Albanian cuisine

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Albanian cuisine is a representative of the

Hospitality is a fundamental custom of Albanian society and serving food is integral to the hosting of guests and visitors. It is not infrequent for visitors to be invited to eat and drink with locals. The medieval Albanian code of honour, called besa, resulted to look after guests and strangers as an act of recognition and gratitude.^[8]

Albanian cuisine can be divided into three major regional cuisines.^[9] The cuisine of the northern region has a rural, coastal and mountainous origin. Meat, fish and vegetables are central to the cuisine of the northern region. The people there use many kinds of ingredients that usually grow in the region, including potatoes, carrots, maize, beans, and cabbage, and also cherries, walnuts and almonds. Garlic and onions are as well important components to the local cuisine and added to almost every dish.

The cuisine of the central region is threefold of rural, mountainous and coastal. The central region is the flattest and rich in vegetation and biodiversity as well as culinary specialties. It has Mediterranean characteristics due to its proximity to the sea, which is rich in fish. Dishes here include several meat specialties and desserts of all kinds.

In the south, the cuisine is composed of two components: the rural products of the field including

and feed resources are abundant.

Besides garlic, onions are arguably the country's most widely used ingredient.[10] Albania is ranked fifth in the world in terms of onion consumption per capita.^[11][12]

History

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2022)

Characteristics and meals

The location of Albania in the western

allows a variety of products to be grown. Citrus fruits such as oranges and lemons, figs and olives thrive.

Citrus fruits

are mostly cultivated in the south of Albania.

Every region has its own typical breakfast. Breakfast is generally light. Bread is common, served with butter, cheese, jam and yogurt, and accompanied with olives, coffee, milk, tea or raki. Trahaná (tarhana) is also a common breakfast in many rural areas. It is common to have only fruit or a slice of bread and a cup of coffee or tea for breakfast. Coffee and tea are enjoyed both in homes and in cafés.^{[citation needed]}

]

Supper in Albania is a smaller meal, often consisting only of a variety of breads, meat, fresh fish or seafood, cheese, eggs and various kind of vegetables, similar to breakfast, or possibly sandwiches.^[citation needed]

Ingredients

Located in

Many Albanians keep fruit trees in their yards. Fresh and dried fruits are eaten as snacks and desserts.

Fruits that are traditionally associated with Albanian cuisine include

.

A wide variety of

.

.

Drinks

Tea is a widely consumed beverage throughout Albania and particularly served at cafés, restaurants or at home.^{[citation needed]} The country is rich in the cultivation of a wide range of herbs. The most popular varieties of tea drinking in Albania include Albanian-style mountain tea, which grows in the Albanian mountains and villages, and Russian- and Turkish-style black tea with sugar to tea with lemon, milk or honey.^[18][19]

In 2016, Albania surpassed Spain by becoming the country with the most coffee houses per capita in the world. In fact, there are 654 coffee houses per 100,000 inhabitants in Albania, a country with only 2.5 million inhabitants.^{[citation needed]}

]

Boza is a malt drink made from maize (corn) and wheat which is widely consumed with desserts in Albania.

The most common types of raki in the country are grape, plum or blackberry. It is commonly served to the older people and is heated and sweetened with honey or sugar, with added spices. Although in the south of the country, Raki rigoni is very popular among the people and is made of white oregano, that is cultivated in the region.

Albania is a traditionally wine drinking country. The people of Albania drink wine in moderation and almost always at meals or social occasions. Albanians drink about 5.83 liters of wine per person per year, which has been increasing since the Albanian production of high-quality wine grows to meet demand.^[22] The origins of wine production in Albania can be traced back to 6,000 years and evidence suggesting wine production confirm that Albania is among the earliest wine producers in Europe.^[23][24][25]

Pastries and desserts

There is a strong tradition of home baking in the country and pâtisseries are present in every city and village across the country. Entirely Albanian desserts and pastries consist primarily of fruits including oranges and lemons that grow as well as in the country. Traditionally, fresh fruits are often eaten after a meal as a dessert. Those dishes are inspired from both Western and Eastern civilizations.^{[citation needed]}

Kanojët is a typical Sicilian pastry and very common among the Arbëreshë people, which brought that dish back into their homelands, Albania where it is popular^{[citation needed]}. It is made of tube-shaped shells of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling usually containing ricotta. The kanojët from Piana degli Albanesi, an Arbëreshë village, are often referred to be the best cannolo.

