The flavors of Albania, present in agritourism farms and fine-dining locations

Albania is not only the country of Skenderberg, or the coast of the Adriatic Sea or the tradition present everywhere in the cities of Elbasan, Berat or Korcea, but also the state where agro-tourism is in full development, despite the problems that visitors encounter due to the poor condition of the road infrastructure to the significant locations in this area.

One of the important agritourism farms in Albania is Mrizi i Zanave located in the town of Fishta. The farm was founded by chef Altin Prenga, who previously specialized in Italy. Returning in 2009 to Fishta, he opened the farm and his own restaurant which he called Mrizi i Zanave, meaning the Hideout of the Fairies.

Currently, more than 100,000 guests are served annually at the restaurant within the agritourism farm. The farm employs around 50 staff who are involved in all aspects of production, food processing and the farm restaurant. Milk and meat are collected from 400 nearby families and transformed into the best quality products. The road to the restaurant passes a field with a few greenhouses on the right and a few rows of olive trees on the left towards the parking area, covered with vines and pumpkins.

At the restaurant, an army of waiters is ready to serve customers appetizers, traditional main courses and various desserts. The restaurant is a member of the international Slow Food Convivium and focuses on regional and seasonal dishes, so the menu is continuously adapted throughout the year. Depending on the season, appetizers can include sun-dried tomatoes, various types of pickled vegetables such as okra or eggplant, olives, cured meats, sausages, plates of various homemade cheeses accompanied by pine-flavored syrup, byrek - a kind of pie filled with potatoes or cheese, fried zucchini flowers and grilled vegetables. The food is not only flavorful but also beautifully and creatively presented. Generally, one finds traditional and well-known Albanian dishes with a modern twist.

However, the owner of the farm does not intend to sacrifice the authenticity of his dishes in order to satisfy the taste of everyone who steps on the threshold of his restaurant. While some agritourism farms choose to include restaurant staples such as spaghetti, Mrizi i Zanave features only homemade pasta, known as jufka, served with mushrooms or blueberry sauce.

As for soft drinks, much needed in the summer season, at Mrizi i Zanave there are no canned soft drinks, but a variety of freshly squeezed fruit juices. That way, instead of producing piles of trash from the soda cans, the pulp left over from the juice goes back to the farm to feed the 500-600 geese that live there. But not only geese can be seen at the agro-tourism farm, but also sheep, goats, goats and other domestic animals.

To observe how the agro-tourism farm works, visitors can take a tour past the cultivated fields nearby and through the workshops for the production of cheese, jam, meat products, but also through the winery where wines are made from the Kallmet grape variety.

The farm also has a boarding house with accommodation and a playground for children. Each room is equipped with a balcony with a garden view, a private bathroom with a bidet, free toiletries and a hairdryer. On the territory of the farm, tourists benefit from free WiFi and free private parking.

The blend of tradition and modernity, the attention to detail and the authentic experience make Mrizi i Zanave a truly special place for local and foreign visitors alike.

• Kokomani Winery, the place where you feel at home

Another important agritourism location is Kokomani Winery, located on the outskirts of Shesh, in a hilly area of central Albania. It is a family business established over 20 years ago, based on principles dedicated to delivering consistent quality, variety and value through a rigorous wine selection process.

Kokomani Winery produces three types of wines: white wine "Sheshi i Bardhe" red wine "Sheshi i Zi", and "Shen Mhilli" (Holy Mhill) - which is a blend of three well-known varieties - Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdo and Merlot. Shesh i Bardhe is tasty, full of flavors of apple, pear, peach and lemon. We are talking about a wine that is not acidic, with a golden color with greenish shades. Shesh i Zi is a red wine with aromas of plums, blackberries, cherries and strawberries. It is not a heavy wine, it is demi-dry and has a pale purple color. The wines stand out for their high quality and special aroma, being created by the Kokomani family who have an old tradition in the cultivation of vineyards and wine production, a tradition combined with an experience accumulated during 15 years in the Tuscany region, Italy. The price of a bottle of wine varies between 8 euros (white wine) and 12 euros (1200 Albanian Leke).

