Albania

Albanian food blends Ottoman, Italian, and Balkan influences, byrek pastries, slow-baked meat-and-yogurt tavë kosi, and abundant vegetables and olive oil. Fresh, Mediterranean, and hospitable, it centers the family meal.

Tave kosi is thought to come from Elbasan, which is why the same dish is called Elbasan tava in Turkey, Greece, Kosovo and North Macedonia, so Albania is best described as eating it rather than inventing it in Tirana. Lamb and rice go under a topping of kos, sheep's or goat's soured milk, bound with a butter-and-flour roux and egg so it puffs in the oven and then settles.

Byrek is the everyday food, thin hand-stretched sheets layered with cheese, spinach, meat or pumpkin and baked in a round tray to be cut in wedges. Along the coast the cooking turns Mediterranean, olive oil, tomatoes, grilled fish and lemon, while the mountainous interior leans on lamb, dairy and preserved meat.

Soft Albanian fried dough eaten warm with honey, jam, feta, or a dusting of sugar.