Baklava is made frequently in Albania, especially around certain religious holidays of Muslims, Catholics and Orthodox. It is prepared on large trays and cut into a variety of shapes. Baklava is either with hazelnuts or walnuts sweetened with syrup.

Petulla is a traditional fried dough made from wheat or buckwheat flour, which is as well a popular dish among the Albanians and served with powdered sugar or feta cheese and raspberry jam.

. A variety of fillings are used, such as jelly, chocolate, fruit and pastry cream.

]

Fruit jam, also known as Reçel, is enjoyed all year in Albania and a major component of the Albanian cooking tradition. The fruit preserve is made by cooking the juice of the fruit or the fruit itself, which usually grow in Albania, with sugar. It is served to many dishes as a side dish.^{[citation needed]}

.

Various kinds of hallvë are prepared across the country with some of the most common types being flour halva. Although home-cooked semolina halva and shop-produced sesame halva are also consumed. It is a typical sweet in local religious fairs around Albania.^{[citation needed]}

Tambëloriz, also known as sultjash, is a popular sweet among the Albanian population across the world. It is a kind of rice pudding made from milk, rice, cinnamon and nuts, raisins can be added, too.

. Further, it is made of bits of fried dough, similar to doughnuts, steeped in much lemony syrup. The dough contains starch and semolina, which keeps it light and crispy.

Akullore is the Albanian word for ice cream and it is enjoyed both summer and winter.

is a pastry made from long thin noodle threads filled with walnuts or pistachios and sweetened with syrup, it is sometimes served alongside baklava.

Kabuni is a traditional cold-served Albanian dessert made of rice fried in butter, mutton broth, raisins, salt and caramelized sugar. It is then boiled before sugar, cinnamon, and ground cloves are added.

Pastashu is made from choux pastry, filled with a cream, vanilla, coffee or chocolate-flavoured custard and then topped usually with fondant icing. This dessert is known as Éclair in France and Bignè in Italy

Ashure, the world oldest dessert, is served especially during Muslim (Bektashi) holidays in Albania. It is a congee that is made of a mixture consisting of grains, nuts as well as fruits and dried fruits.^[28]

Appetizers and salads

Popular appetizers in Albania includes wheat bread or cornbread, which remains one of the most important foods and are ever-present on the Albanian table. Hence the expression for 'going to eat a meal' (Albanian: për të ngrënë bukë) can be literally translated as 'going to eat bread'. In Albania, bread is also used in the authentic Albanian hospitality saying of "bread, salt and heart" (bukë, kripë e zemër).^{[citation needed]}

Vegetable salads are almost served along with both lunch and dinner, which in majority are dishes based on meat. The ingredients that are used always in salads are green or red peppers, onions, tomatoes, olives and cucumbers. Salads that are representative of the Albanian cuisine are dressed with salt, olive oil or lemon and vinegar. The usual dressings are based on garlic, lemon and black pepper.^{[citation needed]}

An Albanian-style meze of fresh and cooked vegetable salads, pickled cucumbers and other vegetables, hard boiled eggs, prosciutto ham, salami and feta cheese, accompanied with roasted bell peppers, olive oil and garlic is served at festive meals and in restaurants. Nowadays, the modern interpretations of the Albanian meze blend traditional and modern combination of various appetizers.^{[citation needed]}

Fërgesë verorë (summer fërgesë) is the vegetarian version of fërgesë,^[29] a national dish in Albania made of green and red peppers, along with skinned tomatoes and onions and often served as a side dish to various meat dishes.

