Albanian BYREK TOUR - Making Balkan Stuffed Pastries | Tirana, Albania

This is the best one. Oh my god. My mouth is just watering. Think about the next bite. Good morning everyone. I hope you're all doing well. This is David Hoffman from David's Binia coming at you from the center of beautiful Tirana, Albania. Today I want to show you what Albanians eat for breakfast, which is really quick, it's fast, it's filling, it's pies. Burek. Burek is the best. I've eaten it all over the Balkans and right here at Instant Burek we're going to see how they make five different pies. Sausage, cheese, spinach, tomato and onion, and meat. We're going to pair that with some yogurt. Then after this we're going to one of the oldest coffee shops in Tirana to have some delicious coffee and explore more of the city. Are you guys ready? Let's go eat. Annie, you ready? I'm ready. Hungry? Let's begin, of course. And this is the back of Instant Burek. As you can see, these beautiful women are making incredible burek. They're making right now the ricotta one, right? Ricotta? Is this right here spinach? This is spinach and that one there is ricotta. So they do the dough, they open it using this, and they put the ricotta inside and they make a triangle with it. Yeah, so this is a little different, right? Like this one, the dough is flattened. After they flatten the dough, they add a little more flour, they add cheese, they add spinach if they want to. So it really depends on what they're making. But, I mean, it looks amazing. These are really, really big bureks. They fit eight on a tray or ten on a tray. They shove it in the oven. And then how long does it bake for? Ten minutes. So once it's ready to bake, throw it in, ten minutes. And then, as you can see, golden color. Perfect. Por favor. And now they're doing the burek that I know, the traditional one, which is minced meat. As you can see, minced meat right here in the middle. It almost looks like it has a gallopinto type of sauce to it, like, you know, tomato-based sauce. And then they put it in the middle. Then they roll it up and instead of triangles, these are squares. So, like, huge squares. Wow. They look so good. I'm going to try three. All of them. All of them, for sure. So this is a long process, huh? They make all day long. All day long? And a lot of people come here to eat. And it's mainly breakfast. Yes. So they have different types of burek. They have ricotta burek, spinach burek, onion and tomato burek, and also burek with meat and burek with sausage. So what do you think? What do we get? All of them. All of them? All five? Okay, let's do it. So, Ani, what is dala? Dala is a mixture of yogurt with ice-cold water and salt. It is a famous drink in Albania and you will like it. So this is the perfect thing to pair with the burek. And right here we have five burek. Five. What? Crazy. And this is our five different types of burek. I am so excited. This is delicious. This is basically, you know, street food. Albanian street food for breakfast. We got these pies, spinach, ricotta, tomato and onion. And we also have sausage and mincemeat. Now the meats, the mincemeat and the sausage, those are like this, right? So I am pretty sure this is the mincemeat. I saw them, you know, making it. And then this one is the sausage. It is a little thinner, you know, more like rectangle. And then obviously the other ones, the ricotta, the spinach, and the tomato and onion are in these triangle shapes. I think I am just going to dump on this one. So you can either just take a bite into it or break it. I am going to take a bite. Oh my God. Love the dough. Mmm. Baked to perfection. Look at this. All this spinach. The amount of spinach they put in here is amazing. I love it. Love all the green pies. And green, you know, I just mean like vegetables. Mmm. Soft dough in the middle. A little crispy on the outside. And not really crispy because it has been baked. But just enough golden color. A little flaky. Mmm. This is super filling. Next one. I am almost 100% sure this one is sausage. So I am going to break this one. Just to make sure. Yep. Sausage right there. It almost feels like a corn dog. The hot dog is my favorite but it really takes me back to like my childhood when I went to like, I don't know, carnival or the youth fair or something. And I had a corn dog. Next one I think is the... This has to be ricotta cheese. Oh man. This is all for me? My friend Annie already had breakfast. I can't even believe it. Mmm. The cheese one is usually my favorite. A little salty. Oh, I love the crumbly ricotta cheese. Mmm. This is more doughy. You know, to eat this like the way I eat it. Fold it like that and then take big bites. Dale. Let's try it. Mmm. So it's basically yogurt. Mmm. Super milky. Mmm. I like it. Almost like silky. So you have some of that and you take a bite, right? And then the best thing to do is have actually a bite and then try this. Oh yeah. That's nice. Because it basically kills the saltiness. You know? Mmm. I think it's probably best paired with the ricotta cheese one because of the saltiness. Still have two more to go. This is the minced meat. Oh yeah. You can tell. Look at this. Like in the bottom, it's coming through. Nice and oily. This one, just fold it like that. Oh my God. Mmm. This is basically like a meat lover's pizza. Mmm. This is the best one. Oh my God. My mouth is just watering. Think about the next bite. Mmm. You know, even though it looks like a lot of food, it's actually very airy. So it's not as filling as I expected. Obviously, you eat one. I'd say you eat two and you're good. Two. Maybe get the meat one and the ricotta one. Probably the best. Oh, this one just came out of the oven, my friend. Super flaky. On the bottom, you can see the tomato through here. I don't really suggest eating it right when it comes out of the oven because it's just way too hot. But this one, I have to. Oh, tomato just bursted out. It's sizzling. Oh, wow. So here we have a light amount of tomato and onion. I got to say, every burek was amazing. The one I would skip is the sausage one. Definitely got to try the meat one, the ricotta one. Spinach one's good too, but I really like the tomato one. Just a little too hot right now. Nice onion. Lots of tomato. Oh, but it's way too hot. Burek in Albania. Got to try it. I like this. Yogurt's good. Dale. So that E with the two dots on the top, that's A. Eh. So next, we're going to one of the oldest coffee shops in