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Albania

Albania, nestled in the Balkans on the southeastern coast of Europe, is a country with a dramatic landscape ranging from the Adriatic and Ionian Sea coastlines to the rugged mountains of the Albanian Alps and the serene Lake Ohrid. This nation has a rich history, evidenced by ancient Illyrian ruins, Roman amphitheaters, and medieval castles scattered across its terrain. Tirana, the vibrant capital, reflects a blend of Ottoman, Italian, and communist architectural influences, while cities like Berat and Gjirokastër are UNESCO World Heritage sites known for their unique "town of a thousand windows" and stone houses respectively. Culturally, Albania is a mosaic of religions, with significant Muslim, Christian Orthodox, and Catholic communities living harmoniously. Since emerging from decades of isolation under communist rule, Albania has been embracing tourism, offering visitors pristine beaches, traditional cuisine like byrek and tave kosi, and a warm, welcoming hospitality known as "besa," which translates to a code of honor.

Albania

Featured Dishes from Albania

Boiled egg

Boiled egg

Boiled eggs are typically from a chicken, and are cooked with their shells unbroken, usually by immersion in boiling water. Hard-boiled or hard-cooked eggs are cooked so that the egg white and egg yolk both solidify, while soft-boiled eggs may leave the yolk, and sometimes the white, at least partially liquid and raw. Boiled eggs are a popular breakfast food around the world. Besides a boiling water immersion, there are a few different methods to make boiled eggs. Eggs can also be cooked below the boiling temperature, i.e. coddling, or they can be steamed. The egg timer was named for commonly being used to time the boiling of eggs.

Buke shtepie

Buke shtepie

Homemade bread or bread rolls

Canned fish

Canned fish

Canned or tinned fish are food fish which have been processed, sealed in an airtight container such as a sealed tin can, and subjected to heat. Canning is a method of preserving food, and provides a typical shelf life ranging from one to five years. They are usually opened via a can opener, but sometimes have a pull-tab so that they can be opened by hand. In the past it was common for many cans to have a key that would be turned to peel the lid of the tin off; most predominately sardines, among others. Fish have low acidity levels at which microbes can flourish. From a public safety point of view, foods with low acidity need sterilization at high temperatures of 116–130 °C (241–266 °F). Achieving temperatures above the boiling point requires pressurized cooking. After sterilization, the containing can prevents microorganisms from entering and proliferating inside. Other than sterilization, no method is dependable as a preservative. For example, the microorganism Clostridium botulinum (which causes botulism) can only be eliminated at temperatures above the boiling point. Preservation techniques are needed to prevent spoilage and lengthen shelf life. They are designed to inhibit the activity of spoilage bacteria and the metabolic changes leading to a loss of quality. Spoilage bacteria are the specific bacteria that produce the unpleasant odours and flavours associated with spoiled fish.

Cereal

Cereal

Breakfast cereal is a category of food, including food products, made from processed cereal grains, that are eaten as part of breakfast or as a snack food, primarily in Western societies. Although warm, cooked cereals like oat meal, corn grits, and wheat farina have the longest history as traditional breakfast foods, branded and ready-to-eat cold cereals appeared around the late 19th century. These processed, precooked, packaged cereals are most often served in a quick and simple preparation with dairy products, traditionally cow's milk. These modern cereals can also be paired with yoghurt or plant-based milks, or eaten plain. Fruit or nuts are sometimes added, and may enhance the nutritional benefits.

Cheese

Cheese

Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk . During production, milk is usually acidified and either the enzymes of rennet or bacterial enzymes with similar activity are added to cause the casein to coagulate. The solid curds are then separated from the liquid whey and pressed into finished cheese. Some cheeses have aromatic molds on the rind, the outer layer, or throughout. Over a thousand types of cheese exist, produced in various countries. Their styles, textures and flavors depend on the origin of the milk (including the animal's diet), whether they have been pasteurised, the butterfat content, the bacteria and mold, the processing, and how long they have been aged. Herbs, spices, or wood smoke may be used as flavoring agents. Other added ingredients may include black pepper, garlic, chives or cranberries. A cheesemonger, or specialist seller of cheeses, may have expertise with selecting, purchasing, receiving, storing and ripening cheeses.

Coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially available. There are also various coffee substitutes. Typically served hot, coffee has the highest sales in the world market for hot drinks. Coffee production begins when the seeds from coffee cherries are separated to produce unroasted green coffee beans. The "beans" are roasted and then ground into fine particles. Coffee is brewed from the ground roasted beans, which are typically steeped in hot water before being filtered out. It is usually served hot, although chilled or iced coffee is common. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways (e.g., espresso, French press, caffè latte, or already-brewed canned coffee). Sugar, sugar substitutes, milk, and cream are often added to mask the bitter taste or enhance the flavor.

Honey

Honey

Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants or the secretions of other insects, like the honeydew of aphids. This refinement takes place both within individual bees, through regurgitation and enzymatic activity, and during storage in the hive, through water evaporation that concentrates the honey's sugars until it is thick and viscous. Honey bees stockpile honey in the hive. Within the hive is a structure made from wax called honeycomb. The honeycomb is made up of hundreds or thousands of hexagonal cells, into which the bees regurgitate honey for storage. Other honey-producing species of bee store the substance in different structures, such as the pots made of wax and resin used by the stingless bee.

Kabuni

Kabuni

Kabuni is a traditional Albanian dessert. It is made of rice fried in butter, mutton broth , raisins (rinsed first in warm water), and some salt. It is then boiled before sugar, cinnamon, and ground cloves are added. It is served cold.

Kafe turke

Kafe turke

Turkish coffee is a style of coffee prepared in a cezve using very finely ground coffee beans without filtering or settling to remove the grounds. Turkish coffee is very finely ground coffee brewed by boiling. Any coffee bean may be used; arabica varieties are considered best, but robusta or a blend is also used. The coffee grounds are left in the coffee when served. The coffee may be ground at home in a manual grinder made for the very fine grind, ground to order by coffee merchants in most parts of the world, or bought ready-ground from many shops.

