COPPERWhat is the national dish of Albania?
The dish most often cited as the national dish of Albania is tavë kosi: lamb or mutton and rice baked under a thick custard of yogurt, eggs, butter and flour until it sets and browns. It is thought to come from the city of Elbasan. Albania has no official national dish, and flia and fërgesë are also named.
What is tavë kosi?
Tavë kosi means "yogurt casserole". It is also called tavë Elbasani, after the central Albanian city it is thought to come from. The dish has two layers: pieces of lamb or mutton with rice underneath, and a mixture of yogurt, eggs, butter and flour poured over the top before it goes into the oven.
The seasoning stays simple: salt, black pepper, garlic and oregano. When chicken replaces the lamb, the dish is called tavë kosi me mish pule. The yogurt layer bakes into something close to a savoury custard, set in the middle and browned in patches on top.
How tavë kosi is made
Our tavë kosi recipe follows the order Albanian cooks use. The meat is cooked first and the custard last:
The home version given in Albanian and English Wikipedia is lighter on technique. For four people it uses 500 g of mutton or goat, 1 litre of yogurt, half a coffee cup of rice, 3 eggs, 100 g of butter and 2 tablespoons of flour. The meat is baked at 180 °C and basted with its own juices, sometimes after 30 minutes of boiling. The rice and a little hot broth go in about 15 minutes before the meat is done. The yogurt, salted and beaten with the eggs one at a time and then the flour, is poured over, and the dish returns to the oven for about 15 minutes until lightly golden.
- The lamb: 1 kg of shoulder in large cubes, browned in butter, then simmered with garlic, dried oregano and 300 ml of water for about 1 h 30. There is no onion in it.
- The rice: 100 g, cooked in that lamb broth until just short of done, then spread with the meat in a buttered dish.
- The roux: 60 g of butter and 60 g of flour cooked for 2 minutes without colouring. This is what stops the yogurt from splitting in the oven.
- The custard: 4 eggs whisked into 600 g of yogurt, with the warm roux beaten in slowly so nothing scrambles.
- The bake: 45 minutes at 180 °C, then 15 minutes of rest so it firms up before cutting.
Where tavë kosi comes from
The dish is thought to come from Elbasan, and the name tavë Elbasani keeps that link. Wikipedia's article on the dish describes it as "one of the national dishes of Albania", and the article on Albanian cuisine calls it a national dish "beloved throughout the country".
Tavë kosi is also cooked in Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Turkey, where it usually goes by "Elbasan tava", a name that points back to its Albanian origin. In North Macedonia the national dish is also baked in an earthenware pan: see our article on the national dish of North Macedonia. For another southern Balkan answer, read the national dish of Greece.
Does Albania have only one national dish?
No. Albania has never made any dish official, and sources name more than one. Wikipedia's list of national dishes gives tavë kosi and flia. The article on Albanian cuisine also calls fërgesë a national dish.
Flia belongs to northern Albania and Kosovo. It is made of many thin, crêpe-like layers of batter, each brushed with cream and baked under a metal lid called a saç. It can take up to four hours. Its name means "sacrifice", and 17 March, during the spring festival of Verëza, is kept as Flia Day.
Fërgesë comes from central Albania. Peppers, tomatoes and onion are cooked down in olive oil, then gjizë, a salted curd cheese, is stirred in until the whole thing turns creamy. In our fërgesë recipe the vegetables cook until the water is gone and the oil separates, and only then does the 350 g of gjizë go in, off the heat. Fërgesë is mostly made from spring to late autumn, when fresh peppers and tomatoes are in season, and it is baked briefly in a clay bowl at about 175 °C. A version made with calf liver is known as fërgesë Tirane.
Other dishes to know from Albania
In Albania, byrek is everyday food. Traditionally the dough is rolled out by hand into many thin layers. Street vendors called byrektore sell it in small triangles, and at home it is often made as one large pie cut into pieces. In Kosovo and a few other regions it is also called pite. Our Albanian byrek rolls oiled phyllo sheets around a filling of spinach, feta and gjizë, coils them into one spiral in a round pan and bakes it at 190 °C for 45 to 50 minutes.
You will find all three dishes, with ingredients and step-by-step methods, on our page about the food of Albania. For the neighbouring kitchens, see our guide to Balkan food.
The recipes
- Tave kosi🇦🇱 Albania · 3 hours and 5 minutes
Fergese🇦🇱 Albania · 1 hour
Byrek🇦🇱 Albania · 1 hour and 45 minutes
Questions people ask
Does Albania have an official national dish?
No. There is no law or decree naming one. Tavë kosi is the dish cited most often, and flia and fërgesë are also described as national dishes.
What does tavë kosi mean?
It means "yogurt casserole". The dish is also called tavë Elbasani, after the city of Elbasan where it is thought to have originated.
Is tavë kosi Albanian, Greek or Turkish?
It is generally traced to Elbasan in Albania. It is also cooked in Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Turkey, where it is commonly called "Elbasan tava".
What is flia?
Flia is a dish from northern Albania and Kosovo made of many thin layers of batter brushed with cream and baked under a saç lid. It can take up to four hours to make.
What is the difference between tavë kosi and fërgesë?
Tavë kosi is lamb and rice baked under a yogurt and egg custard. Fërgesë is peppers, tomatoes and onion cooked in olive oil and bound with gjizë curd cheese, with no yogurt.
Keep reading
- Traditional food of Albania: 13 dishes to know
- What is the national dish of Bosnia and Herzegovina?
- What is the national dish of Bulgaria?
- What is the national dish of Croatia?
- What is the national dish of Greece?
- What is the national dish of Montenegro?