Local Dishes

1. byrek

   Layered thin-pastry pie with a filling

   Usage

   The most everyday food in Albania — breakfast or a snack — sold by the slice at shops called byrektore. Usual fillings are gjizë (curd cheese), djathë (white cheese), spinaq (spinach) and mish (meat); you order it as "byrek me gjizë" and so on. The word comes from Ottoman Turkish börek. The dish and the name are shared across Turkey and the Balkans, so it is safest not to assign it to any one country

   Grammar Note

   Masculine. Definite "byreku"; plural "byrekë", definite plural "byrekët". Albanian attaches its definite article to the end of the word, not the front

2. lakror

   Thin-crust pie (the south-eastern name for byrek)

   Usage

   A synonym of byrek. It is the name used around Korçë and the south-east, with a thinner crust than byrek; usual fillings are presh (leek) with gjizë, or tomato with onion

   Grammar Note

   Masculine. Definite "lakrori"; plural "lakrorë", definite plural "lakrorët"

3. pite

   Round flat baked dough topped with minced meat or cheese

   Usage

   A thin round sheet of dough baked in an oven, covered with minced meat, cheese and the like, and eaten warm. It usually comes with turshi (pickled vegetables), honey, yoghurt or jam on the side

4. flia

   Layered pancake-like pie baked one layer at a time

   Usage

   A traditional Albanian dish cooked mostly in the northern areas such as Kukës and in Kosovo. A thin batter of flour, water and salt is baked one layer at a time, with melted butter, ajkë (cream skimmed off milk) and oil brushed between the layers. It takes hours, so it is often a pre-order item. ⚠ "fli" itself means "sacrificial victim / one who gave their life", not the food. Use the definite form "flia" when you mean the dish

   Grammar Note

   "flia" is the definite form of the feminine noun "fli". The definite form is what circulates as the name of the dish

5. tavë kosi

   Meat and rice baked under a yoghurt sauce

   Usage

   A preparation made mainly of kosi (yoghurt), mishi (meat) and other ingredients. Lamb is the usual meat; yoghurt beaten with egg is poured over and the whole thing is baked. It is on menus everywhere in the country and is the safe default order

   Grammar Note

   "tavë" is a feminine noun meaning "roasting pan" (its first sense); its definite form is "tava". "kosi" is the definite form of the masculine noun "kos" (yoghurt), used here in the sense "of the yoghurt"

6. fërgesë

   Curd cheese or liver fried with peppers and tomato

   Usage

   It has two senses: crumbled gjizë or djathë fried in fat alone or with a little tomato and pepper; and egg, peppers and small pieces of meat or liver fried together with spices. The Tirana version is called "Fërges Tirane" and is made with peppers, tomato, garlic, gjizë, egg and hot pepper. It usually comes as a meze (starter)

   Grammar Note

   Feminine. Definite "fërgesa". Formed from the verb "fërgoj" (to fry). ⚠ The ë is obligatory — "fergese" is not the correct spelling

7. qofte

   Flattened patties of minced meat, grilled or fried

   Usage

   Minced meat mixed with onion, egg and spices, pressed flat or into a short stick and grilled or fried. Examples include qofte të skarës (grilled), qofte të furrës (oven-baked), qofte me patate (potato ones) and qofte me kos (with yoghurt). The dish is shared across Turkey and the Balkans. ⚠ It also has a colloquial pejorative sense, "a spineless person", so keep the word to food

   Grammar Note

   Feminine. Definite "qoftja"; "qofteja" is used in the south and "qifte" around Dibër. ⚠ "qoftë" with a final ë is the subjunctive of the verb "jam" (to be) — a completely different word. The dish ends in plain e: "qofte"

8. qebap

   Meat cut small and grilled on a thin skewer

   Usage

   The first sense is meat cut into small pieces and grilled on a small thin skewer; the word also covers minced meat mixed with onion, rice and spices, and elongated patties grilled over open fire. Menus usually show the plural "qebapa". The dish is shared across Turkey and the Balkans

9. japrak

   Rice and minced meat wrapped in vine or cabbage leaves

   Usage

   Rice, minced meat, onion and spices, lightly fried or boiled and then wrapped in young vine leaves or cabbage leaves. Served hot or cold. Closely related dishes run across the Mediterranean, the Balkans and the Middle East under other names such as sarma and dolma