Kos

Kos

Yogurt, used in tavë kosi, cake

Milk

Milk

Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest solid food. Milk contains many nutrients, including calcium and protein, as well as lactose and saturated fat. Immune factors and immune-modulating components in milk contribute to milk immunity. Early-lactation milk, which is called colostrum, contains antibodies and immune-modulating components that strengthen the immune system against many diseases. The US CDC agency recommends that children over the age of 12 months (the minimum age to stop giving breast milk or formula) should have two servings of dairy (milk) products a day, and more than six billion people worldwide consume milk and milk products. As an agricultural product, dairy milk is collected from farm animals, mostly cattle. In 2011, dairy farms produced around 730 million tonnes (800 million short tons) of milk from 260 million dairy cows. India is the world's largest producer of milk and the leading exporter of skimmed milk powder. New Zealand, Germany, and the Netherlands are the largest exporters of milk products. Between 750 and 900 million people live in dairy-farming households.

Olives

Olives

The olive, botanical name Olea europaea, meaning 'European olive', is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin, with wild subspecies found further afield in Africa and western Asia. When in shrub form, it is known as Olea europaea 'Montra', dwarf olive, or little olive. The species is cultivated in all the countries of the Mediterranean, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, North and South America and South Africa. It is the type species for its genus, Olea. The tree and its fruit give their name to the Oleaceae plant family, which also includes species such as lilac, jasmine, forsythia, and the true ash tree. The olive's fruit, also called an "olive", is of major agricultural importance in the Mediterranean region as the source of olive oil; it is one of the core ingredients in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines. Thousands of cultivars of the olive tree are known. Olive cultivars may be used primarily for oil, eating, or both. Olives cultivated for consumption are generally referred to as "table olives". About 80% of all harvested olives are turned into oil, while about 20% are used as table olives.

Pastry

Pastry

Pastry refers to a variety of doughs , as well as the sweet and savoury baked goods made from them. The dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often described as bakers' confectionery. Common pastry dishes include pies, tarts, quiches, croissants, and pasties. The French word pâtisserie is also used in English (with or without the accent) for many of the same foods, as well as the set of techniques used to make them. Originally, the French word pastisserie referred to anything, such as a meat pie, made in dough (paste, later pâte) and not typically a luxurious or sweet product. This meaning still persisted in the nineteenth century, though by then the term more often referred to the sweet and often ornate confections implied today. The precise definition of the term pastry varies based on location and culture. Common doughs used to make pastries include filo dough, puff pastry, choux pastry, short dough, pâte brisée, pâte sucrée, and other enriched doughs. Pastries tend to have a delicate texture, often flaky or crumbly, and rich flavor—simple breads are thus excluded from the pastry category. Pastries also tend to be baked.

Petulla

Petulla

Fried dough, serve with powdered sugar, honey, raspberry jam, fresh raspberries, feta cheese

Rakia

Rakia

Rakia, rakija, rakiya, rachiu or rakı , is the collective term for fruit spirits (or fruit brandy) popular in the Balkans. The alcohol content of rakia is normally 40% ABV, but home-produced rakia can be stronger (typically 50–80%). Fruit spirits are known by similar names in many languages of the Balkans: Bulgarian: ракия, romanized: rakia; Serbo-Croatian: rakija/ракија; Albanian: rakia; Greek: ρακή, romanized: raki; Macedonian: ракија, romanized: rakija; Turkish: rakı (/ɾakɯ/); Romanian: rachie/rachiu.

Reçel

Reçel

Preserved fruit, for example, fig, cherry, blueberry, plum

Tea

Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and northern Myanmar. Tea is also made, but rarely, from the leaves of Camellia taliensis. After plain water, tea is the most widely consumed drink in the world. There are many different types of tea; some have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavour, while others have profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral, or grassy notes. Tea has a stimulating effect in humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. An early credible record of tea drinking dates to the third century AD, in a medical text written by Chinese physician Hua Tuo. It was popularised as a recreational drink during the Chinese Tang dynasty, and tea drinking subsequently spread to other East Asian countries. Portuguese priests and merchants introduced it to Europe during the 16th century. During the 17th century, drinking tea became fashionable among the English, who started to plant tea on a large scale in British India.

Akullore

Akullore

Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food colouring is sometimes added in addition to stabilizers. The mixture is cooled below the freezing point of water and stirred to incorporate air spaces and prevent detectable ice crystals from forming. It can also be made by whisking a flavoured cream base and liquid nitrogen together. The result is a smooth, semi-solid foam that is solid at very low temperatures . It becomes more malleable as its temperature increases. Ice cream may be served in dishes, eaten with a spoon, or licked from edible wafer ice cream cones held by the hands as finger food. Ice cream may be served with other desserts—such as cake or pie—or used as an ingredient in cold dishes—like ice cream floats, sundaes, milkshakes, and ice cream cakes—or in baked items such as Baked Alaska.

Ashure

Ashure

Ashure, Anoushabour, Noah's pudding or Trigo koço is a sweet pudding that is made of a mixture consisting of various types of grains, fresh and dried fruits, and nuts. Armenians make it as a Christmas pudding and for New Year's celebrations, where it is a centerpiece, and in the Balkans and Turkey, Sufi Muslims make the dish during the month of Muharram in which the Day of Ashure takes place. Sephardic Jews prepare the dish to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Tu BiShvat. In some Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions, a similar dish is prepared to commemorate a child's first tooth, or the passing of a family member. Ashure was traditionally made and eaten during the colder months of the year due to its heavy and calorie rich nature, but now it is enjoyed year-round. The dish is traditionally made in large quantities and is distributed to friends, relatives, neighbors, colleagues, classmates, and others, without regard to the recipient's religion or belief system as an offering of peace and love.

