Maltese pastizzi comes in two classical forms, delineated by how the finely fissile pastry — laminated with both butter and lard — folds around its savory filling. Shell-shaped pastizzi, clamped tight like clams at low tide, conceal peas cooked to their melting point and spiced with a subtle curry that’s more English (Malta’s most recent colonizers) than Indian.

With Good Things to Eat, Delcy and Elinor Steffy explore the cuisines of their heritage, including African American, Armenian, German, Hungarian and Jewish roots.