Is Lampuki Pie Halal?

Lampuki is the Maltese name for the dolphinfish, known elsewhere as dorado or mahi-mahi. Shoals pass the islands in late summer, and the season opens around the middle of August and runs into December, when fishermen lay floating palm-frond rafts to attract them.^[4] Torta tal-lampuki, lampuki pie, is how Maltese families use a good catch: the fish is fried, then layered in shortcrust pastry with spinach or cauliflower, onion, tomato, olives, capers and mint, sometimes with raisins or walnuts, and baked.

What decides it

The fish is Halal and needs no slaughter; see fish. What changes a pie is the pastry fat, where some Maltese kitchens still use lard, and the occasional splash of white wine in the filling, which this site treats as not Halal.^[3] A fried lampuki fillet, or lampuki grilled with lemon and salad, avoids both.

Buying it

In season, lampuki pie is sold in bakeries, at village festas and in restaurants. Ask what the pastry is made with and whether there is wine in the filling. A press report once listed some named Busy Bee fish pies under Halal Monitoring Malta, valid from February 2025 to February 2026;^[1][2] that certificate has expired, lampuki pie was not named, and we have no confirmation of renewal.

At home, a butter or oil shortcrust and a filling of fried lampuki, spinach, olives, capers and tomato gives the traditional pie. For other Maltese savoury pastries, see pastizzi, qassatat and timpana.