Baklava

Baklava

Baklava is a layered pastry dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey. It was one of the most popular sweet pastries of Ottoman cuisine. There are several theories for the origin of the pre-Ottoman version of the dish. In modern times, it is a common dessert among cuisines of countries in West Asia, Southeast Europe, Central Asia, and North Africa. It is also enjoyed in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where, although not a traditional sweet, it has carved out a niche in urban centers. The word baklava is first attested in English in 1650, a borrowing from Ottoman Turkish: باقلاوه /bɑːklɑvɑː/. The name baklava is used in many languages with minor phonetic and spelling variations. The earliest known reference to baklava is in a poem by the 15th century mystic Kaygusuz Abdal.

Bakllava me mjaltë

Bakllava me mjaltë

Baklava with honey, layered phyllo pastry with nuts and honey

Ballokume

Ballokume

Ballokume is an Albanian cookie originating in the city of Elbasan, which is popular throughout Albania and Albanian communities. It is traditionally eaten on Dita e Verës, an Albanian pagan holiday celebrated on 14 March. It is sometimes called kulaç me finj, as it may optionally contain finj, a mixture of ashes from a wood stove boiled in water. It consists of butter, sugar, eggs, and cornflour. It is traditionally kneaded in a copper bowl, which is supposed to improve the texture of the dough. The dough must be kneaded vigorously, which is why the men of the house are often involved in the ballokume preparation. Tradition holds that the name comes from a 16-century Ottoman ruler of Elbasan who, after having tasted a small cake made from corn flour cooked in a wood fire, exclaimed: “Është ba si llokume!” , the word ballokume resulting by contracting this sentence.

Biskota

Biskota

Fresh fruit

Fresh fruit

In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering (see Fruit anatomy). Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propagated using the movements of humans and other animals in a symbiotic relationship that is the means for seed dispersal for the one group and nutrition for the other; humans, and many other animals, have become dependent on fruits as a source of food. Consequently, fruits account for a substantial fraction of the world's agricultural output, and some (such as the apple and the pomegranate) have acquired extensive cultural and symbolic meanings.

Halva

Halva

Halva is a type of confectionery that is widely spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa, the Balkans, Central Asia, and South Asia. The name is used for a broad variety of recipes, generally a thick paste made from flour, butter, liquid oil, saffron, rosewater, milk, turmeric powder, and sweetened with sugar. The word halva entered the English language between 1840 and 1850 from Romanian, which came from Ottoman Turkish: حلوى, romanized: helva, itself ultimately derived from Arabic: حلوى, romanized: ḥalwā, a sweet confection. The root in Arabic: ح ل و, romanized: ḥ-l-w, means "sweet". The original name for the confection was Persian: روغن خورديگ, romanized: rōɣn khordīg, meaning "oil food".

Kabuni

Kabuni

Kabuni is a traditional Albanian dessert. It is made of rice fried in butter, mutton broth , raisins (rinsed first in warm water), and some salt. It is then boiled before sugar, cinnamon, and ground cloves are added. It is served cold.

Kadaif

Kadaif

Shredded phyllo dough, soaked in a sugar syrup with cheese, nuts, clotted cream

Kanojët

Kanojët

Cannoli[a] are Sicilian pastries consisting of a tube-shaped shell of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling containing ricotta cheese. Their size ranges from 9 to 20 centimetres . They have since spread to mainland Italy, where they are known as cannolo siciliano (lit. 'Sicilian cannoli'). In culinary traditions across Sicily, regional variations in cannoli fillings reflect local preferences and ingredient availability. In Palermo, cannoli are decorated with candied orange zest, adding a citrusy sweetness to the filling. In Catania, chopped pistachios are favored, adding a distinctive nutty flavor and texture. Ramacca is known for its purple artichokes, which also feature as filling in some cannoli recipes.

Kurabie

Kurabie

Qurabiya also ghraybe, ghorayeba, ghoriba, ghribia, ghraïba, gurabija, ghriyyaba,, kurabiye, or kourabiedes (Greek: κουραμπιέδες) and numerous other spellings and pronunciations, is a shortbread-type biscuit, usually made with ground almonds. Versions are found in most Arab, Balkan and Ottoman cuisines, with various different forms and recipes. They are similar to polvorones from Andalusia. In the Maghreb and Egypt, they are often served with Libyan tea, Arabic coffee or Maghrebi mint tea. A recipe for a shortbread cookie similar to ghorayebah but without almonds, called in Arabic khushkanānaj gharīb (exotic cookie), is given in the earliest known Arab cookbook, the 10th-century Kitab al-Ṭabīḫ. Kurabiye appears in the Ottoman cuisine in the 15th century.

Llokuma

Llokuma

Deep-fried dough, serve with jam, honey, yogurt, garlic, white cheese

Melomakarona

Melomakarona

The melomakarono is an egg-shaped Greek dessert made mainly from flour, olive oil, and honey. Along with the kourabies, it is a traditional dessert prepared primarily during the Christmas holiday season. They are also known as finikia. Historically, melomakarona are thought to be derived from the ancient and medieval makaria, which were eaten during funerals. Gradual changes in the recipe and the addition of dipping them in honey led to melomakarona which etymologically is derived from the Greek word for honey "meli" and "makaria". Typical ingredients of the melomakarono are flour or semolina, sugar, orange zest and/or fresh juice, cognac (or similar beverage), cinnamon, crushed or ground clove and olive oil. During rolling they are often filled with ground walnuts. Immediately after baking, they are immersed for a few seconds in cold syrup made of honey and sugar dissolved in water. Finally, they are decorated with ground, as well as bigger pieces of walnut. Dark chocolate-covered melomakarona are also a more recent variation of the traditional recipe.

