The cookies are just one way that the island nation remembers the dead.

“亡灵骨头”饼干是这个岛屿国家缅怀逝者的一种方式。

For more than 50 years， Baron Confectionery in Ħaż-Żabbar， Malta， has been crafting pastries. Often， they turn out flaky ricotta1-or-pea-filled pastizzi2 or figolli3， the colorful Easter-time sweets. But by the end of October， their treats take on a more macabre look.

50多年来，位于马耳他扎巴尔的巴伦糕点店一直生产手工点心。他们通常制作酥脆的里科塔芝士馅或豌豆馅帕斯蒂奇，或是色泽鲜艳的复活节甜点菲戈拉。然而到了10月底，他们推出的糕点新样式就有些可怖了。

Għadam tal-mejtin （dead men’s bones）， or alternatively， għadam ta’ Novembru （November bones） are available not just here， but across the country throughout November. They are edible memento mori4， part of Malta’s longstanding Month of the Dead celebrations.

Għadam tal-mejtin（亡灵骨头）又称为għadam ta’ Novembru（11月的骨头）。整个11月间，这款饼干不仅此店有售，在整个马耳他都能买到。这是一种铭记死亡的美食，在马耳他历史悠久的“亡灵月”庆祝活动中必不可少。

The għadam look like chunky sugar cookies. They’re typically large enough to share， and， traditionally， each one is uniquely knotty—though some bakers now use cookie cutters to make them more uniform. The creviced dough is smoothed out by shiny white royal icing on top.

这种骨头饼干形如厚实的糖霜饼干，通常个头很大，足够与他人共享。按照传统工艺，每块饼干都是独特的扭结造型，但现在也有糕点师傅使用饼干模具，让形状更加统一。蛋白糖霜覆在裂纹的面团上，让饼干的顶端平整光滑。

But the three-dimensional bone shapes hold a secret. The vanilla exterior gives way to a center that’s flavored with cardamom and clove， even aniseed in some versions. This second dough， made with almond flour， crumbles at the first chewy bite.

但这种立体的骨状饼干内有门道。外皮是香草风味，内馅则混有小豆蔻和丁香，甚至有些做法还会用到大茴香。作为馅料的第二层面团由杏仁粉制成，入口酥脆。

These unexpected flavors owe much to Malta’s location. South of Sicily and flanked by Tunisia and Libya， the country has been a hotbed for both traders and invaders since time immemorial. That， coupled with the fact that Malta is not rich in its own natural resources， means that many Maltese flavorings have roots in the Arab world， North Africa， and mainland Europe. The one major exception is the homegrown almonds that make the central “marrow” of the cookie so compellingly different from the sugary “bone.”

这些出人意料的风味很大程度上要归因于马耳他的地理位置。这个国家位于西西里岛以南，两侧是突尼斯和利比亚，自古以来就是商人和侵略者的温床。加上马耳他本身自然资源并不丰富，因此该国的很多调味香料来源于阿拉伯世界、北非和欧洲大陆。本土出产的杏仁则是个显著的例外，它使饼干中心的“骨髓”风味与加糖的“骨头”截然不同。

Marlene Zammit grew up near Sydney， Australia. But the blogger behind A Maltese Mouthful can thank both her parents for introducing her to their native land’s rich culinary heritage. Her family considered Halloween， with its costumes and candy， “really more of a thing for the younger generation，” she says.

马琳·扎米特在澳大利亚悉尼附近长大。