Albania called Feklora. And this coffee has also a song that is written for it. A song? A song, yes. I've never heard of a coffee getting a song written about it. I guess the person who wrote the song loved the coffee so much. It was not more about the women going to the coffee shop, same as men. Oh, okay. Okay, I got it. So, David, that is our coffee. So what's it called, cafe? And this is cafe Flora. Beautiful open-air cafe. Huge umbrellas, lots of tables, lots of sun. I love it because you're in the center of the city. You're in between two streets and you have this awesome cafe. And the song for this coffee was written in 1972. And this is basically just like a regular espresso, but it's made here in cafe Flora. Can't wait to try it. Strong, no sugar. The way I like it. I'm going to have to get another one. Strong. That was almost like Turkish coffee. And over here, we have rakia. So, like you guys have seen before, here in the Balkans, they love drinking rakia with their coffee. It makes the blood flow. It's a good way to start your day. Get some energy. I love it. And this one is blackberry rakia. A lot smoother. Very fruity. Strong. Hey, my friend, cheers. So, Annie, why do they drink rakia for breakfast here? Because it keeps you healthy. Yeah? Yeah, drinking rakia every morning is something that they do to keep their body healthy and to keep the day going well. So, I first learned this when I was in North Macedonia. It's North Macedonia now. It was called Macedonia. Everybody was drinking rakia for breakfast. All the men, you know, having coffee, drinking rakia. I was like, that's crazy. But the guys were like, no, no, no. The reason they do it is because it helps your blood flow. As you get older, this helps your blood flow, keeps your body warm, and gives you energy in the morning. It does. It definitely does. I mean, it's a strong drink. So, if you don't drink, obviously, don't try rakia. But if you're into alcoholic drinks, definitely try it. And if you get the fruitier ones, which there are less here in Albania. Here, it's more like straight distilled grapes. But if you get the fruitier ones, the ones with honey, those are a lot easier, a lot smoother. And they're just, you know, they have more flavor. So, it's easier for you to drink. Like this, blackberry, it's good. But if you have just straight grapes, you'll be lit. This is the song. So, the song is called Cafe Flora Full of Men. Written in 1972. And that's it. So, it's an Albanian song. It was written during the communism period. It is an Albanian song. And it represents a little bit of the gender equality between the men and the women. Breakfast was delicious. Had some great coffee. A little bit of rakia gives some energy. And now, we're actually leaving Tirana. And we're driving 30 minutes east to the city of Durres. The port city. It's on the Adriatic Sea. I'm excited. Let's see if we see anything on the road. Good? Good. Let's rock and roll. Let's go. That was Cavallo Street. It is a very popular street in Tirana where you can find everywhere. There are hotels, the malls, the church, a lot of bar cafes, open area, inside restaurants. And also, a lot of grilled restaurant meat. So, the street is full of retail shops on top levels. That's all residential, right? Lots of residential. Then you have retail on the bottom. Commercial spaces. Lots of trees here. I love that. So much shade when you walk. You're not walking in the sun the whole time on that street. And then now, we just passed. It's another area of Tirana. And we're slowly exiting to the area where you catch a highway, right? Is it a highway or what is it? Autostrada Tirana. The highway to Durres. Oh, that's what it's called? Yeah. Usually, it takes 30 minutes. If there's traffic, it's 45. Along the way, there's actually a lot of things you could do. There's wineries in the area. There's ecotourism. There's farms. I mean, so much just in this area. So, when people come to Tirana, they should definitely look at going to Durres as well. It's like a sister city. It is the port city. Obviously, this is the capital. It's more interior. That is on the Adriatic Sea. A lot of delicious seafood there. Okay. So, in Albania, when somebody gets married, they put red scarves outside of the car and they drive in a single file? Yes. The people that are invited in the wedding, they put a sign in their car and they drive to the wedding or they drive to take the bride from the house of the parents to take it in the house of the husband. And obviously, red because Albania loves red. We love red. Yeah. The flag, the eagle. But we also use different kinds of colors. It depends. But mostly, yes, we use the red scarf for the car. We've arrived to Durres, the biggest seaport in Albania. Beautiful. This is an ancient city. There's fish. There's fishermen. There's beaches. I mean, you come here, you relax. If you really want to come here in summer, you know, there's bars, I'm sure. Bars, nightlife. I mean, this is the place to come. It's where people come from Tirana. They go party by the beach, right? But also, you come here and have incredible fish, seafood, and Italian food from what the people have been telling me. Lots of good Italian food. Obviously, big Italian influence here. So they make delicious fish with pasta, pulpo. Woo! Windy city, Durres. Second largest city in Albania. Well, guys, I hope you enjoyed the morning. We started off with an incredible, delicious, fast street food breakfast, burek. We tried five different ones. My favorite was definitely the minced meat and the cheese one. Those were so good, paired with the yogurt. Perfect combination. Really filling. I mean, you have to. And you pop. Then after that, we went to Cafe Flora, right? Flora? And there we had some coffee. We heard, you know, the famous song from 1972. Had a little bit of rakija. And then we drove all the way over here to Durres. It's a 30-minute drive, you know, traffic maybe 45 minutes. This is a great place to come to go see attractions. A lot of historical attractions here. Got a tower, Roman amphitheater. You got the fish market. You have the beach and wineries in the area. And we're going to explore all that right now. But you can see that in the next video. So, guys, I hope you enjoyed this one. If you did, please give me a thumbs up. Leave me a comment below. Subscribe to my channel for more awesome travel content. I'll see you in the next travel food adventure in Durres. Peace. Bye.