Oshaf

Oshaf

Pudding made with fresh figs and sheep's milk

Pasta sy

Pasta sy

Large cookies with jam on top

Petulla

Petulla

Fried dough, serve with powdered sugar, honey, raspberry jam, fresh raspberries, feta cheese

Portokalopita

Portokalopita

Portokalópita is a typical Greek cake whose main ingredient is sweet orange. Portokalópita is very popular in Greece and is usually consumed as a dessert with coffee. Within Greek pastries, it belongs to the family of cakes called siropiasta, sweets that are bathed in syrup, such as baklava. Although it has a sponge-like appearance, its dough is actually made from dry shreds of filo dough. (φύλλο phyllo), to which a mixture of Greek yogurt, egg and orange juice is added. It is bathed on top with a syrup (liquid sugar) that has been simmered with oranges and sometimes flavored with vanilla and / or cinnamon. Ideally, it is consumed the next day or the day after, when the syrup is fully absorbed and all the flavors of the cake have been integrated. The mouthfeel should be fluffy and juicy, preventing it from being compact. Orange is a staple ingredient of Greek cuisine and is grown in the south of the Peloponnese peninsula (especially in the areas of Laconia and Argolis) and Arta (in the north of the country) and on the island of Chios, between others.

Revani

Revani

Basbousa is a sweet, syrup-soaked semolina dessert that is typically associated with cuisines of Egyptian cuisine, Similar but slightly different dishes are also popular in the wider region. The semolina batter is baked in a sheet pan, then sweetened with sugar syrup and typically cut into diamond (lozenge) shapes or squares. The Oxford Companion to Food (3rd edition) suggests that basbousa might have developed from a dish called ma'mounia, which was created around the 10th century. Ma'mounia was made by cooking rice in fat and syrup. This recipe was later adapted to use semolina, with the batter being cooked first and then soaked in syrup. Another take on its origin suggests that basbousa was first made during the 16th century in the Ottoman Empire, likely in what is modern-day Turkey, to celebrate the conquest of Armenia.

Shendetlie

Shendetlie

Honey and walnut cake soaked in syrup

Sheqerpare

Sheqerpare

Şekerpare is one of the popular desserts in the Turkish cuisine. Mainly prepared by baking some soft balls of almond based pastry dipped in thick (optionally) lemon-flavored sugar syrup, şekerpare is pronounced "sheh-kehr-PAH-reh" in Turkish.

Sutlijaš

Sutlijaš

Rice pudding is a dish made from rice mixed with water or milk and commonly other ingredients such as sweeteners, spices, flavourings and sometimes eggs. Variants are used for either desserts or dinners. When used as a dessert, it is commonly combined with a sweetener such as sugar. Such desserts are found on many continents, especially Asia, where rice is a staple. Some variants are thickened only with the rice starch, while others include eggs, making them a kind of custard. Rice puddings are found in nearly every area of the world. Recipes can greatly vary even within a single country. The dessert can be boiled or baked. Different types of pudding vary depending on preparation methods and the selected ingredients. The following ingredients are usually found in rice puddings:

Tespishte

Tespishte

Dense shortcake soaked in syrup

Trilece

Trilece

Sponge cake topped with a milk topping and a caramel sauce, the milk topping was traditionally made with milk from goats, cows and buffalo, modern versions use cow milk, condensed milk and heavy cream

Tulumba

Tulumba

Tulumba or Bamiyeh is a deep-fried dessert found in Egypt, Turkey and the regional cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire. It is a fried batter soaked in syrup, similar to jalebis or churros. It is made from unleavened choux pastry dough (usually about 3 cm long) piped with a pastry bag using an open star or similar tip. It is first deep-fried to golden colour and then sugar-sweet syrup is poured over it when still hot. It is eaten cold. Tulumba literally means 'pump' in Turkish, deriving from the Italian tromba. The dessert is called pomba in Cypriot Greek and bombacık in Cypriot Turkish. In Armenian cuisine it may be called either pomp or tulumba (Armenian: թուլումբա). Tulumba features in Albanian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Greek (Greek: τουλούμπα), Azeri (Azerbaijani: Ballıbadı) and Turkish cuisines. The sweet is also found in Persian cuisine as bamiyeh (Persian: باميه), after the vegetable of the same Persian name (okra), due to its shape. In Hejazi it is called ṭurumba (Arabic: طُرُمْبَة) directly from Italian: tromba, but in Egyptian and some Arab cuisines it is called balaḥ ash-Shām (Arabic: بلح الشام), literally "Syrian dates" or "Damascene dates," though the name may have come from "şambali", another Turkish dessert (the "Şam" in "şambali" corresponding to "Shām" in "balaḥ ash-Shām" and both referring to Damascus). In Iraqi cuisine it is known as datli (Arabic: داطلي), directly coming from Turkish word tatlı. It is made from a yogurt[citation needed] and starch based dough, which is fried before being dipped in syrup. It is a special sweet often enjoyed at Iftar in Ramadan. It is also commonly sold alongside jalebi, which is prepared in a similar way, but arranged in a web-like arrangement of strips of dough.

Zuppa inglese

Zuppa inglese

Zuppa inglese is an Italian dessert with layers of custard and sponge cake dipped in liqueur, perhaps derived from trifle. The word zuppa (lit. 'soup') in Italian cuisine refers to both sweet and savory dishes. It has a derivative in the verb inzuppare, which means 'to dunk'; as the sponge cake or ladyfingers are dipped in liqueur, the dish is called zuppa. Similarly, thick bean with vegetable stews and fish or shellfish stews are properly described as zuppa di verdure and zuppa di pesce, respectively. There are other theories as to the origin of the name:

B-52

B-52

The B-52 cocktail is a layered shot composed of coffee liqueur (Kahlúa), Irish cream (Baileys Irish Cream), and Grand Marnier (in later versions replaced with triple sec or Cointreau). When prepared properly, the ingredients separate into three distinctly visible layers (due to their relative densities). The origins of the B-52 are not well documented, but one claim is that the B-52 was invented by Peter Fich, a head bartender at the Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta, Canada. Fich named all of his new drinks after favorite bands, albums, and songs, and he supposedly named the drink after the band of the same name, not directly after the US B-52 Stratofortress bomber or the beehive hairstyle after which the band was named. One of Fich's first customers for a B-52 owned restaurants in various cities in Alberta, and they liked the drink so much that he put it on the menu, leading to the perception that the B-52 originated at the Keg Steakhouse in Calgary, Alberta in 1977. The B-52 is also rumoured [by whom?] to have been created by Adam Honigman, a bartender at New York City's Maxwell's Plum.

