Albanian Food Guide: 21 Dishes to Hunt Down (and Where)

Albanian food mixes Mediterranean ingredients, mountain cooking and an Ottoman pastry tradition, and it's still very cheap for the quality. Here's what to hunt down, and where it's done best. Come hungry; portions are big.

Start at dawn: byrek and the bakery ritual

Byrek is the national breakfast: flaky filo layered with cheese, spinach, or meat, best bought from a hole-in-the-wall furrë before 8 a.m. while the trays are still hot. Pair it with dhallë (salted yogurt drink) like a builder, or a macchiato like a student. A full breakfast costs about one euro.

The classics: tavë kosi, fërgesë and qofte

Tavë kosi (baked lamb under a tangy yogurt-egg custard) is the national dish, and Elbasan does the canonical version. Fërgesë is the summer hero: peppers, tomato and gjizë (curd cheese) baked into something between a dip and a stew; Tirana's traditional odas serve it bubbling. Qofte are everywhere; the mountain versions with mint are the keepers.

Gjirokastër's odd masterpieces

The stone city has the country's most distinctive plates: qifqi (fried rice balls with egg and mint, found almost nowhere else) and pasha qofte, a milk-and-meatball soup that sounds wrong and tastes like a hug. Eat both in the old bazaar, then argue about which one you'll order again tomorrow.

The coast: mussels, fish and very long lunches

The Butrint lagoon mussels near Ksamil are the seaside detour most worth making: steamed with white wine, garlic and not much else, eaten over the water they grew in. Grilled levrek (sea bass) and koce (gilt-head bream) anchor every Riviera taverna; in Vlora and Himarë, ask what came in that morning and order that.

Mountains, sweets and what to drink

In the north: mish në saç (meat slow-roasted under an iron dome), flija's lacy pancake layers in Theth, and mountain trout with mountain honey somewhere near every river. For dessert, trileçe (three-milk cake with a caramel top) has conquered the country; baklava rules holidays.

Drink raki carefully (every family's is 'the best one'), try Çobo and Kallmet wines, and finish dinners with mountain tea (çaj mali). Then walk it all off on a castle hill and start planning breakfast.