Eating Only Albanian Food in ALBANIA for 48 Hours

Bring me energy! Pump me up! What's up guys? Welcome back to my channel! What's up guys? I guess we're already here. Yeah, that's right. Today I'm a passenger princess with my private driver. We're driving through the Albanian countryside on our way to Berat. We spent the day in Tirana yesterday and today we're going to eat Albanian food for the first time since we arrived. Are you excited? It's also our first time driving outside of our home country. Trying to keep things safe. We're not being too fast and furious. At some point it's going to be my turn. So, I'm not at all nervous. I'm completely fine. We're going to try some dishes, some local food, some yummy food. We have the list ready and Dan has no idea what he's going to eat. That's right. It's going to be fun. Surprise! By the time we got to Berat, the weather had turned quite a bit. In hopes to escape the rain and make the most of our time inside, while the storm passed, we headed to the restaurant for our first taste of Albanian food. Dan kicked off the meal with an Albanian beer before the mains arrived. For food, my choice was a traditional Albanian pie called Birek or Burek. They can have many different fillings but today we're trying a spinach one. Dan went for a casserole dish made of lamb meat and rice with soured milk. It's a very different dish from what we've seen in other countries and it has a very strong taste and smell of lamb and sour milk. So, I think it may be an acquired taste for some. For dessert, the restaurant had some local Berati sweets on the menu which we ordered. By what? Dan couldn't say no to a baklava because he likes it so much, which in itself is not properly a dish of Albanian origin, but because of the influence of the Ottoman Empire in Albanian history, many Turkish dishes are now also part of the country's tradition. As per the waiter's suggestion, we left a glass of khaki for the end of the meal. Khaki is a symbol of Albanian culture, essentially. At its core, it's very similar to aguardente and can be served in any occasion. And to finish, another staple in Albanian culture and not very different from our own traditions in Western Europe, a shot of espresso for Dan. At this point, we got lost for a bit in the maze-like alleyways of the city until we found a restaurant for dinner. Different meal, different Albanian beer for Dan. Kicking off with starters, I met the Albanian dish that made me fall in love with Albanian cuisine. This is Fergues, a dish of baked Albanian cheese, bell peppers and tomatoes served piping hot. I can confirm, since our trip ended, I have already made this at home using feta cheese instead and it was just as delicious. I love it. Alongside it, we also ordered Albanian baked cheese, a simpler dish but equally delicious and served just as piping hot. As a main dish, I ordered stuffed peppers. Across the country, you might find many different ways in which they're done, from vegetarian versions to those with meat. These ones were stuffed with rice and vegetables. The lighting doesn't do them much justice, but they were very tasty. Nice seasoning. Dan ordered the traditional Berati dish, which is basically like a cordon bleu but without the ham, served with chips and a traditional Albanian yogurt sauce. In the morning, we had breakfast at the hotel from local cheese and jam to coffee and fruit. And I had to fuel up as the time had finally come for my turn to get behind the wheel. Where are you going? I look like a roast turkey. It's so hot. You're a roast. Oh my god, I'm going to drive! I'll try not to kill you. And for the first time, we're going to be jumping in time until the day we go to Gjirokastër and continue our traditional Albanian adventure. So, I'll see you there. Apparently, some of the best Albanian restaurants are there. After wandering around the town for a bit, we stopped for lunch at this small local restaurant. The staff was really kind and they brought us two complimentary glasses of red wine liqueur to start, which is made with red wine, obviously, sugar and cloves. I'd never tried this combination, but it was really tasty. As I was going to be the designated driver later on, Dan enjoyed yet another local Albanian beer. Then came the food. R.I.P. to my audience intolerance, we ordered a few dishes, starting with baked stuffed eggplant with a side of yogurt sauce. This was my favorite dish. Next, a traditional corn pie casserole from Gjirokastër, filled with feta cheese, dill and spinach. It's corn. It doesn't taste like corn. It tastes like... I think it's spinach, isn't it? And then it's like fluffy, almost like a cake. But it's vegetable. And followed by another traditional dish from Gjirokastër, Albanian rice balls. They don't have a lot of flavor by themselves, so they are nicer either paired with a strong sauce or as a side dish. Moving on to a meat dish, these Albanian meatballs can be eaten as a main or as a snack with beer. The beef or lamb mixture is seasoned with garlic, feta and mint, accompanied by the local yogurt sauce. At the end, the staff brought us a complimentary sponge cake for dessert and I finished my meal with a mountain tea, popular in most of the Eastern Mediterranean countries. Being near the sea this time, we looked for a place that would serve traditional oven-cooked fish and we found one. They showed us the fresh fish that they use and the dish was very similar to the typical Mediterranean oven-cooked fish that I'm used to. Definitely a great and delicious meal. We finished it like champs. For our last morning, I wanted to try a couple more Albanian foods and so we headed to a small bakery. Dan got his daily dose of espresso and I picked Albania's favorite soft drink, a mixture of yogurt and ice-cold water, accompanied by a traditional fried dough snack called tetula. I asked if they had any jam or honey to have with it but here they didn't. Is it sweet? Well, it doesn't have any sweet on it. That's why I was thinking you can put honey or you can put cheese I think with sweet or chili. I didn't take my life class here. Open. It's good. It's like a yogurty but fresh. As a bonus, before we left, we had lunch by the beach and tried a couple of more things. Dan gave Greek coffee or Turkish coffee, depending on who you ask, a try for the first time and we finished the meal with a delicious Albanian trilece dessert.