Boza

Boza

Boza, also bosa, is a fermented beverage originating from Central Asia and made in parts of the Balkans, Turkey, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and North Africa. It is a malt drink made by fermenting various grains: maize and wheat in Turkey. It is one of the oldest Turkic beverages.: 77 : 46 It has a thick consistency, a low alcohol content (around 1%), and a slightly acidic sweet flavor. According to Turkish etymological dictionary Nişanyan Sözlük, boza is etymologically Turkic in origin. The dictionary states that Old Turkic buχsı or buχsum are cognates, yet it is unclear from which language it was ultimately derived and which one took it as a loanword. Ármin Vámbéry says it is an ancient Turkish word found in Kutadgu Bilig. The oldest written account of the drink is under the name buχsum and is attested from the 1073 Middle Turkic dictionary Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk by Mahmud al-Kashgari. Modern Turkish word boza is believed to be cognates with the Old Turkic buχsı or buχsum. The drink under the name boza is first attested in Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati's early 14th century Kipchak Turkic work Kitab al-'idrak li-lisan al-'atrak

Caipirinha

Caipirinha

Caipirinha is a Brazilian cocktail, of São Paulo origin, with cachaça (sugarcane hard liquor), sugar, lime, and ice. The drink is prepared by mixing the fruit and the sugar together, then adding the liquor. Known and consumed nationally and internationally, caipirinha is one of the most famous components of Brazilian cuisine, being the most popular national recipe worldwide and often considered the best drink in the country and one of the best cocktails/drinks in the world, having reached third place in 2024, according to the specialized website TasteAtlas. Due to its importance and popularity, the caipirinha was declared Brazilian Cultural Heritage in 2003; in 2019, it was considered Intangible Heritage of Rio de Janeiro, despite its origins in São Paulo. It is part of the list of official cocktails of the International Bartenders Association (IBA).

Coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially available. There are also various coffee substitutes. Typically served hot, coffee has the highest sales in the world market for hot drinks. Coffee production begins when the seeds from coffee cherries are separated to produce unroasted green coffee beans. The "beans" are roasted and then ground into fine particles. Coffee is brewed from the ground roasted beans, which are typically steeped in hot water before being filtered out. It is usually served hot, although chilled or iced coffee is common. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways (e.g., espresso, French press, caffè latte, or already-brewed canned coffee). Sugar, sugar substitutes, milk, and cream are often added to mask the bitter taste or enhance the flavor.

Dhallë

Dhallë

Ayran[a] is a cold savory yogurt-based beverage that is consumed across Central Asia, and the Balkans, in Turkey and Iran. The principal ingredients are yogurt, water and salt. Herbs such as mint may be optionally added. Some varieties are carbonated. Ayran (cf. airag in Mongolian: 'mare milk', uyran (уйран) in Chuvash: 'buttermilk') is mentioned in Mahmud al-Kashgari's 11th century Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, although he did not give any information how ayran was made. The word is derived from the Old Turkic root adır- ("to separate"), cf. Turkish ayır- ("to separate").

Dukagjin

Dukagjin

Grape juice, sugar and mustard

Espresso con panna

Espresso con panna

Espresso con panna is a single or double shot of espresso topped with whipped cream. In France and in the United Kingdom it is known as café viennois. In northern continental Europe, the term Wiener Melange refers to a different drink, made with foamed milk and having no whipped cream on top. In Vienna, an espresso con panna is properly called a Franziskaner, but ordering a Wiener Melange may sometimes yield the arrival of espresso con panna even in Vienna.

Freddo cappuccino

Freddo cappuccino

Two shots of espresso with steamed milk, ice and whipped cream

Fruit juice

Fruit juice

Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such as clam juice. Juice is commonly consumed as a beverage or used as an ingredient or flavoring in foods or other beverages, such as smoothies. Juice emerged as a popular beverage choice after the development of pasteurization methods enabled its preservation without using fermentation . The largest fruit juice consumers are New Zealand (nearly a cup, or 8 ounces, each day) and Colombia (more than three quarters of a cup each day). Fruit juice consumption on average increases with a country's income level.

Hardiç

Hardiç

Fermented drink made with juniper berries, lemon juice and water

Kafe turke

Kafe turke

Turkish coffee is a style of coffee prepared in a cezve using very finely ground coffee beans without filtering or settling to remove the grounds. Turkish coffee is very finely ground coffee brewed by boiling. Any coffee bean may be used; arabica varieties are considered best, but robusta or a blend is also used. The coffee grounds are left in the coffee when served. The coffee may be ground at home in a manual grinder made for the very fine grind, ground to order by coffee merchants in most parts of the world, or bought ready-ground from many shops.

Kallmet

Kallmet

Milk

Milk

Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest solid food. Milk contains many nutrients, including calcium and protein, as well as lactose and saturated fat. Immune factors and immune-modulating components in milk contribute to milk immunity. Early-lactation milk, which is called colostrum, contains antibodies and immune-modulating components that strengthen the immune system against many diseases. The US CDC agency recommends that children over the age of 12 months (the minimum age to stop giving breast milk or formula) should have two servings of dairy (milk) products a day, and more than six billion people worldwide consume milk and milk products. As an agricultural product, dairy milk is collected from farm animals, mostly cattle. In 2011, dairy farms produced around 730 million tonnes (800 million short tons) of milk from 260 million dairy cows. India is the world's largest producer of milk and the leading exporter of skimmed milk powder. New Zealand, Germany, and the Netherlands are the largest exporters of milk products. Between 750 and 900 million people live in dairy-farming households.

