Albanian Gastronomy

Geographically, Albania has always been at the crossroads of empires and civilisations even though it has often been isolated from the mainstream of European history.  

For this reason, Albanian cuisine is strongly influenced by surrounding culinary cultures and it has been often considered the melting pot of Mediterranean, Balkan and Ottoman cuisine.

With this in mind there are still hidden treasures to be discovered especially in the isolated mountainous areas.

Fragmentation of Albanian natural territories into different countries after the fall of the Ottoman empire have almost created several sub-identities of Albanian gastronomy.

Agrarian socialism reform along with isolation and poverty during 45 years of communism have almost destroyed Albanian gastronomic traditions gathered over centuries.

Suppression of traditional beliefs, superstitions and old customs are long lasting impacts of the communist which led to identity crisis 

The real challenges of Albanian gastronomy, however, occurred during the post-communist transition years.

Globalisation, along with massive migration and the chaotic industrialisation of food systems is the current challenge of Albanian gastronomy.