In English, there is a saying: ‘selling like hot cakes’. The equivalent in Maltese is ‘selling like pastizzi’ – ‘jinbigħu bħal pastizzi’ which literally translates as “selling like pastizzi” – and both, of course, refer to when something is being sold in considerable quantities. And there is no other man on this island for whom this saying is more appropriate than Martin, the owner of the iconic pastizzeria in Rabat.

Resting by day and preparing pastizzi by night, the 61-year-old has reached the point where he wants to retire. He has sold more pastizzi than he could possibly calculate over the past 46 years – or 75 years, if we include the years when his father was the owner of the establishment.

Martin prides himself on selling the real thing: fresh pastizzi, straight from the oven and tea served in glasses, are not things of the past, thanks to Martin and his long-time colleague, Charlie.

Martin is hoping that whoever buys the business will keep the place as it is. “It would be foolish not to,” he says, “this is what people want.”

But apart from the ‘secret ingredient’, Martin is also convinced that the success of the small shop in Rabat is due to the fact that, literally, it never closes.

The full interview with Martin will feature in tomorrow’s The Malta Independent.