Japrak is a stuffed vegetable dish made with grape leaves, olive oil and stuffed with rice, grilled beef and chopped onions and generally served cold with bread and tarator.

is a cold appetizer and usually served cold as a side dish during the hot summer months. The ingredients of tarator include cucumber, garlic, olive oil, salt and yoghurt. Fried and grilled vegetables and seafood are usually offered with tarator.

Large white

A variety of

]

Other dishes include

]

Meat and fish

The country's cuisine is largely meat-based.

are also used in dishes such as intestines and the head among other parts, which are considered a delicacy.

Fresh fish is readily available and caught off the coastal areas of the

]

]

Fërgesë is the most iconic dish from Tirana and Central Albania. It consists of peppers, tomatoes, onions and gjizë (Albanian ricotta).^[29] Ingredients are cooked on the stove and then in the oven to make a relatively dense sauce. Some versions of the dish include liver or cooked beef. Fërgesë with liver is considered more traditional in Tirana and is thus sometimes called just fërgesë tirane.^{[citation needed]}

Tavë kosi is a national dish in Albania that is beloved throughout the country.^[31] The speciality is a simple dish of baked lamb and rice, served with a flavored yogurt sauce. Recently, it has become very popular among the Greeks and Turks associated to the large Albanian diaspora in Greece and Turkey.^{[citation needed]}

Qebapa are small homemade grilled meat skinless sausages made of lamb and beef mix. It is primarily served with onions, sour cream, ajvar and pita bread called pitalka.^{[citation needed]}

Gullash, or tasqebap, is actually eaten very frequently in the mountainous areas of Albania. It's a traditional paprika-spiced meat stew originating in Hungary that is popular throughout Central Europe and the Balkans.^{[citation needed]}

Gjel deti me përshesh (turkey with përshesh) is the usual New Year's dish in many Albanian families and also consumed in other kind of celebrations. Turkey is first boiled and then roasted and served with përshesh, which is prepared by baking pieces of kulaç (a kind of bread) with turkey broth, along with mint and other spices.^[29]

Paçe is traditionally common in Albania. It is made with a sheep's, pig's or any cattle's head, boiled until meat comes off easily. It is then stewed with garlic, onion, black pepper and vinegar. Sometimes a little flour is added to thicken the stew.^{[citation needed]}

Proshute is a term used in Albania for many types of salami and ham, which has been seasoned, cured and air-dried. It is served rather at breakfast or lunch as an appetizer. Dishes which consist of proshute include omelete me proshute dhe djathe, role buke me proshute and sallate orizi me pjeper dhe proshute.^{[citation needed]}

]

Pies

Pite is considered as well one of the national foods of Albania by most Albanians. Several internationally renowned musicians of Albanian heritage such as Rita Ora, Dua Lipa and Action Bronson spread their passion about this Albanian dish.^[32][33][34]

It is often served hot, fresh and with pickled vegetables, honey, yogurt or fruit jam. Nowadays, flia mainly features in large social gatherings, weddings, births and other ceremonies and events. Fli is a dish mainly cooked in Kosovo. It is important to note that the dishes may differ depending on the region of Albania.^[35] Bakllasarëm is a layered pie, otherwise known as pite, without anything inside, which is covered with yogurt and garlic and then heated again. It is particularly eaten for lunch. Another popular dish is

]

Notable pies include

]

Health effects

Albanian cuisine falls within the category of the "Mediterranean diet," which includes a high consumption of seafood, vegetables, fruit, nuts, and olive oil; however, beef, veal, lamb, and pork are commonly consumed as well.^[36] It is believed that because of this diet Albania has a very high life expectancy when its economic power is compared to other countries, characterized by some researchers as the "Albanian paradox".^[36]

See also

• Culture of Albania
• Mediterranean cuisine
• Arbëreshë cuisine
• Kosovan cuisine
• Albanian wine
• Mediterranean diet

References