Albania

It’s hard to find things about Albania. I went to the library and the bookstore looking for Albanian recipes and had no luck. Not even the travel section had much about the country. Thank God for the internet.

Albania is a Mediterranean country in South Eastern Europe – next to Greece and Italy. It’s slightly larger than the state of Maryland with a population of about 3 million. It’s had a rough history – it went through a series of attacks and occupations from the Romans, Byzantines, the Bulgarians, Norman crusaders, and the Turks. You’d think they’d have a major identity crisis, but nonetheless, it has one of the highest life expectancies in the world. It’s also one of those rare countries that actually likes the U.S. (And while Bush was still president!) Woodrow Wilson supported Albanian independence in 1919 and they credit the NATO bombing of Serbia of 1999 with saving thousands of Kosovo Albanians. They were also one of the few (and mostly obscure) countries that supported the war in Iraq. I tried to overlook that small detail while I dove into making Tave Kosi.

Finding Albanian recipes may have been a challenge but it was a heck of a lot cheaper than our Afghan cuisine experience. Plus the children had a fun time making the Baklava. Since I am not much of a baker I was a little nervous about making this dessert, but it was so easy, that once I showed the kids what to do, they practically did it themselves. They even took turns and were pleasant to each other! Our main course was Tave Kosi (baked lamb and yogurt) and Tomato Cucumber Salad. The salad was a cinch and yummy – very much like a Greek salad with olive oil, Kalamata olives and feta cheese. The lamb dish wasn’t hard to make but I didn’t quite “get it” when it was all said and done. For instance, I had to bake the lamb in butter and add two Tablespoons of rice before I put in two pounds (!) of yogurt and five eggs. What’s the point of putting in a measly 2 tablespoons of rice when you can’t even see or taste it when it's all done? And, yes, it ‘s called Lamb and Yogurt but it should have been called Lamb, Yogurt, and Egg. More accurately it should have been called Lamb Omelet because that’s exactly what it looked and tasted like. I had no pictures of this dish to go by so, who knows, maybe I did something wrong. And honestly, I don’t have a kitchen scale so I didn’t know how much exactly two pounds of yogurt was so I just threw in a whole big container.

The kids enjoyed the meal – though they rushed through it so they could try the Baklava. We ate the salad with the lamb, but the Albanians eat their salad first (that’s very European). All and all it was a hit – especially the dessert!

Again, Kevin missed our dinner because he was late coming home from work. But I made sure to provide him with plenty of leftovers which didn’t quite look as appetizing by the time he got home, especially the “lamb omelet” with the egg cold and hard from sitting in the refrigerator - just the kind of meal he was hoping for after a long day at the office. (Don’t worry, I heated it up for him!) He actually enjoyed it ( and he found some rice!). Being a sweet tooth he liked the Baklava too.

Tave Kosi - Baked Lamb and Yogurt

1-1/2 lbs of lamb

4 TBSP butter

2 TBSP rice

Salt, pepper

For Yogurt Sauce:

1 TBSP flour

4 TBSP butter

2 lbs yogurt (or one large container)

5 eggs

Salt, pepper

Cut meat in 4 serving pieces, sprinkle each with salt and pepper, and bake in oven with butter. When meat is half-baked, add rice, remove the baking pan from the oven and leave it aside while you prepare the yogurt sauce: Saute flour in butter until mixed thoroughly. Mix yogurt with salt, pepper and eggs until a uniform mixture is obtained, and finally stir in the flour. Put the sauce mixture in the baking pan and bake at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes.

Albanian Tomato Cucumber Salad

2- 3 tomatoes, diced

1 cucumber, sliced and quartered

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1 green pepper, diced

1/8 cup olive oil

1/2 cup feta cheese

1/2 cup kalamata olives

Combine vegetables and toss. Drizzle olive oil over salad and season to taste. Garnish with olives and cheese.

Baklava

1 lb of mixed nuts (I used 2 bags of chopped walnuts)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough

1 cup butter, melted

1 cup white sugar

1 cup water

1/2 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Toss together cinnamon and nuts. Unroll phyllo and cut stack in half to fit the dish. Place two sheets of phyllo in the bottom of the prepared dish. Brush generously with butter. Sprinkle 2 to 3 TBSP of the nut mixture on top. Repeat layers until all ingredients are used. Cut baklava into four long rows, then (nine times) diagonally to make 36 diamond shapes.

Bake for 50 minutes, until golden and crisp.

While baklava is baking, combine sugar and water in a small sauce pan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Stir in honey, vanilla and lemon zest, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.

Remove the baklava from the oven and immediately spoon the syrup over it. Let cool completely before serving. Store uncovered.