Orme

Orme

Appetizer drink made from fermented cabbage

Ouzo

Ouzo

Ouzo is a dry anise-flavored aperitif that is widely consumed in Greece. It is made from rectified spirits that have undergone a process of distillation and flavoring. Its taste is similar to other anise liquors like pastis, sambuca, mastika, rakı, and arak. Ouzo has its roots in tsipouro, which is said to have been the work of a group of 14th-century monks on Mount Athos. One version of it was flavored with anise. This version eventually came to be called ouzo.[page needed] Modern ouzo distillation largely took off at the beginning of the 19th century following Greek independence. The first ouzo distillery was founded in Tyrnavos in 1856 by Nikolaos Katsaros, giving birth to the famous ouzo Tyrnavou. When absinthe fell into disfavor in the early 20th century, ouzo was one of the products whose popularity rose to fill the gap; it was once called "a substitute for absinthe without the wormwood". In 1932, ouzo producers developed a method of distillation using copper stills that is now the standard method of production. One of the largest producers of ouzo today is Varvayanis (Βαρβαγιάννης), [citation needed] located in the town of Plomari in the southeast portion of the island of Lesbos, while in the same town Pitsiladi (Πιτσιλαδή), a variety of high-quality ouzo, is also distilled.

Rakia

Rakia

Rakia, rakija, rakiya, rachiu or rakı , is the collective term for fruit spirits (or fruit brandy) popular in the Balkans. The alcohol content of rakia is normally 40% ABV, but home-produced rakia can be stronger (typically 50–80%). Fruit spirits are known by similar names in many languages of the Balkans: Bulgarian: ракия, romanized: rakia; Serbo-Croatian: rakija/ракија; Albanian: rakia; Greek: ρακή, romanized: raki; Macedonian: ракија, romanized: rakija; Turkish: rakı (/ɾakɯ/); Romanian: rachie/rachiu.

Salep

Salep

Salep, also spelled sahlep or sahlab,[note 1] is a flour made from the tubers of the orchid genus Orchis . These tubers contain a nutritious, starchy polysaccharide called glucomannan. Salep flour is consumed in beverages and desserts, especially in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire, notably in the Levant where it is a traditional winter beverage. An increase in consumption is causing local extinctions of orchids in parts of Turkey and Iran. The word salep ultimately comes from Arabic saḥlab (سَحْلَب), through French and Turkish salep in the mid 18th century. The Arabic word is perhaps shortened from ḵuṣā aṯ-ṯaʕlab (Arabic: خُصَى الثَعْلَب, lit. 'fox's testicles'). The Ancient Romans used ground orchid bulbs to make drinks, which they called by a number of names, especially satyrion and priapiscus. As the names indicate, they likewise considered it to be a powerful aphrodisiac. Of salep, Paracelsus wrote: "behold the Satyrion root, is it not formed like the male privy parts? No one can deny this. Accordingly, magic discovered it and revealed that it can restore a man's virility and passion".

Shesh wine

Shesh wine

Red and white wine

Tea

Tea

Mountain tea, black tea with sugar, tea with lemon, milk or honey

Arnavut ciğeri

Arnavut ciğeri

Arnavut ciğeri is a Turkish dish made of oil-fried lamb or veal liver cubes seasoned with hot pepper, served traditionally with onion and parsley. The word Arnavut (Albanian) is part of a dish in Istanbul cuisine known as Arnavut ciğeri (Albanian liver). The origins of Arnavut ciğeri lie in the fifteenth century and the aftermath of wars in what became the Ottoman Balkans (Rumelia) and the immigration of Albanians to the Istanbul region. People traveling from the Balkans to Ottoman Anatolia imparted their influences on the area such as Albanians who became employed as mobile sellers of raw liver. In the late 17th century, Albanians were noted by Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi as being butchers in Istanbul originating from Ohrid, Korçë and Hurupişte (modern Argos Orestiko) selling lamb meat cuts like liver, heart and kidneys. The dish Arnavut ciğeri became part of Turkish cuisine during the Ottoman period, when Ottomans assimilated culinary traditions from peoples they encountered and merged them with their own cuisine, cooking practices and customs.

Bamje me mish qingji

Bamje me mish qingji

Lamb and okra stew

Bream

Bream

Bream are species of freshwater fish belonging to a variety of genera including Abramis (e.g., A. brama, the common bream), Ballerus, Blicca, Brama, Chilotilapia, Etelis, Lepomis, Gymnocranius, Lethrinus, Nemipterus, Pharyngochromis, Rhabdosargus, Scolopsis, or Serranochromis. Although species from all of these genera are called "bream", the term does not imply a degree of relatedness between them. Fish termed "bream" tend to be narrow, deep-bodied species. The name is a derivation of the Middle English word breme, of Old French origin. The term sea bream is sometimes used for fish of the family Sparidae including Acanthopagrus (Australia), Argyrops, gilt-head bream Sparus aurata (orata in Italy, dorada in Spain), black seabream Spondyliosoma cantharus and red seabream Pagrus or Pagellus species; or pomfrets (family Bramidae).

Burani me spinaq e veze

Burani me spinaq e veze

Rice with spinach and poached eggs

Byrek

Byrek

Börek or burek is a family of pastries or pies found in Ottoman cuisine. The pastry is made of a thin flaky dough such as filo with a variety of fillings, such as meat, cheese, spinach, or potatoes. A borek may be prepared in a large pan and cut into portions after baking, or as individual pastries. They are usually baked but some varieties can be fried. Borek is sometimes sprinkled with sesame or nigella seeds, and it can be served hot or cold. It is commonly served with ayran or yogurt in Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Serbia, North Macedonia and Romania. It is a custom of Sephardic Jews to have bourekas for their Shabbat breakfast meal on Saturday mornings.

