Straddling East and West, Albanian cuisine draws from numerous influences. You'll find flavors borrowed from Turkish, Italian, Greek gastronomy… The result is a fabulous melting pot of flavors as varied as it is generous. From meat to fish through vegetables, discover all the culinary specialties to taste during a trip to Albania !

Albanian meat-based dishes 

Meat features prominently in Albanian cuisine. It's cooked as kebab, as romsteak (ground meat), as qofte (meatballs mixed with garlic, onions, herbs and spices), baked or even as stew.

Lamb occupies a leading place in Georgian cuisine. Here are some typical recipes :

• Moussaka made with lamb ;

• Tavë kosi: lamb leg prepared with yogurt, flavored with saffron and garlic ;

• Méchoui ;

• Kukurrec: lamb intestines stuffed and roasted with spices ;

• Mish jahni: a specialty from the north of the country with lamb, onions, dried plums and peppers. 

Note that liver is also often cooked in Albania and that many dishes are made with offal.

Beef and veal are also widely used in Albanian cuisine. Among the signature recipes, you'll find : 

• Qebapa: croquettes resembling skinless homemade sausages ; 

• Piqem mish: a gratin of beef and potatoes in tomato sauce ;

• Letavë me qepë: a beef stew with vegetables ; 

• Mish çomlek: veal simmered with eggplants, onions and spinach. 

Besides lamb and beef, Albanians also consume duck, rabbit and chicken (try gjellë me arra, the famous walnuts chicken) and even pork (notably Proshute, a type of salami and ham).

Albanian fish-based dishes

Bordered by the Adriatic coast and with its many lakes and rivers, Albania boasts numerous fish throughout its gastronomy. They're served grilled, boiled, fried, sometimes raw and are generally flavored with white vinegar, olive oil and lemon juice. 

From the sea side, you'll find : 

• red mullet, 

• sole, 

• mullet, 

• bass, 

• bream,

• shrimp, 

• squid,

• cuttlefish,

• mussels,

• crustaceans…

On the freshwater fish side, you'll mainly find marsh eel, Shkodra carp, koran and Lake Ohrid trout. You can taste them in towns and villages near waterways.

Albanian vegetable-based specialties 

Influenced by Turkish cuisine, Albanian cooking features numerous vegetables that can be enjoyed as appetizers, side dishes or mezze. In fact, if you have the chance to eat at a local's home, you'll notice that mezze holds an important place in Albanian culture since all dishes are laid out on the table for guests to serve themselves. 

Among Albanian vegetable-based specialties to try, you can mention :

• Fërgese (or fërgese tiranë): a sort of puree of green and red peppers with tomatoes and candied onions ;

• Speca të ferguara: grilled peppers ;

• Speca me gjizë: pickled peppers stuffed with fresh cheese ;

• Japrak: vine leaves stuffed with rice and chopped onions (sometimes with meat) served with bread and yogurt. 

• Kungulleshka te ferguara: zucchini fritters ;

• Turshi lakre: pickled cabbage ;

• Papare: a sort of savory pudding of bread and cheese ;

• Sallatë të thjeshtë: a salad of peppers, tomatoes, onions, olives, cucumbers ;

• Tarator: a salad of cucumber, garlic, olive oil and yogurt…

Albanian soups

Soups are widely consumed by locals, especially in winter. They're made with various vegetables, but also with meat or fish. The most popular ones are :

• Bean soup Jahni: with white beans ;

• Grosh: a potage with white beans and tomato ;

• Potato and cabbage soup ;

• Trahana: a soup made with wheat and fermented milk ;

• Shqeto: a creamy and lemony soup made with lamb,

• Tarato: a cold soup rather consumed in summer based on yogurt, cucumber, garlic, walnuts and dill.

Albanian pies

We finish with an emblematic specialty of traditional Albanian cuisine: pies and their variations that can be enjoyed at a meal as well as for a snack. Here are some examples :

• Pite: a tart made of phyllo or puff pastry topped with vegetables (like the pite me spinaq version with spinach), ground meat (the pite me mish) or fresh cheese (the pite me djath). 

• Burek (or börek or beurek): a kind of savory pastry with vegetables or meat that resembles a pie and looks like pite. 

• Flia: it's made up of several layers of crêpes that you'll find in a savory version with marinated vegetables for example or in a sweet version with yogurt, honey…

• Kungullur: a stack of phyllo dough layers with pumpkin puree.