Global Cuisine

Fresh Out of the Oven from Albania

Name of Employee: Enida Aliaj

Age: 28

Nationality: Albanian

Location: Is-Suq tal-Belt Food Market

Role: Supervisor

For the past six months of Global Cuisine, we have been bringing you delicious recipes and fascinating stories from around the world, as told by our very own Arkadia Foodstore employees. This month, the spotlight is shining on Albania, and we have spoken with Enida, a Supervisor from our Valletta Food Market to tell us all about her culture and traditions and give us a taste of Albanian cuisine.

Enida describes her childhood in Albania being quite different than what we are experiencing nowadays. Neighbouring children all used to play games with each other outside and spend whole days out in Summer, throwing barbeques or building small like houses to sleep over in. Fond memories of the traditions celebrated back home include the Summer Day, celebrated on 14^th March. This day celebrates the approaching of Summer in a carnival-like atmosphere with lots of flowery decorations and cooking a special dessert called Ballokume.  Another unique Albanian tradition, different from what we are used to in Malta, is weddings. Albanian weddings celebrate the bride and groom separately, with four weeks of celebrations for the groom and two weeks for the bride. The groom visits the bride’s celebrations for a short time, during which the couple dance and have money thrown at them instead of receiving gifts.

Enida moved to Malta after her boyfriend (now her fiancée) and has been working at the Food Market for almost five years. Her favourite part of her job as a supervisor is that there is always a new challenge to learn from. Enida has decided to share the recipe for a traditional Albanian dish called Tave Kosi with us because it is one of her favourites from her home country’s cuisine.

Recipe: Tave Kosi (Albanian Baked Lamb with Rice)

Prep Time: Up to 30 mins

Cooking Time: 1-2 hrs

Servings: 8

Ingredients:

• 70g butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2kg boned lamb shoulder, cut into 5cm cubes
• 4 garlic cloves, grated
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 60g long-grain rice, rinsed
• 50g plain flour
• 600ml Greek yoghurt
• 4 eggs, beaten
• freshly grated nutmeg, to finish
• salt and ground black pepper

A wide variety of quality ingredients for our recipes are available from Arkadia supermarkets in Malta and Gozo, including Arkadia FoodExpress Swatar and Arkadia Food Market Valletta.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.

2. Heat 20g of the butter and the olive oil in a large, lidded pan over a high heat. Brown the lamb in batches.

3. Return all the lamb to the pan. Add the garlic, oregano and 200ml water. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered with a lid, for about 45–60 minutes until the lamb is tender.

4. Stir in the rice, and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a 3-litre ovenproof dish.

5. Melt the remaining butter in a small saucepan, add the flour and make a roux. Cook for 2 minutes, then take off the heat.

6. Add the yoghurt and mix well, then return to the heat and cook gently for a couple of minutes.

7. Take off the heat, add the beaten eggs and season with salt and pepper.

8. Pour the sauce over the lamb and rice mixture. Grate fresh nutmeg on top and bake for 40–45 minutes until starting to turn golden-brown.

9. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with a simple lettuce salad.

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