#2 - Albania

Our second stop is Albania. We learned that one of the national meals is Tave kosi, a lamb and rice dish which seemed pretty straight forward so we made that our target.

To get the right cut of lamb we visited our neighbourhood butcher (http://villagebutcher.ca) and learned that with enough notice they’ll be able to get us all the weird cuts of meat that we may be needing from here on out (really, someone cooks with pork necks??). Ultimately all we needed this week was some lamb shoulder.

What made this meal a miss in our house was the yogurt mixture that got baked on top of the lamb and rice. It was almost like a souffle. As Ruth put it “it was edible, but I don't want to eat it again”.

Sensing while it was cooking that this may not be a well received meal, we decided to try and make an Albanian dessert to go along with it. We made a Flaja, or as I will now refer to it, a "glue cake". Layers of flour and water with a yogurt and butter mixture between the layers. It had zero flavour and a gluey texture. Even adding honey didn't save it. Jack added chocolate sauce to his and ate it all (although that may because he ate almost none of his Tave kosi!)

Apple music supplied traditional Albanian music while we ate, and was probably the best part of the meal. Onwards and upwards! Next stop... Algeria. Stay tuned.