10 Main Dishes of Albanian Cuisine: What to Try for a Tourist

Albanian cuisine echoes Turkish and Balkan classics. However, the locals skillfully adapted it for themselves. They love meat, fresh vegetables, aromatic spices. We will tell you what food is worth trying in Albania for every tourist. Names, photos, and descriptions of dishes will help you not to get lost on vacation. There is too little information on the national Albanian cuisine on the web. We made a list that we ourselves lacked.

Tave Kosi

Albanians love meat and are adept at preparing hearty home-cooked meals. Order tave kosi at a local restaurant. They will bring you a pot or ceramic dish with a golden hat of eggs and yogurt towering over it. The food smells like herbs because the chef added fresh garlic and a pinch of oregano to the casserole. Milk lamb with spicy rice is hidden under the ruddy air cushion. Each bite of tave kosi melts in your mouth. Only our grandmothers so sincerely prepared simple meat dishes. A must try this food in Albania if you like lamb.

Schumlek

Schumlek is too simple to be considered a delicacy. Stew in Albania is considered an everyday meal. The dish is prepared with only 2 ingredients – pieces of beef and onions. They are fried until golden brown, and then stewed for 1.5-2 hours. The meat becomes unusually tender. The dish seems too simple to conquer from the first spoon. But don’t jump to conclusions – try schumlek in Albania.

Fergese Tirane

The recipe for the juicy Tirana casserole has spread throughout the Balkans. In Albania, this dish can be tasted both in fine restaurants and in inconspicuous cafes. To prepare ferges, the chef first lightly roasts juicy peppers and ripe tomatoes. Then he throws the ruddy ingredients into a ceramic pot and pours in a delicate butter-butter sauce based on homemade feta. The mixture is generously sprinkled with paprika and allspice. The spicy casserole is served as a side dish for meat or as an independent vegetarian dish.

Kefte

If you haven’t tasted kefte before, remember the taste of homemade minced meat cutlets. The sausage contains tender lamb, veal, or chicken meat. Kefte is usually eaten with rice or vegetable stew. In Albania, it is worth trying the popular street food qofte with fresh vegetables in yogurt sauce. The appetizer is prepared in pita bread or pita bread.

Speca me Gjize

For vegetarian dishes, stuffed peppers are worth trying in Albania. In neighboring countries, vegetables are stuffed with minced meat. In Albanian cuisine, it is customary to put a mixture of spicy rice with pickled cheese or homemade cottage cheese into the peppers. Pot-bellied vegetables with hearty fillers are first baked in the oven. Then they are transferred to a saucepan, poured over with a sauce based on chili and butter, simmered over low heat. Dip a crust of fresh bread in the gravy, fork the pepper, and the filling at the same time – this is a sure way to get the most out of speca me gjize.

Kokoretsi

A rare tourist decides to try this street food in Albania when he hears the composition of a snack. But the juicy sandwich is very tasty. Kokoretsi is made from sweet meat and lamb offal. The chef shreds the base and places the filling in a natural casing. When ordering Kokoretsi from the diner, you will receive a bun filled with meat filling, fried onions, fresh vegetables, and aromatic herbs. It is worth trying at least for the sake of interest.

Byrek

Albania’s street food is sold on every corner. Don’t be afraid to buy bureks at your local diner. Locals cook not only for the sake of tourists, but eat pastries themselves. Under the thin dough of a weighty pie, minced meat, baked vegetables, or homemade pickled cheese are hidden. The ruddy crust is slightly shiny with oil, because burek is not baked, but fried. A refreshing companion to a hearty snack – a glass of ayran. The drink will smooth out excess fat and emphasize the dignity of the burek.

Soup “Peshku”

Fish is skillfully prepared in Albania. Try fried or baked! Don’t skip the Albanian fish soup either. Traditional fish soup is made from sea bass with a generous portion of vegetables. The soup takes on an unusual sweetish-refreshing taste because Albanians put zucchini, celery root, carrots, leeks, and herbs in it.

Kabuni

For dessert in Albania, try the spicy rice kabuni pudding. Vegetarians, be careful – the sweet is often boiled in lamb broth or cooked with gelatin. Rice is pre-fried in butter. Then the golden cereal is sent to the pan in the company of raisins. Boiled rice is generously sprinkled with sugar, cinnamon, and cloves. The pudding is garnished with sweet crumbs and served only cold.

Shendetli

In Albania, it is worth ordering this particular dessert. The cake is baked according to an old recipe. Fragrant, delicate, spicy – it rarely disappoints anyone. The muffin is like a moist honey cake with a gingerbread flavor. Instead of water or milk, coffee is poured into the dough and a generous portion of butter is added. Vanilla, crushed nuts, and sometimes candied fruits are added to the dough. Take a slice of shendetli with whipped cream for dessert. Supplement with the homemade jam from fruits or berries that grow in Albania: fig, blackberry, white cherry.