Stop counting calories! The culinary experience is totally worth it.
Given the fact that Himara is a mountainous area, local cuisine is based on livestock products and vegetables. There is also a wide selection of dairy products and seafood. It’s a fact that fish and shellfish have not been the main products in the local cuisine. Rotisserie lamb (qengj ne hell) is a traditional delicacy almost everywhere in Albania. A whole lamb is roasted on a spit over a fire pit. It feels sad to look at, but that’s authentic cuisine. Roasted intestines (kukurec) are another great favorite spit delicacy. Speaking of intestines, the most typical dish is Ksirogjak made of intestines stuffed with rice and liver. Ember-roasted lamb wrapped in tripe is a unique dish for the area. Another specialty food is Pervelak, a mixture of bread (some villages use cornmeal) with white cheese and melted butter. There is special baking soda bread (kulac) named Faqefurash. The soda bread is also prepared with wine and honey. Wild edible plants (lakra te egra) are common food. They are picked in the wild, but not in pastures. The most popular fruits are figs that are also used to make figs on a rope (armathe) and bukefiqe. Quins, citrus fruits, prickly pears, and grapes are popular fruits.
A rare fruit that grows in the area is carob or cicibune. The fruit season spans from late August to September. You can ask for carob fruit in Lukova or further south in Delvina and Saranda. There are a few trees at the main park of Saranda opposite to the synagogue ruins.
Pigweed and purslane (nena dhe burdullak). Who knew that pigs eat such healthy food? Pigweed and burdullak are boiled and later fried with garlic in olive oil. Add lemon and white cheese and you’ll have one of the most delicious summer dishes. Just ask for nena. Every restaurant has it on the menu.
Mussels (fresh mussels in Albania is from March to June). Out of season, ask for mussels only if they are from mussels farm like in Butrinti Lake.
The Albanian Riviera is also famous for its numerous types of spoon sweets. Like Permeti, people in the coastal area experimented with every type of fruit when it comes to spoon-sweets. The most special are walnuts, rose, plum, and wild oranges. The inhabitants of Old Qeparo village make cinnamon cookies.
