Albanian Cuisine

Three great empires, throughout the centuries, have subjugated Albania. The Greeks, the Romans and eventually the Turks have obtained control over the Albanian territory. Each of them has exercised powerful influences over the Albanian culture and therefore, over Albanian cuisine.

Albanian cuisine is a mixture of the national cuisines of the surrounding countries. In time, it has accumulated concepts from both the Balkan and the Mediterranean nations. Together with the Greek and the Turkish cuisines, the cuisine of Albania is one of the most famous in the Mediterranean area. This is due to the richness of the vegetation, the multitude of spices and the great number of meat varieties. The fish, mullet and Lamb, along with oregano, olives and grapes are evidence of this fact.

A dispute appeared between the Greeks and the Albanians, as each of these nations claimed to be the creator of certain dishes. It is known that most of the foods that are in the Adriatic and Ionian areas are believed to be Albanian as Adriatic and Ionian seas where the areas where the Illyrians settled before this was occupied by the Greeks. The most difficult fact is that both countries use the same cooking techniques and therefore it is virtually impossible to distinguish a Greek dish from an Albanian dish, if they are based on the same recipe.

In Albania, the lunch represents the most important meal of the day. It consists of soups, main dishes that are based on meat, salads that are served along with the meat dishes and desserts. The beverage that made Albania popular at least all over Europe is the traditional brandy. Besides that, other famous Albanian beverages are raki, beer and several varieties of red and white wine.