Tasty…

After five months, I have gotten used to the dietary offerings of Albania. For example, when I eat dinner with my host family, I am often served an ochre dish. Ochre is in season and the dish is easy to make and keeps relatively well.

Due to visiting other cities the last two weekends and having many visitors in Berat for the week between, I had only eaten with my host family one time in the last 11 days.

Monday evening I was in Berat and didn’t have any guests. Perhaps I was going to have a normal night and settle back in to my routine. I was looking forward to talking to my host father who I usually only see at dinner and I had a hankering for some of my standard dinner fare. For example, I am often served a “salad” comprised of only cucumbers and tomatoes, and onions that are so strong I can’t eat them. Now I totally dig this salad. I believe that lettuce has no business being in a salad and only gets in the way of the vegetables that are tasty and have some nutritional value ( I know leafy greens are nutritious, my issue is with the standard Iceberg lettuce).

After exchanging pleasantries with my host father, we set the table for dinner. Sadly my hoped for salad was not on this evening’s menu. Tonight’s dinning options consisted of the ochre dish, plain yoghurt (also a standard I have grown fond of), bread, some cheese and what I believe to be the small intestines of some poor sheep. Yep. Small intestines.

I cannot say with confidence what I was eating because my knowledge of edible animal parts is limited to, you know, the meat. All the other stuff is a mystery usually reserved for hot dogs. As is standard with the other innards I’ve consumed, the texture was the main difference. Other than that difference I didn’t really notice anything. I can however say that if given the choice, I would recommend the stuffed intestines (made from the larger part of the intestines due to the difficulty one would encounter in trying to stuff small intestines but perhaps I am erroneous in my deductions, like I said I’m no expert). Though the large taste the same as the small, the stuffing is pretty darn good.

Perhaps I will learn how to prepare such delicacies and will have a feast upon my return to the States. Shall I put you down for the large or small intestines? :)