Albanian food, sweets and souvenirs

What is typical Albanian food?

Home-style dishes built on yogurt, cheese, peppers, olive oil and grilled meat: tavë kosi, fërgesë, byrek and qofte, followed by trileçe or bakllava and a small glass of raki.

The table lists the dishes, sweets and souvenirs in this guide, with what each one is and where to find it in Tirana or nearby.

Which Albanian dishes should you try in Tirana?

Tavë kosi, fërgesë, byrek and qofte are the four to start with. Add a salad of tomatoes, cucumbers and white cheese, and fresh bread with olive oil.

• Tavë kosi: lamb baked in a clay dish under a layer of yogurt and egg, from the city of Elbasan.
• Fërgesë: a rich, warm mix of peppers, tomato and gjizë, a soft white cheese. It is a Tirana classic; ask for the pepper and cheese version if you eat no meat.
• Byrek: thin layered pastry with cheese, spinach or meat, eaten at any time of day and often for breakfast.
• Qofte: small grilled meatballs, served with bread, salad and yogurt.
• Lakror: a hand-rolled pie with greens or other fillings, often made at home.

Portions are generous, so order a few plates to share and try more dishes.

What are the typical Albanian sweets?

Trileçe is the best known: a sponge cake soaked in three kinds of milk with a caramel top. Bakllava, kadaif and ballokume, the butter cookie from Elbasan, are close behind.

Trileçe was adapted from the Latin American tres leches cake and became hugely popular in Albania; most restaurants and pastry shops serve it. Bakllava and kadaif are syrup pastries with nuts from the Ottoman tradition, often made at home for holidays.

Ballokume is a crumbly cornflour and butter cookie from Elbasan. Families bake it for Summer Day, the spring festival on 14 March, and Tirana bakeries sell it too, especially around that date.

How do Albanians drink coffee and raki?

Coffee is a long, social habit: a strong espresso, often with a glass of water, and plenty of time to talk. Raki is the drink of welcome, sipped slowly, often with a small plate of food.

Cafés in Tirana are full from early morning until late evening, and people often sit for an hour over one cup. Turkish-style coffee is also served. Mountain tea, made from dried herbs from the hills, is the warm drink of choice in the countryside and in winter.

Raki is a strong spirit, usually made from grapes or mulberries, and many families make their own. A host may offer you a small glass as a welcome. Sip it slowly, and say gëzuar (cheers).

Where should you shop for food in Tirana?

At the New Bazaar, a covered market in the centre with stalls of fruit, vegetables, cheese, olives and honey, and cafés and restaurants around it.

The New Bazaar was built in 1931 and renovated in 2017 with covered halls and pedestrian streets. Come in the morning, when the stalls are fullest, and look for seasonal fruit, white cheeses, olives, honey and mountain tea. Small shops nearby sell raki and olive oil.

To meet the producers with someone who knows them, the Tirana food walking tour (4.9 from 260 reviews) spends three hours on byrek, the Çam bazaar, seasonal produce, cheeses, olive oil, honey and a traditional dessert. Reviewers say to go hungry.

What is worth buying in Albania?

Raki, olive oil, mountain tea and honey from the markets, and handmade carpets, kilims, felt hats, filigree and copperware from the old bazaar in Kruja.

• Raki: sold in markets and shops; a small bottle travels well.
• Olive oil: much of it comes from the south and the Berat area.
• Mountain tea and honey: light, easy to pack, and sold at the New Bazaar.
• Kruja crafts: carpets, kilims, felt hats and copperware line the cobbled old bazaar below the castle.
• Filigree: fine silver jewellery, sold in Kruja and in craft shops in Tirana.

The Kruja castle and bazaar day trip (4.8 from 3,721 reviews) gives you time in the old bazaar, and the castle lane in Tirana has craft shops too.

Shop the old bazaar in Kruja with a guide: the castle, the Sari Salltik mountain shrine and the cobbled lanes of carpets and copperware, with hotel pickup. Rated 4.8 from 3,721 reviews.

★ 4.8 (3,721) · 8 hours · Full refund up to 24 h ahead

Explore the Kruja Castle trip →

Can you take raki, olive oil and cheese home from Albania?

Usually raki and olive oil, within your home country's allowances. Meat and dairy such as cheese are often restricted, so enjoy the cheese while you are in Albania.

Check your home country's allowances for alcohol before you buy, and pack bottles in your checked luggage, as liquids in hand luggage are limited. Many countries, including EU countries and the UK, restrict meat and dairy brought in from outside, and some have rules for honey too, so check before you fly.

The Berat area is known for olive oil and wine. The Berat and Belsh Lake day trip (4.8 from 7,533 reviews) spends a full day in the town, and food on that trip is at your own cost, so you can choose a traditional lunch there.

Should you choose a food walk or a cooking class in Tirana?

Choose the food walk to taste the city and its markets in three hours. Choose the cooking class to learn tavë kosi and lakror and eat them with homemade wine and raki.

The food walking tour (4.9 from 260 reviews) suits your first or second day: you learn where to eat for the rest of your stay, and reviewers like the mix of food and history. The cooking class (5.0 from 507 reviews) takes four hours with hosts who use herbs from their garden, and it includes appetizers, dessert, homemade wine and raki. It has no hotel pickup, so plan a short taxi ride.

Both give a full refund if you cancel up to 24 hours ahead. The live price is on each listing, and if you have time for both, do the walk first and the class later in your stay.

Three hours with a local guide through markets you would not find alone: byrek, cheeses, olive oil, honey and a traditional dessert. Rated 4.9 from 260 reviews.

★ 4.9 (260) · 3 hours · Full refund up to 24 h ahead

Explore the local food walk →

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