Byrek me presh

Byrek me presh

Ćevapi

Ćevapi

Ćevapi or ćevapčići (formal: diminutive; Cyrillic: ћевапчићи, pronounced [tɕeʋǎptʃitɕi]) is a grilled dish of minced meat found traditionally in the countries of southeast Europe (the Balkans). It is considered a national dish of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, with Bosnia and Herzegovina taking steps in branding and placing them on the list of intangible heritage, with a nomination for inclusion on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Ćevapi are also common in Albania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Western Romania. They are usually served in groups of five to ten pieces on a plate or in a flatbread (lepinja or somun), often with chopped onions, kajmak, ajvar (optional), and salt. Bosnian ćevapi are made from two types of minced beef meat, hand-mixed and formed with a funnel, while Serbian ćevapčići are made of beef, lamb, pork, or a mixture.

Çumlek lepuri

Çumlek lepuri

Rabbit and onion casserole

Cuttlefish

Cuttlefish

Cuttlefish, or cuttles, are marine molluscs of the suborder Sepiina. They belong to the class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique internal shell, the cuttlebone, which is used for control of buoyancy. Cuttlefish have large, W-shaped pupils, eight arms, and two tentacles furnished with denticulated suckers, with which they secure their prey. They generally range in size from 15 to 25 cm , with the largest species, the giant cuttlefish (Sepia apama), reaching 50 cm (20 in) in mantle length and over 10.5 kg (23 lb) in mass.

Eel

Eel

Eels are elongated fish, ranging in length from five centimetres to four metres (13 ft). Adults range in weight from 30 grams to over 25 kilograms. They possess no pelvic fins, and many species also lack pectoral fins. The dorsal and anal fins are fused with the caudal or tail fin, forming a single ribbon running along much of the length of the animal. Most eels live in the shallow waters of the ocean and burrow into sand, mud, or amongst rocks. A majority of eel species are nocturnal and thus are rarely seen. Sometimes, they are seen living together in holes, or "eel pits". Some species of eels live in deeper water on the continental shelves and over the slopes deep as 4,000 metres (13,000 ft). Only members of the family Anguillidae regularly inhabit fresh water, but they too return to the sea to breed. Eel blood is poisonous to humans and other mammals, but both cooking and the digestive process destroy the toxic protein. The toxin derived from eel blood serum was used by Charles Richet in his Nobel Prize-winning research, in which Richet discovered anaphylaxis by injecting it into dogs and observing the effect.

Fërges Tirane

Fërges Tirane

Sauteed tomatoes, peppers and eggs, similar to shakshouka, there are also variations with liver, veal

Fergese me melci

Fergese me melci

Stewed liver with bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic, feta, ricotta, cooked in a clay pot, there is also a variation made without meat

Fileto pule me panna dhe kerpudha

Fileto pule me panna dhe kerpudha

Chicken breasts and mushrooms in cream sauce

Fileto vici me pana dhe kerpudha

Fileto vici me pana dhe kerpudha

Beef filet with mushrooms in a cream sauce

Fish

Fish

Many species of fish are caught by humans and consumed as food in virtually all regions around the world. Fish has been an important dietary source of protein and other nutrients. The English language does not have a special culinary name for food prepared from fish like with other animals , or as in other languages (such as Spanish pez vs. pescado). In culinary and fishery contexts, fish may include so-called shellfish such as molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms; more expansively, seafood covers both fish and other marine life used as food. Since 1961, the average annual increase in global apparent food fish consumption (3.2 percent) has outpaced population growth (1.6 percent) and exceeded consumption of meat from all terrestrial animals, combined (2.8 percent) and individually (bovine, ovine, porcine, etc.), except poultry (4.9 percent). In per capita terms, food fish consumption has grown from 9.0 kg (19.8 lb) in 1961 to 20.2 kg (45 lb) in 2015, at an average rate of about 1.5 percent per year. The expansion in consumption has been driven not only by increased production, but also by a combination of many other factors, including reduced wastage, better utilization, improved distribution channels and growing consumer demand, linked with population growth, rising disposable incomes and urbanization.

Flia

Flia

Flia or flija is an Albanian dish typical of northern Albania and of the cuisine of Kosovo. It consists of multiple crêpe-like layers brushed with cream and served with sour cream and butter. The name translates to "sacrifice" (see fli). Flia is prepared in the shape of the Sun (Albanian Dielli) also featuring sunbeams. March 17, which falls within the traditional Albanian festivities of Verëza (spring equinox), is recognized as "Flia Day" in which families invite their relatives for preparing and eating flia. It is assumed that flia began to be prepared by Albanians for Verëza as a sacrifice to the Sun-god. Flia requires very simple ingredients, although it takes a rather long time to prepare. The ingredients are: flour, water, butter, yogurt, eggs, oil and salt. Some variations use kaymak as the filling instead. The main ingredients (flour, water and salt) are mixed together until they become like pancake batter. Layers of batter are baked using a saq which is a spherical metal lid used for baking.

Gjelle

Gjelle

Stew, commonly made with vegetbles, beef or lamb, beans

Gjelle me arra

Gjelle me arra

Stewed veal or chicken with walnut sauce

Gjelle me bizele

Gjelle me bizele

Meat and vegetable stew with green peas, made with lamb, beef or bacon

Gjelle me mashurka

Gjelle me mashurka

Meat and vegetable stew with green beans, made with beef or lamb

Gjelle me perime

Gjelle me perime

Vegetable stew, may also include beef or lamb

Goat

Goat

Goat meat is the meat of the domestic goat . The term 'goat meat' denotes meat of older animals, while meat from young goats is called 'kid meat'. In South Asian cuisine, goat meat is called mutton, along with sheep meat. The culinary name "chevon", a blend of chèvre "goat" in French and mouton "sheep" in French, was coined in 1922 and selected by a trade association; it was adopted by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1928,: 19 however the term never caught on and is not encountered in the United States. "Cabrito", a word in Spanish and Portuguese, is the meat of a young, milk-fed goat. It is also known as chivo meat. Goat meat is both a staple and a delicacy in the world's cuisines. The cuisines best known for their use of goat include African cuisine, Middle Eastern, Indian, Indonesian, Nepali, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Abruzzese, Mexican, Caribbean (Jamaica), Haitian cuisine, Dominican cuisine and Ecuadorian. Cabrito, which is baby goat, is a typical food of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico; in Italy it is called "capretto". Goat meat can be prepared in a variety of ways, such as being stewed, curried, baked, grilled, barbecued, minced, canned, fried, or made into sausage. Goat jerky is another popular variety.