Following the positive feedback received from customers, as well as the awards received at the fairs organized by the Ministry of Agriculture of Albania, the Kokomani winery began to offer other services, so the idea of agritourism appeared, including a restaurant with traditional dishes Albanian dishes such as spinach and potato pie, fresh salad, three types of jam (fig, orange with raki and carrot), duck with pilaf, etc. The price for one person is 20 euros, and it includes the tasting of the three varieties of wine and a sweet-sour digestif made from pomegranates, which is served at the end of the meal, after dessert.

Olive trees and thatched-shaded tables offer an extraordinary outdoor tasting experience.

• Uka organic farm, the creation of a former minister of agriculture in Albania

8 kilometers from the capital Tirana, in the town of Laknas, is the Uka farm, a unit established in 1996 for scientific purposes under the "Farm to Table" principle, by Rexhep Uka, former Minister of Agriculture in Albania between April 13, 1992-April 5 1993. We are talking about a biological farm where organic methods are applied without using pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Renowned entomologist, Rexhep Uka established the farm to study the diversity of insects. Uka Farm is currently run by Flori Uka, the founder's son, who is also a professional sommelier and winemaker, and who has kept his father's principles of working in harmony with insects and other life forms on his farm.

Visitors to the farm can see a variety of agricultural crops on their tour, which include both vegetables and fruit trees, vines, raspberries, blackberries, kiwis, pomegranates and other plants specific to the area.

The menu offered to tourists is based on traditional cuisine, where the vegetables change according to the season, and lamb, beef, chicken and pork products that are taken from local producers and cooked in farm ovens or on the grill.

The winery offers the highest quality wines produced from authentic Albanian grape varieties, as well as assortments of Albanian raki (or grappa). Native grape varieties come from some of the most remote villages in Albania, and 250 families from those localities benefit from their use at Uka Farm.

Tourists have the opportunity to buy different products from Uka Farm, from bottles of wine or raki, to cheeses, jams or jams.

• Traditional products cooked fine-dining at Marchesi

Not only the agro-tourist farms offer traditional dishes to visitors who step on their doorstep, but also some restaurants, where chefs with international experience have reinterpreted Albanian cuisine. One such five-star location is the Marchesi Gourmet Restaurant, located in the town of Petrele, 14 kilometers from the capital Tirana, in the panoramic hilly area above the Erzen river valley, where there is a favorable microclimate for the cultivation of fruit trees and vegetables.

The founder of the restaurant is chef Gezim Musliaka, who we could say is a real culinary artist. Musliaka conceived his creative space almost a decade ago: a restaurant and vegetable garden, which has since become a favorite haunt of the Albanian elite, artists, musicians, businessmen, members of the diplomatic corps and politicians. The location is part art gallery, part restaurant, the paintings being made by chef Gezim Musliaka, who has a real passion for painting, even though he is a mechanical engineer by profession.

A student of the Italian master Guiltero Marchesi, Gezim Musliaka found his calling in the culinary arts, feeling great inspiration and empathy with both the sensitivity of the man and the chef known as the godfather of modern Italian cuisine. That is why in 2012 Musliaka named his then new restaurant in honor of the great Italian chef whose love of art organized his cooking.

Gezim Musliaka told us: "Marchesi was not only an exceptional chef, but a person who combines art with cooking, knowledge with practicality, technical discipline and artistic narrative. My way of thinking and acting in product transformation through cooking is naturally affected by the artistic, visual and literary dimensions. Nature is detected by my genes, family and ancestors in a geographical, historical and cultural context. We have a menu made up of dishes that I have tasted and liked. My style is individual, but treated in such a way that people like it."

Marchesi Gourmet Restaurant was voted the best restaurant in Albania in 2020 and one of the best restaurants in the world in 2022, and Gezim Musliaka is nationally recognized as a renowned chef, even being a judge on the show Masterchef Albania.

Gezim Musliaka describes Albanian cuisine as an "organic" extension of mediteraneen cuisine with an emphasis on products.

"What defines Albanian cuisine are the dishes linked to indigenous products and techniques inherited as a result of economic, social and cultural exchanges throughout the region," Gezim Musliaka told us.

Two such Albanian dishes, narden and pekmez, have already been saved in the Slow Food Ark of Taste, a living catalog of delicious and distinctive endangered foods. Narden is a centuries-old dish made from slow-cooked plums, and pekmez, made from grapes slow-cooked for 72 hours, is a honey-like sweetener that is an old sugar substitute. Pekmez is used in delicious desserts such as sweet pekmez pie with milk and eggs.