Corn pie with leek (Albania)

Serves four: 

Baking tool:

• casserole with high edge (4 cm)
• greased

Pie:

• 250 g cleaned leek
• (with some green leaves)
• 250 g fresh cheese (ricotta)
• 5 g salt
• 175 fine corn flour
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped dill
• butter
• 100 g grated hard goats or sheep cheese (or parmesan)

Side dish:

• crème fraiche, garlic, salt
• tomato
• lettuce
• cooked green beans

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Albania is one of the poorest countries of Europe, looted by many foreign conquerors. The Albanian cuisine does reflect this history. There are clear Turkish influences (since the Ottoman conquests in the 15^th century) in this predominantly muslim country. But you can also find restaurants with a purely Russian menu, such as Borsjtsj, Blinis and Steak Stroganoff. For centuries, fugitives from Albania have fled to their neighbours in Kosovo and South Italy. American corn reached Middle Europe in the 17^th century during a period of severe famines. It was quickly adopted in Northern Italy as a replacement for spelt porridge. The coarse maize porridge polenta, known as mamaliga in the Balkan, is still a replacement for bread. In the mountains of North Albania, however, a bread is baked from it, as it is in Portugal (Broa). Here an in-between version: Lakror me misri, which shows how a maltreated people can retain its identity through original food.

Currently there is even a movement among chefs to draw attention to the original cuisine. Until recently most people had the idea that foreign food was better. Below is a slightly edited recipe based on Rezepte aus Albanien by Frauengruppe der Deutsch-Albanischen-Freundschaftgesellschaft (1995).