Afghanistan - Kabul Express

It's too bad that my kids don't know much about Afghanistan other than there's a war going on there. John told me that Afghanistan is a corrupt country that's near Iraq (Iran is actually next door to Afghanistan, but thanks to Bush Iraq and Afghanistan will forever be lumped together). I admit that even to me Afghanistan seems barbaric and war torn - out of reach. My exposure to the country has been like most everyone else's in North America - headline news about roadside bombings and the Taliban and the best-selling books by Khaled Hosseini "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns," and from the movie "Charlie Wilson's War." Sadly its beauty and ancient history are mostly lost to us in the onslaught of bad press. What's underneath the sordid layers of this perhaps( perhaps not) misunderstood country?

My kids and I may not have discovered Afghanistan's hidden treasures but we did taste its cuisine today.

My husband Kevin dropped us off at the train station, but before I got out of the car he said, "While you're in Toronto see if you can find another ethnic restaurant on your list and get that one done."

"I can't just do any ethnic restaurant," I said. "I'm doing this in alphabetical order."

"Oh. Well, what country's next?"

"Albania."

"Yeah. Right. I mean, if you can, you myswell do two in one day." I knew what he was thinking: that'll be another one I won't have to eat!

"Sure. I'll do my best to find an Albanian restaurant while I'm at it," I said sarcastically.

We caught the 12:30 train to Toronto. Being that it's the end of the summer (only one more week to go!) John and Julia can barely stand to be in the same room with each other, let alone, sit next to each other on a train. They kicked and pushed until I moved John the next seat over and gave them both a hard, cold stare.

"Why are we going to eat Afghan food?" John asked as he stared aimlessly out the window. I sighed. "Because we're starting the project!" I've been talking about the Eat Planet project for a week and I gave him the full rundown that morning on what we were going to do and where we were going.

At Union Station we hopped on the subway (well, a subway and I just prayed we were going in the right direction). We were - thankfully - and we got off at the Eaton Center - a huge and crowded mall. From there we walked a few blocks east on Dundas, and just when I started thinking how shady the neighborhood suddenly looked, I saw a bight yellow sign saying "Kabul Express." It was on the other side of the street and we ran to it - barely looking to see if cars were coming we were so excited (or at least I was excited). As soon as we arrived I made the children stand in front of the restaurant's sign. I happily snapped pictures while John tried to stand as far as he could from Julia and still be in the picture.

It was 2 o'clock by the time we strolled into Kabul Express. The place was virtually empty except for three women sitting at a back table talking loudly. Even though the place was small it was clean and airy. A T.V. hung on the wall and a soap opera was on that nobody was watching. Everything except for the brown tables and chairs was orange and yellow - orange walls, orange trays, big illuminated yellow menus on the wall beside a series of big, yellow illuminated photographs of all their meals. The kids and I stared at the menu that proudly proclaimed it had world famous Kabul Kabobs. A pleasant-looking woman stood behind the counter and took our order as we pointed to the kabob photos we liked. John got the choppan kabob (lamb chops). Julia got the beef koffa. I got the chicken tandoori kabob. After we finished ordering the woman said to me, "You have beautiful children."

A short time later the woman served our meals on the orange trays. The food was piled on oval plates, the rice spilling over the edges every time we cut into our meat. I sheepishly took pictures of the food making it all too clear we were new to this Afghan cuisine. Julia gladly posed for the pictures while John tried to stay out of them.

The food was delicious and we had way too much ( in addition they served us a basket piled high with warm nan). My chicken was red and a bit spicy (I've had it before, actually), Julia's looked like two long beef logs and tasted like a hamburger. John had three lamb chops spread across rice and his dish was - hands down - the best.

When we were done the three of us had a ring of rice around our plates - enough to feed a hungry family of four. We happily waved good-bye to the nice cashier lady and stepped out into the sunshine. I said, "Yeah! We did it! Our project has officially started!" It felt good.

On the way back to the station we couldn't help but stop at the Eaton Center and buy a few things. Even though we went to an Afghan fast food restaurant where every thing on the menu was under $10, the excursion to Kabul Express turned out to be any thing but economical. The two-way family train ticket to Toronto was $25, the subway to and from the Eaton Center was $8, the meal was $38.39, a stop in Banana Republic for two blouses was $129.00, and an impulse buy at the Disney Store cost me $22.50.

On the train coming home I called Kevin to pick us up at the station. He was there waiting when we arrived. We told him all about our Afghan eating experience on the way home. Finally, after a long day, we pulled into our driveway - five and a half hours later and $222.89 in the hole - we were back from Kabul Express.