Albanian cuisine

The cuisine of Albania is Mediterranean, influenced by many including Italian and Turkish cooking. Albanian cuisine is characterized by the use of spices such as black pepper and Mediterranean herbs such as oregano, mint, basil, rosemary and more in cooking meat and fish, but also chilli pepper and garlic.

Vegetables are used in almost every dish.

The main meal of the Albanians is lunch, which usually consists of gjellë (stew), the main dish of slowly cooked meat with various vegetables, and a salad of fresh vegetables, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, and olives. The salad is dressed with salt, olive oil, vinegar and/or lemon juice.

In high elevation localities, smoked meat and pickled preserves are common. Animal organs are also used in dishes such as intestines and the head among other parts, which are considered a delicacy. Dairy products are integral part of the cuisine usually accompanied with ever present bread and alcoholic beverages such as Raki. Seafood specialties are also common in the coastal cities such as Durrës, Vlorë, Shkoder, Lezhe and Sarandë.

Appetizers
Wheat Bread (Bukë gruri) or corn bread (Bukë misri) 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."
Chicken livers
Eggplant appetizers
Dolma
Stuffed Peppers (green peppers stuffed with rice, meat, other vegetables and herbs)
Pickled cabbage (Turshi lakre)
Fried sardines with lemon (sardele me Limon)
Albanian-style meze platters that include prosciutto ham, salami and feta cheese, accompanied with roasted bell peppers (capsicum) and/or green olives marinated in olive oil with garlic or onions.
Papare: bread leftovers cooked with water, egg, and Gjize (a special type of Ricotta)

Salads
Albanian potato salad
Albanian tossed salad
Bean salad
Cabbage salad
Tomato and pepper salad

Soups
Bean Jahni soup
Potato and cabbage soup
Soup with lemon
Tarator
Trahana

Fish
Oven-baked trout (or Ohrid trout) with onions and tomatoes
Baked whiting, carp, mullet or eel with olive oil and garlic

Meat
Tavë kosi, baked lamb and yogurt dish
veal or chicken with walnuts[1]
Fërgesë of Tirana with veal
Fried meatballs or Qofte të fërguara.
Kolloface Korçe
Veal with very large lima beans
Harapash, polenta with the intestines of lamb, butter, cheese and corn flour
Paçe - common throughout the country and it is traditionally popular in Albania. Paçe 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. It makes a hot and hearty winter stew.

Vegetables
Dolma (in Serbia known as Sarma and in South Eastern Montenegro known as Japrak) — a family of stuffed vegetable dishes
Baked leeks
Fërgesë of Tirana with peppers
Peppers stuffed with rice, meat and vegetables
Stuffed aubergines with cheese

Pies
Byrek — Albanian vegetable pie; it can also have feta cheese, spinach, cabbage, tomatoes, or meat; it's a layered pie made with filo pastry. Another version of the fillings is served as a filling for "pite" or "pita".
Kungullur — Pastry layers filled with mashed pumpkin, butter, salt or sugar
Bakllasarëm — A traditional food prepared in Kosovo and Albania: it's layered pie also known as "pite" or "pita" (Byrek) without anything inside, which is covered with yogurt and garlic, and then heated again. It is eaten for lunch.
Flia — A traditional food prepared in Kosovo and Albania.

Desserts
Patisseries are in every Albanian city. The most common desserts in Albania are made throughout the Balkans:

Halvë
Revani me sherbet
Hasude/Revani me niseshte
Tambëloriz
Shëndetlie me mjaltë
Kabuni
Custard
Tollumba — fried dough pieces in syrup
Gliko and fruit jams

Drinks
Mineral water is one of the most preferred non-alcoholic drinks in Albania, along with carbonated beverages. Some of these are produced locally and some are imported.

Carbo