What to eat Albania? culinary specialties and gastronomy

Discover Albania : Gastronomy

Close to its Greek cousin, Albanian cuisine is a blend of Western and Eastern flavors, nourished by Turkish and Italian influences. Rooted in the Balkans, but very open to the Mediterranean, Albanian cuisine makes generous use of olive oil, fruits, vegetables and fish, as well as meats, flavored with herbs, garlic and spices. Albanian gastronomy can be divided into 2 categories: inland, where cereals, potatoes, legumes, meat and nuts abound; and coastal, with fish, vegetables, olive oil and aromatic herbs.

Eating Habits and Getting Started

The day generally begins with a light breakfast: fresh bread served with butter, cheese, jam and yoghurt, accompanied by olives and coffee or tea. Lunch is traditionally the most important meal of the day, and some people go home to eat. It often consists of meat dishes in sauce, accompanied by a salad of fresh vegetables. Vegetables, grilled sausages and various types of omelette are also eaten, served with coffee, tea or fruit juice. Dinner is simpler, based on bread, meat, fish or seafood, cheese, eggs and various types of vegetables, similar to breakfast.

With Turkish influences, the art of mezze is important in Albania. Comparable to Spanish tapas, Albanian-style mezze consists of fresh and cooked vegetable salads, pickled cucumbers and other vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, cured ham, salami and feta cheese, accompanied by grilled peppers, olive oil and garlic. It is served for festive meals and in restaurants. Among the most authentic specialties is fërgese or fërgese tiranë, considered one of Albania's national dishes. It's a puree of green and red peppers, tomatoes and pickled onions, served as a starter or as a side dish with meat. A similar version, called tave dheu or fërgese de mëlçi, contains liver cut into small cubes. Speca të ferguara (grilled peppers) and speca me gjizë (peppers in brine filled with fresh cheese) are very popular, as is japrak, similar to Greek dolma, made from vine leaves stuffed with rice, grilled beef and chopped onions. They are often served cold with bread and yoghurt. Other dishes include kungulleshka te ferguara (zucchini fritters), turshi lakre (pickled cabbage), sardele me limon (fried sardines with lemon), papare (salty bread and cheese pudding) and bukë misri (corn bread).

Vegetable salads are very popular, with green and red peppers, onions, tomatoes, olives and cucumbers the main ingredients, as in the classic sallatë të thjeshtë. Other ingredients, such as potatoes or white beans, are sometimes added. Somewhere between a dip and a salad, tarator is a cold appetizer generally served as a side dish during the hot summer months. It's made with cucumber, garlic, olive oil and yoghurt, and goes very well with fried and grilled vegetables and seafood.

The basics of Albanian cuisine

Soups are frequently eaten, especially in winter. They are made with a variety of vegetables (potatoes, cabbage, beans) as well as meat and fish. Trahana is an ingredient - and by extension the name of a soup - made from wheat and fermented milk. It is shaped into dried balls and eaten throughout the winter, diluted in a broth with vegetables. Grosh is a thick soup with white beans and tomato, while shqeto is a creamy, lemony lamb soup.

Savory pies are emblematic of traditional Albanian cuisine. Often served as a snack, they can also be a meal in themselves. Pite is a tart made from filo or puff pastry, depending on the recipe. The most common versions are pite me spinaq (spinach), pite me mish (minced meat) and pite me djath (fresh cheese). Flia is a multi-layered pancake often served hot, with pickled vegetables or as a dessert with honey, yoghurt or fruit jam. Kungullur is a layered filo pastry filled with pumpkin puree. Finally, byrek is very similar to pite, but slightly fatter and more often filled with meat.

Beef and veal are the most popular meats in Albania. Although the country is predominantly Muslim, a significant proportion of the population is Christian and pork is very popular, alongside lamb. Tavë kosi, a very typical dish, is a recipe of lamb and baked rice, served with a flavored yogurt sauce. Recently, it has also become popular in Greece and Turkey. Qebapa are small homemade skinless sausage-like croquettes made from lamb and beef, whose name is a distortion of the Turkish word kebab. They are mainly served with onions, sour cream and pita bread called pitalka. Although of Hungarian origin, gullash, or tasqebap, is frequently eaten in the mountainous areas of Albania. It's a meat stew spiced with paprika, popular throughout Central Europe and the Balkans. Qofte - from the Persian kefta - are fried meatballs, usually made with minced meat, herbs and spices and cooked with tomato sauce and vegetables or beans. Throughout the country, specialized stores called qofteri sell qofte and beer. piqem mish is a beef and potato gratin in tomato sauce, while tavëme qepë is a beef and vegetable stew. Mish jahni is a northern speciality with mutton, onions, dried plums and peppers, while mish çomlek is a veal recipe simmered with eggplant, onions and spinach.