Grosh

Grosh

White bean soup, serve with toast or bread, salad and raki

Japrak

Japrak

Sarma is a traditional food in Ottoman cuisine – nowadays, Turkish, Greek, Levantine, Arabic, Armenian, etc. – made of vegetable leaves rolled around a filling of minced meat, grains such as rice, or both. It is commonly marketed in the English-speaking world as stuffed grape leaves, stuffed vine leaves, or stuffed cabbage leaves. The vegetable leaves may be cabbage, patience dock, collard, grapevine, kale or chard leaves. Sarma is part of the broader category of stuffed dishes known as dolma, and has equivalents (such as the Polish Gołąbki) in Eastern European cuisines from the northern Baltic through Romania. Sarma is a Turkish word meaning "wrapping". Sarma made with grape leaves are called yaprak sarması (lit. 'leaf sarma') or yaprak dolması (lit. 'leaf dolma') in Turkish, yabraq (يبرق) or waraq 'inab (ورق عنب) lit. 'vine leaves' or waraq dawālī (ورق دوالي) in Arabic. yarpaq dolması (lit. 'leaf dolma') in Azerbaijani, and dolme barg-e mo (دلمه برگ مو, lit. 'vine leaf dolma') in Persian. In Assyrian it is called ܦܪܵܟܼܹܐ (prakhe) which refers to the fact that the rice is rubbed in the grape leaves. In Armenian, they are called մսով տերեւափաթաթ (missov derevapatat), տերեւի տոլմա (derevi dolma), թփով դոլմա (t'pov dolma) and տերեւի սարմա (derevi sarma). In Greek they are generally called ντολμάδες (dolmathes) but may also be known as γιαπράκια (yaprakia), γιαπράκια γιαλαντζί (yaprakia yalandzi), ντολμαδάκια (dolmathakia), ντολμαδάκια γιαλαντζί (dolmathakia yalandzi), σαρμάδες (sarmathes), or σαρμαδάκια (sarmathakia).

Kakavia

Kakavia

Kakavia is a Greek fish soup. Its name comes from the kakavi, the tripod cooking pot used by ancient Ionian fishermen. Kakavia has been described as "the most ancient of Greek fish soups", and related to lineage to the French bouillabaisse; like that stew, kakavia is made with a flexible variety of fish and is associated with fishing villages. It was traditionally made from the smallest fish caught by fishermen, along with olive oil, onions, and saffron.

Krap

Krap

The term carp is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized quarries and are valued (even commercially cultivated) as both food and ornamental fish in many parts of the Old World, they are considered trash fish and invasive pests in many parts of Africa, Australia and most of the United States. The cypriniformes (family Cyprinidae) are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes, and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups share some common features. These features include being found predominantly in fresh water and possessing Weberian ossicles, an anatomical structure derived from the first five anterior-most vertebrae, and their corresponding ribs and neural crests. The third anterior-most pair of ribs is in contact with the extension of the labyrinth and the posterior with the swim bladder. The function is poorly understood, but this structure is presumed to take part in the transmission of vibrations from the swim bladder to the labyrinth and in the perception of sound, which would explain why the Ostariophysi have such a great capacity for hearing.

Laker me mish

Laker me mish

Stewed cabbage with beef or lamb

Mish shqiptar

Mish shqiptar

Lamb with peppers and tomatoes

Mullet

Mullet

The mullets or grey mullets are a family of ray-finned fish found worldwide in coastal temperate and tropical waters, and some species in fresh water. Mullets have served as an important source of food in Mediterranean Europe since Roman times. The family includes about 78 species in 26 genera. Mullets are distinguished by the presence of two separate dorsal fins, small triangular mouths, and the absence of a lateral line organ. They feed on detritus, and most species have unusually muscular stomachs and a complex pharynx to help in digestion.

Octopus

Octopus

People of several cultures eat octopus. The arms and sometimes other body parts are prepared in various ways, often varying by species and/or geography. Octopuses are sometimes eaten or prepared alive, a practice that is controversial due to scientific evidence that octopuses experience pain. Octopus is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine, including sushi, sashimi, karaage, stew, sour salad, takoyaki and akashiyaki.

Pace koke

Pace koke

Soup made from meat from the head of a lamb or cow

Pastico me djathe

Pastico me djathe

Pasta and cheese casserole

Patellxhane te mbushur

Patellxhane te mbushur

Stuffed eggplant

Peshk ne furre

Peshk ne furre

Oven baked fish

Pilafi

Pilafi

Pilaf , pilav or pilau ( UK: /ˈpiːlaʊ, piːˈlaʊ/) is a rice dish, or in some regions, a wheat dish, whose recipe usually involves cooking in stock or broth, adding spices, and other ingredients such as vegetables or meat,[note 1][note 2] and employing some technique for achieving cooked grains that do not adhere.[note 3][note 4] At the time of the Abbasid Caliphate, such methods of cooking rice at first spread through a vast territory from South Asia to Spain, and eventually to a wider world. The Spanish paella,[note 5] and the South Asian pilau or pulao,[note 6] and biryani,[note 7] evolved from such dishes.

Piqem mish

Piqem mish

Beef and potato bake

Pite

Pite

Pies with a variety of fillings, for example, meat, potatoes, vegetables, leek, cheese, pumpkin

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