Kosovo

🇷🇸Serbia

Ajvar

Ајвар

Relish made from roasted peppers and eggplants, a popular condiment throughout the Balkans, traditionally prepared in autumn, versatile and savory.

🇹🇷Turkey

Ayran

Ajran

Ayran is a cold drink of yogurt, water and salt, whisked until lightly foamy. In Bulgaria it is a summer fountain and meal drink, never a sweet yogurt.

🇱🇧Lebanon

Baklava

بقلاوة

Layers of paper-thin phyllo brushed with butter and filled with chopped walnuts or pistachios, baked crisp then drenched in lemon- or rose-scented sugar syrup. One square, cut diamond-small, is the shared Ottoman dessert of the whole eastern Mediterranean.

🇽🇰Prizren, Kosovo

Bakllasarm

Bakllasarëm

Rolled sheets of pastry baked without filling, then covered with garlic yogurt and a spoon of hot butter or paprika oil.

🇧🇦Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnian Burek

Burek

The Bosnian burek, layers of thin phyllo dough spiralled around a filling of minced beef and onions, baked until golden and crisp. In Bosnia, only the meat version is called burek.

🇧🇦Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnian Sarma

Sarma

A Bosnian dish of pickled cabbage leaves stuffed with minced beef or lamb, rice, onion and paprika, slow-simmered in a flavourful broth, often with smoked meat.

🇦🇱Prizren, Albania

Boza

Боза

A thick, tangy, and slightly sweet fermented drink made from millet, wheat, or bulgur. With ancient roots in Central Asia, boza is traditionally consumed in winter, sold by street vendors whose calls echo through neighborhoods at night. It is topped with cinnamon and roasted chickpeas (leblebi) and has a low alcohol content of about one percent.

🇽🇰Kosovo

Bread Under the Sač

Bukë nën Saç

Round bread baked under a metal sač dome over embers, a Kosovo tradition.

🇦🇱Albania

Bulgarian White Brine Cheese

Сирене

Sheep's or cow's milk cheese ripened in brine in wooden barrels or tins — sharp, crumbly and salty, and present at essentially every Bulgarian meal.

🇽🇰Kosovo

Byrek

Byrek me Djathë

Albania's iconic savory pie with thin layers of hand-rolled filo dough filled with cheese, meat, spinach, or vegetables, a staple of home cooking and street food culture.

🇽🇰Kosovo

Cabbage Pie

Resenik

Shredded cabbage sweated with onion and pepper and baked between thin layers of hand-pulled dough.

🇷🇸Serbia

Custard Slice

Кремпита

A thick slab of vanilla custard between two sheets of puff pastry, chilled and cut into squares, dusted with icing sugar.

🇽🇰Kosovo

Flia

Flija

Layered pancake dish from northern Albania and Kosovo, thin batter layers and cream cooked under a traditional sac (metal dome) over charcoal embers, takes 2-3 hours to make properly.

🇦🇱Albania

Gjize

Gjizë

Albanian fresh curd cheese, similar to ricotta but tangier, made from whey leftover from cheesemaking, soft crumbly texture with mild tangy flavor and fresh taste, a staple in Albanian cooking, used in byrek and fergese.

🇽🇰Kosovo

Gjuveç

Baked stew of meat, rice and seasonal vegetables, a Kosovo family-table classic.

🇧🇦Bosnia and Herzegovina

Gurabija

Гурабије

Gurabija is a crumbly butter biscuit shared across Bosnia and Serbia, often made with flour, fat and a little sugar. The best versions are sandy and sturdy enough to dunk in coffee.

🇦🇱Albania

Hasude

Hasude is an Albanian sweet of cooked flour or semolina thickened with butter and sugar, then served warm with cinnamon or nuts.

🇽🇰Kosovo

Havell

Flour toasted in butter until it turns nutty and brown, then stirred into sugar syrup and set into a soft, sandy block.

🇧🇦Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Japrak

Rice and minced meat rolled in raštika — collard or kale leaves rather than vine leaves — and simmered in a shallow pot.

🇦🇱Albania

Kadaif

Кадаиф

Shredded filo dough wrapped around walnut filling, baked until golden, then soaked in sweet syrup, crispy shredded texture with generous nut filling and good syrup absorption, a beloved dessert.

🇷🇸Serbia

Kajmak

Кајмак

Kajmak is a thick, lightly cultured cream skimmed from warm milk, eaten fresh with bread and grilled meats. In Montenegro the same dairy tradition is called skorup.

🇧🇦Bosnia and Herzegovina

Kačamak

Качамак

Coarse cornmeal beaten with water and salt into a thick porridge, then loaded with kajmak, young cheese or cracklings.

🇽🇰Peja, Kosovo

Kollpite

A crust of thin hand-stretched layers baked dry, then broken up and doused with garlicky yogurt just before it is carried to the table.

🇦🇱Albania

Kos

Albanian yogurt, traditionally full-fat and slightly tangier than commercial yogurt, made from cow's or sheep's milk, often cultured at home, thick consistency with tangy flavor, used in cooking and as a condiment.

🇽🇰Kosovo

Kosovar Bean Stew

Grosh

Dried white beans simmered for hours with onion, dried red pepper and a piece of smoked meat until the liquid thickens by itself.

🇽🇰Kosovo

Kosovar Mantia

Mantia

Small squares of dough pinched around minced beef and onion, baked rather than boiled, then finished with garlic yogurt and butter.

🇽🇰Kosovo

Kosovar Rakia

Rakia

Fruit brandy, usually plum or grape, offered to guests at every Kosovar table.

🇽🇰Kosovo

Kungullore

Kungullore is a Kosovo pumpkin pie built from cornmeal sheets, pumpkin, walnuts and sugar.

🇦🇱Korçë, Albania

Lakror

Regional layered pie from Korçe with thick dough and generous fillings including cabbage, spinach, meat, or cheese, hand-stretched thin dough with crispy edges, a Korçe specialty.

🇽🇰Kosovo

Leek Pie

Purrenik

Chopped leek softened in oil and layered into thin pastry, baked until the top sheets blister.

🇽🇰Kosovo

Leqenik

A flat maize bread baked in a shallow pan, sometimes with cheese or greens worked into the batter, eaten torn into sour milk.

🇽🇰Kosovo

Long

Cream and fresh curd beaten together with salt into a thick, sour white spread eaten with hot bread.

🇽🇰Kosovo

Meat Pie

Pite me Mish

Phyllo pie filled with minced meat and onion, the savory heart of Kosovar baking.

🇽🇰Kosovo

Meat Under the Sač

Mish nën saç

Lamb or veal with potatoes cooked under an iron bell buried in embers, so the meat steams in its own fat for hours.

🇽🇰Kosovo

Meat with Yogurt

Mish me Kos

Slow-braised lamb served over bread and topped with baked yogurt sauce.

🇽🇰Gjakova, Kosovo

Mountain Tea

Çaj Mali

Golden herbal tea brewed from Sideritis, gathered wild in Kosovo's mountains.