Proshute is the Albanian term for seasoned, air-dried types of salami and ham, usually served for breakfast or as an aperitif. Offal is a common ingredient in kukurech, a dish of stuffed and roasted lamb intestines. Chicken and duck are the most popular poultry dishes. Pule me oriz is a rice pilaf - cooked by absorption - topped with chicken, while gjellë me arra is a chicken-walnut specialty.

Fresh fish is caught off the coasts of the Adriatic Sea, as well as in lakes and lagoons. It can be served whole in Mediterranean style, grilled, boiled or fried in slices. Fish dishes are often flavored with white vinegar and virgin olive oil. In the coastal towns, particularly Durrës, Saranda and Vlorë, fish and seafood such as squid, octopus, cuttlefish, red mullet, sea bass, sea bream and others are regularly eaten - mussels(midhje) are a specialty of the Saranda region.

The lakes and rivers provide excellent freshwater fish, including carp from Shkodra, river trout and koran from Lake Ohrid. They are generally only served near lakes and rivers. Some restaurants in the capital serve them, but at exorbitant prices. In regions where wetlands abound, frogs' legs are also on the menu.

Desserts and drinks

Although there is a high density of pastry shops and cafés in Albania, most sweets are variations on specialties from other countries, notably Italy. This doesn't stop Albanians from loving sweets, which they tend to enjoy as snacks. After a meal, they usually offer fruit grown in Albania, thanks to its mild, sunny climate (orange, melon, apricot, peach, grape, apple, strawberry, watermelon, plum, medlar, etc.).

Kanojët is a pastry of Sicilian origin - called cannolo (pl. cannoli) in Italy. It's a tube of fried dough, filled with a creamy ricotta-based filling. Petulla, a type of doughnut made from wheat or buckwheat flour, is also a popular dish, served with powdered sugar or feta cheese and a fruit jam called reçel. Pandispanjë is a variety of sponge cake. Various fillings are used: jelly, chocolate, fruit, custard, etc. Ballokume is a cookie from Elbasan, made especially for Dita e Verës day, March 14, celebrating the arrival of spring. Of Italian origin, zupa is a popular dessert made with alternating layers of cookie or sponge cake and custard. Krem karamele, cousin of crème brûlée, is generally flavored with vanilla, orange zest, lemon and cinnamon. Trileçe is an Albanian adaptation of the Latin American tres leches. It's a sponge cake soaked in sweetened condensed milk and whole milk, topped with whipped cream. It is assumed that the popularity of telenovelas in Albania led local chefs to offer this dessert, which then spread to the Balkans and Turkey. Last but not least, pastashu is the Albanian name for éclairs and cream puffs. In fact, if you want an ice cream in Albania, you should ask for an akullore.

But there are also desserts of a more oriental inspiration, such as baklava, a very common dessert in Albania, especially on certain religious holidays. It is prepared on large platters and consists of a multitude of layers of filo pastry and chopped nuts, all soaked in cinnamon syrup. Kadaif is a pastry made from long, thin strands of noodles filled with walnuts or pistachios and sweetened with syrup, sometimes served alongside baklava. Stranger still is kabuni, traditionally served cold, made from rice caramelized in butter and cooked in a sweet mutton broth, garnished with raisins and flavored with cinnamon and ground cloves. Different types of hallvë - nougat - are prepared throughout the country, generally based on semolina or tahini (sesame cream) topped with walnuts and pistachios. Tambëloriz or sultjash is a kind of rice pudding with cinnamon and walnuts; raisins may also be added. Of Turkish origin, tollumba is a dessert similar to churro, but soaked in syrup. Finally,ashure is served especially during Muslim vacations in Albania. It's a pudding made from a mixture of cereals, nuts, fruit and dried fruit.

To enjoy all these tasty specialties, nothing beats a cup of tea. This beverage, widely consumed in Albania, is served in cafés, restaurants or at home. The country boasts a wide variety of herbs for infusion, such as mountain "tea" - a relative of sage - which grows spontaneously in the wild. Russian or Turkish-style black tea is also drunk with sugar, or tea with lemon, milk or honey. Coffee is another common drink in Albania. There are different varieties of Italian-inspired coffee, including espresso, cappuccino, macchiato, mocha and latte. Cafés are also popular meeting places, and almost all serve pastries, sandwiches and sometimes light meals. Albania holds the world record for the number of cafés per capita, with 654 per 100,000 inhabitants. Another popular drink is dhallë, made by mixing yoghurt with water or milk and spices. It is very popular in summer and can be served with salt, depending on taste. Boza is a malted drink made from corn and wheat, widely consumed with desserts in Albania.

