with Maltese cuisine. Large groups are alternatively offered grilled and stuffed aubergines served with a green salad and toasted almonds.
For mains, there is a selection between freshly procured local fish enhanced with a fragrant herb crust or succulent roasted chicken, prepared with local herbs and goat’s butter. Both are accompanied by char-grilled seasonal vegetables. Polishing off this nautical feast, patrons can cleanse their palate with a fusion of contrasting textures and tastes.
Dessert consists of an 18th-century coffee and vanilla sorbet, reflecting the trading networks and cosmopolitan sophistication of Maltese society under the rule of the Order of St John. The sharp yet delicate and icy sorbet is tempered by the sweet taste of Pane di Spagna. Both confections appear in Michele Marceca’s 1748 collection of recipes, one of the earliest records of desserts found in the National Library, Valletta.
Guests can expect to wash down this gourmet experience with an exquisite selection of premium wines presented during the meal. Relive the dramatic events of 1796 on your plate by booking a bespoke meal recreating Captain Gera’s ambitions on 79706554.
As published in 'Served Magazine' Spring 2024
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