On paper, Albania has the potential to be home to one of the world’s great cuisines.

It’s at that cultural crossroads sweet spot occupied by precious few other places, a meeting point between Mediterranean and Eastern Europe, the Christian and Muslim worlds, Italy and Greece.

So I was looking forward to trying Tave Kosi, a yogurt-and-lamb casserole that seems to, by consensus, be Albania’s national dish. A simple recipe with only a few ingredients, I was more curious about the texture than the flavor.

I wound up impressed by both.

The fresh nutmeg was the cadence of the dish, setting the beat for everything else. The lamb, which I marinated for a few hours before dinner, was the bass line – a musical tone to carry us forward.

But it was the tartness of the baked yogurt that was the real surprise, adding a refreshing, lemony flavor to the dish.

As for the cultural crossroads element? The lamb provided a quintessential Muslim-world flavor, but the yogurt casserole added an element of weight not often found in dishes from Muslim countries.

The backbone for this dish was sourced from Saveur. 🇦🇱