As for alcohol, although half of Albanians are Muslim, consumption of alcoholic beverages is common to all communities. Albania is a traditional wine-producing country, and the origins of viticulture in the region go back more than 6,000 years. Illyrian wines were highly prized at the tables of Roman emperors, but later declined with the Ottoman conquest. It was only after the country's independence that growth resumed. Since then, wine consumption has been on the rise, although beer is also very popular, both international and local brands such as birra Kaon, Korça and Tirana.

But if there's one single spirit that symbolizes Albania and the Balkans in general, it's raki, by far the most popular brandy in Albania. The most common types of raki in the country are grape, but plum and blackberry are also available. When served to the elderly, it is heated and sweetened with honey and flavored with spices, much like a grog. In the south of the country, raki rigoni is flavored with oregano, which grows naturally in the region.

Enjoying yourself Albania

Timetable Albania

While some "chic" restaurants offer two services (between midday and 3pm and from 7pm), it has to be said that most restaurants serve practically non-stop, and it's generally possible to eat at any time of the day. What's more, every town and village abounds in stalls where you can eat kebab sandwiches, pizzas or bureks on the go at ridiculously low prices. Many cafés also offer an à la carte menu, or even a "formula" that usually includes soup and a grilled dish accompanied by French fries or vegetables.

Budget & Tips Albania

Here again, restaurant bills are particularly light for the pockets of French tourists. A dish, salad and drink often cost around €5. In the most expensive restaurants, the bill rarely exceeds €15. Tipping is not compulsory, but always welcome. Count on 10% of the total bill. As for the burek, a kind of national hamburger, it will cost you around 40 lek, or €0.25.

What costs extra Albania

If the water in carafe is free and of source, we recommend to take a bottle of mineral water (which will sometimes be served to you of service). The water is drinkable, but old pipes can sometimes pollute it. This is not a big expense, but it is better to know this before disputing the bill, which is never very expensive! Finally, when paying, it is a good idea to leave a tip.

The local way Albania

At the risk of surprising some Western tourists, local establishments sometimes don't display the menu at the entrance, but don't worry. Close to its Greek cousin, Albanian cuisine is a blend of Western and Eastern flavors. There's as much Turkish influence (grilled meats, bureks, baklava) as that of southern Italy and its summer vegetable-based sauces. More country than refined, it uses fresh, high-quality produce typical of Mediterranean countries (tomatoes, eggplants, olive oil, peppers). In restaurants, soups and grilled meats are the mainstay of meals: here, we eat a lot of kebabs(shishqebap), meatballs(qofte) and meat pies(romstek). In towns close to rivers, fish is also very popular.

Albanians rarely end their meals with a dessert. They do, however, include sheqerpare (small balls of dough cooked in butter), tullumba (cylindrical pieces of dough fried and bathed in syrup), baklava (nut and oil puff pastries), hoshaf(a fig-based specialty from Gjirokastra) and ballakume (large cookies). Sytlijash is vanilla rice pudding to which a beaten and sweetened egg yolk is added.

To be avoided Albania

Don't carry too many - or at least not too many - large-denomination notes. Although euros are often accepted for "big" expenses, you'll be paying in lek, Albania's national currency, on the spot. Knowing that a snack will generally cost you between 30 and 500 lek, it's important to keep coins and small denominations for everyday payments. In a poor country, taking out a 1,000 or 5,000 lek bill is not necessarily welcome.

Card payments should be avoided for several reasons. Firstly, bill amounts are often modest, and outside the euro zone, you'll undoubtedly pay a tax sometimes similar to the price of the meal. What's more, as our readers often confirm, it's not uncommon for cards to be refused (altogether) or not to work in certain establishments..

Kids Albania

As with their Greek neighbours, children are kings, or at least perfectly tolerated in Albania. The advantage is that they are welcome everywhere and well received. Here, there is no separation of generations, no attempt to silence noisy children or to force them to remain seated.

Smokers Albania

Theoretically, since 2007, smoking in enclosed spaces has been banned in Albania. The law even provides for fines of up to 50,000 lek (€400). In practice, we have noted that the legislation is being followed rather well. Even though almost a third of Albanians smoke, they avoid doing so in bars and restaurants.

Tourist traps Albania

This is not strictly speaking a "tourist trap", as it can be a real misunderstanding. In some seaside restaurants, as in Greece, fish is sold by the kilo. So be sure to have the fish weighed before you cook it. You'll never end up with an astronomical bill, but it can be surprisingly high. The price is often justified (for lobster, for example), but it's better to know!