Food & Drink

Albanian cuisine is Balkan with Turkish influences and includes dishes such as kofte kebabs (minced lamb meatballs with herbs, often including parsley and mint, on a stick, grilled) and shish kebabs (small cubes of meat threaded on a skewer then grilled or roasted). Several private restaurants are now opening.

Specialities include:

• Tarator: a cold yoghurt and cucumber soup
• Kukuree: stuffed sheep's intestines
• Paca: a breakfast soup of animals' innards
• Oshaj: a fig and sheep's milk pudding

Raki, an Albanian drink, is found in all bars and restaurants, as is Albanian cognac.