Albanian Cuisine

Considering all the Balkan cuisine as the same is a common misconception in Anatolia. During the Balkan wars, years 1912-1913, about 7-8 million of the Balkan population had to emmigrate elsewhere. Prof. Jonathan McCarthy, has indicated this migration with a very explanatory map that can be viewed here.

A lot has changed within those nations that were stuck between the Austrian-Hungarian and Ottoman empires. Great changes took place within the population of Anatolia, and a lot of people had to go through very dramatic and hard times during the Balkan wars. Muslim Bosnians, Macedonians, Albanians and Central Asian Turks that lived in Balkans had to migrate to Anatolia. Similar hard times occured within the first years of the Republic of Turkey when population exchange took place. A large part of the Orthodox population had to move to Greece and the Muslims that lived in Greece moved to Turkey.

Albanians use the symbol of twe headed eagle to define their country. Looking into the history, Anatolian Seljuks were the first ones to use the two headed eagle as a symbol. Later on it was adapted by the Byzantines followed by Ecumenical Patriarch of Istanbul. The most western part of the world where this symbol has been seeen is a region of Sicily.

The Muslim Albanians that migrated to Anatolia, brought with them their culture and habits that was very different than the already existing one in Anatolia. The biggest example was that the Turks of Anatolia, consumed a lot of meat but never the offals. Since Anatolia was very rich with animal supplies, eating the offals was never considered when one can eat the meat. With the arrival of the Albanians, consumption of offals started. These immigrants were usually less fortunate than the Anatolians, therefore the habit of eating offals was a cheap way to eat meat that was otherwise discarded. It was mostly Albanians who started the trade of offals in that time period. One of the popular Turkish dishes known as “Albanian liver” (diced and fried liver served with an onion salad) is a dish that was inherited by the Albanian minority.  Like their Balkan neighbours they also make very good “börek”, all types of dishes using leeks and use a very hot pepper called Albanian peppersin cooking.

We can learn a lot about the culinary culture of Albanians through the works of Prof. Nimetullah Hafız, Turcologist and a professor of literature. Prof. Hafız mentions Pristina as the most important city regarding the culinary culture. He also mentions that during Pristina’s years of prosperity and peace, the wedding and circumssion ceremonies are celebrated with great feasts.Throughout our findings we also see families that emmigrated from Pristina and Kosovo brought along with them a favourite dish called,“Elbasan Tava” (baked lamb with a bechamel type sauce on top) which takes its name from the city of Elbasan. Elbasan is located bordering the Şkumbi river. In Turkey, Elbasan tava can be made with a few different ways. The best one is made in a small restaurant called Cumhuriyet Lokantası in Edremit. There is another famous meat dish from the city of Prizren, called “Prizren tavası” (a baked beef and vegetable dish).

Albanians also love to eat bread that contains natural yeasts made from chickpeas. Milk and all dairy products also play an important role in Albanian cuisine, such as yoghurt, cheese and “lönk” (pickled green bell peppers filled with a type of clotted cream). The favourtite vegetable of Albanians is leeks. A girls who is at the marrying age cannot get married if she does not know how to cook at least 12 different leek dishes. According to Prof. Hafız, the best leeks are grown in Pristina. It is said that just like wine terroir, Pristina has a leek terroir. 

“Tirit” is also a well known Albanian dish made from onions, garlic, spices, greens and chickpeas. It has a lot of juice, that is why it is customary to eat this dish by dipping bread into the juice. This dish has been long forgotten nowadays.  One of the important information we find out from Prof. Hafız is that Albanian style “tirit” always includes chickpeas. It is a very easy dish to make and available on almost all Albanian table.

Just like its neighbour in the Balkans, Albanians also use cornflour. They make a dish by boiling the milk until the top part forms a skin, then add cornflour and stir until it becomes like porridge. They have their own unique style dumplings and “böreks.” The dough used in making these are so delicious that they are usually made without a filling and served with yoghurt sauce.

Eggplant börek is made in a rose shape therefore called “rose börek.” They also make a “börek” filled with liver. The hardest and most time consuming type of börek is “flia.” Flia is made from a runny dough that is poured, about 2cm wide, over a tray in many layers, filled with a soft cheese and cooked over coal. This is a dish that was eaten a lot by the famous Republic day period poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy, who is of Albanian descent.  

“Çulama” is a dish made with chicken, flour, oil and tomato paste. There are variations of this dish. “Mişoriz” is a special dish made for very special guests. It is a dish made with rice and meat and resembles “büryan.” “Miş” means meat, “oriz” means rice. It is made with chicken and beef but originally made with lamb. If onions are used sparingly and baked in the oven, it is a very delicious dish.

Albanian cuisine, one of the most important cuisines of the Balkans, and we owe the existence of Albanians cuisine to their efforts to keep their own traditins and culinary culture.

*The text is a translated transcription of food culture researcher and journalist Nedim Atilla’s seminar “From Roumelia III: Albanian Cuisine” that was held at TCF-Culinary Arts Center on 20 March 2013.