Albania – Cooking courses for tourists: “It never gets boring”

Ms. Memaj, what did you cook in your class today?

We’ll start with wine. This is my trick for having happy guests. We prepare a kind of appetizer, bruschetta, Italian, but with an Albanian twist. You know our cuisine is heavily influenced by Italy. Second, we make Tavë Kosi, our national dish. It’s a type of spinach pie that is very traditional in the southeast, where I’m from. And the dessert.

How well do your guests cope with the cooking?

Most of the recipes we cook don’t require any special cooking skills. I never expected my guests to become professionals through a cooking class because I’m not one either. My mother does and I learned from her. I expect my guests to familiarize themselves with our culture, prepare the dishes themselves, get to know other people and exchange experiences. They are really simple recipes that anyone can cook. Sometimes even children take part in the courses. If they can do it, everyone can do it.

Does your mother cook in a restaurant?

She works as a teacher at a vocational school and trains professional chefs. At the moment she needs to rest as she recently had eye surgery.

How did you get involved in cooking classes?

I became interested in tourism during my studies. I don’t come from Tirana, but from the southeast of Albania. I came to Tirana for university and I still work and live here after graduating. There are more job opportunities in Tirana, the best universities are located here, and somehow all the young people in their cities move here after finishing high school. Most of the population lives in Tirana.

When you started studying sociology, what idea did you have of your future career?

I studied sociology and criminology because I really love criminology. I still love her. And I actually wanted to be something like a detective. I never thought that cooking could become my career. After I finished college, I saw that things were a little different than I expected.

In what respect?

After I finished university, I felt let down by the job market because I wasn’t hired in a field that matched my training. Like most former communist countries, we have problems with economic transition and sometimes it is difficult to find a job, especially in the public sector. Maybe because of bureaucracy and sometimes because of corruption. And during my studies I had already started taking cooking courses. I always enjoyed them. I met other people from other cultures every day. That changed me quite a bit, to be honest. For the good. I learned new things every day and this made me compare different situations and cultures and gave me the opportunity to think about how I can change my country. It never gets boring.

Are you still in contact with your fellow students?

I am still in contact with many of them. Most of my friends are abroad now. And they don’t do what they studied either. Somehow they all emigrated to different countries. Migration is massive in Albania, especially among young people. This is also a kind of trend. They want to move abroad where their friends are and they want to feel more independent. They want to live alone and try to make money. But I’m a little sad because they just want to move away without even trying here. I mean, Albania is not the best country to live in, we have a lot of problems, the political situation is not the best. But somehow we have the ability to grow. In my opinion we also have a mix of good things, especially for tourism: the culture, the people, we have the mountains and the sea. I hope that all the people who emigrated will come back.

Albania is becoming an increasingly popular travel destination. Have you ever been afraid that one day there might be too many tourists, like in other places in Europe?

In the last two or three years, tourism in Albania has increased and is now the largest source of income. People are happy that they have tourists. They really appreciate it. Albania was also isolated for a long time during communism. So people had no experience with tourism, and so they give a lot to host guests and learn about their culture. Maybe one day it will be crowded, but that will take years. And probably during this time the locals will find a way to deal with it.

Have you ever thought of moving to another city in Albania or to the countryside?

Yes, to a small village near Tirana, maybe 30 to 40 minutes drive. I really want to do farming, spend all day there, even with tourists, but also live there. And I would also like to move the classes there, but that is still a bit difficult. My current location is pretty central. This way all my guests can come to me, easier than on a farm. But I’m in the process of sorting out transportation options and everything else. Maybe it will happen in two or three years.

Are you politically active in Albania?

At the moment I’m not participating as I don’t think I can contribute much. I took part in the elections once and I didn’t have the best feeling about it. You don’t see the corruption directly, but you can feel it.

How could the political situation be changed?

In my opinion, the only ones who can change the situation are the young people, through education and hard work. Young people must understand that they must do their part to make Albania a livable country and cannot just wait for the benefits of a livable country. Especially if we become part of the EU, I’m pretty sure things will get better, the economy will get better, but it will take time. But people have no trust in politics. They are just waiting for an opportunity to leave the country. And if all young people emigrate, who will make the change?