While the original filling is a comfort-food mix of peas and onions, flavoured with a little anchovy, the Australian version can contain anything from ricotta cheese to a “pizza” mix of tomato, garlic, cheese and herbs. The important thing is the pastry, which needs to be rolled and re-rolled with plenty of butter. Gato’s Pastizzi in western Sydney is run by the Hili family – started by their father Gaytano in what used to be the Maltese enclave in East Sydney. Their cousin Doris is arguable Australia’s fastest pastizzi maker, clocking in at about 30 pastizzi a minute.