10. paçe

    Breakfast stew of cattle trotters and marrow

    Usage

    A dish eaten mostly at breakfast, cooked from the marrow, meat and gelatine of cattle feet. It is sharpened with vinegar and garlic and served from early morning. ⚠ It is made from trotters and offal — check what is in it before ordering if that is not for you

    Grammar Note

    There are three forms: Paça, paçja and paçeja. Menus show the indefinite "paçe"

11. tarator

    Cold starter of yoghurt with cucumber and garlic

    Usage

    Beaten yoghurt mixed with garlic, oil, salt and grated cucumber, usually eaten in summer before the other courses. It is a cold starter and shows up on menus mostly in hot weather

12. trahana

    Cracked wheat, and the soup made from it

    Usage

    It has two senses. The first is bollgur (cracked wheat) itself, with examples trahana gruri (wheat trahana) and trahana me gjalpë (with butter). The second is a çorbë (soup), eaten at breakfast and in winter

    Grammar Note

    Feminine

13. groshë

    Beans, and the bean stew made from them

    Usage

    The first sense is fasule (beans) themselves, with examples groshë të thata (dried), groshë të kuqe (red) and groshë mishi (with meat). On menus it names the bean stew. It is often cooked without meat, which makes it a common fasting-season dish

14. koran

    A freshwater trout with red spots (the Lake Ohrid fish)

    Usage

    A trout-type fish with red spots on its body that lives in fresh water. You see it on menus around Pogradec on Lake Ohrid, usually grilled (në skarë)

15. turshi

    Pickled vegetables

    Usage

    Cabbage, peppers, cucumber and carrot put up in brine or vinegar. It comes as the side with pite and with meat dishes, and households jar it for the winter

    Grammar Note

    Feminine. Definite "turshia"; definite plural "turshitë"

16. gjizë

    Soft curd cheese made from milk or whey

    Usage

    A soft, slightly watery crumbly dairy product made by curdling and draining milk, yoghurt, dhallë or whey. It is the commonest filling for byrek and fërgesë — as in "byrek me gjizë". It comes salted or unsalted

    Grammar Note

    Feminine. Definite "gjiza"

17. përshesh

    Torn bread soaked in broth or in milk

    Usage

    It has two senses: bread pieces softened in a bowl of milk, yoghurt or dhallë; and bread soaked in broth (mostly chicken) with butter and spices. "gjel deti me përshesh" — turkey with përshesh — is a festive dish. ⚠ It also has a figurative sense, "a mess", so keep the word to food

    Grammar Note

    Masculine. Definite "përsheshi"

18. petulla

    Fried dough, eaten with sugar or honey

    Usage

    Thinned dough, usually with yeast, dropped piece by piece into hot oil and eaten with sugar or honey. It is served with honey, white cheese, eggs and reçel (jam); it is also a breakfast dish

    Grammar Note

    The indefinite singular is "petull" (feminine). "petulla" is both the definite singular and the indefinite plural, and is the form menus use

19. qumështor

    Baked custard of milk, egg, starch and sugar

    Usage

    A sweet made by beating milk, eggs, starch and sugar together, spreading it in a baking tray and baking it. There are also variants with pastry sheets and with butter

    Grammar Note

    Masculine, formed from "qumësht" (milk). Definite "qumështori"

20. revani

    Cake baked and then soaked in syrup

    Usage

    A sweet made of flour, butter, eggs and sugar, baked and then usually drenched in syrup (sherbet). It is served in cut squares, often alongside coffee

21. sheqerpare

    Baked biscuit soaked in syrup

    Usage

    A sweet of flour, butter or oil and eggs, baked and then covered with syrup (sherbet). It sits next to revani in pastry-shop and restaurant dessert cases

22. kabuni

    Sweet rice cooked in broth with raisins and almonds

    Usage

    A sweet made from rice boiled in meat broth with sugar, raisins and almonds. It appears at celebrations. Being a sweet rice dish, it surprises people when it arrives as dessert

23. hallvë

    Dense sweet of flour or semolina cooked in butter

    Usage

    The name of a family of dense sweets with eastern roots. Method: brown flour in butter to a dark honey colour, work in hot sugar water bit by bit, fold in walnuts and let it set. Semolina and sesame versions also exist. Sweets under this name run from the Middle East across the Balkans

    Grammar Note

    The definite form is "hallva"

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