My fourth day in Albania continued that afternoon and evening in the village of Muriqan, where I’d get to spend the evening on an amazing agrotourism farm! Come join me on my Albanian pomegranate farm experience as I learn to make a traditional cake in Muriqan, Albania!
The village of Muriqan is located in northern Albania, literally just five minutes from the border with Montenegro. Also nearby is the Adriatic Sea and Lake Shkodër, the largest lake in the Balkans. I was there to tour Agroturizem Shega, an amazing agrotourism farm in the area. “Shega” means “pomegranate” in Albanian. They grow pomegranates here and are famous for their pomegranate juice!
Even though I was there a month before the pomegranates would be ready in September, I would still get to try some juice and tour the property, and have dinner. They grow tomatoes and tangerines here as well. You can also get a real local experience if you stay here overnight!
On the property are a house and garden and some fruit trees. The pomegranates were still hard, so they weren’t ready. Then, I headed over to the house and cooled off from the 100-degree temperatures by putting my head under some cold running water!
I met Ahmet Sylejmani, the owner of Agroturizem Shega, who dried me off, and then I tried the juice. It was amazing! It was super fresh and fruity, almost like berries. It was so refreshing in this heat! Best of all, it has no added sugar! I watched him juice a pomegranate by cutting it and placing it in a machine that presses it. It’s something you must try if you visit this Albanian pomegranate farm in Muriqan, Albania.
Then Ahmet got some figs from a tree for me and fed me some of them! They were really fresh and tasty. Then, we saw some pears, white grapes, and red grapes. The red grapes were so juicy and a little sour. The whites were sour!
Inside the house, they have two rooms. One has two twin beds with a table, a bathroom, and air conditioning. They have a tree inside where you can hang your things on. The other room also has two beds. In the kitchen, the mother would cook dinner for me. But first, I had some of their local rakija, which was nice and smooth!
It was finally cooling down as I toured the property. I saw more pomegranates and then saw the tomatoes in their tented greenhouse. They weren’t ready yet, as they were still small and green. They have 20 rows and a few hundred plants!
Outside, they had some fresh-smelling limes and lemons. They have hens that lay 2-3 eggs per day. There are also grapevines along the trees here. They don’t make wine here, but they sell the grapes.
We saw some overripe tomatoes as well as some good ones. The moldy and overripe ones feed the animals. Then, I saw some eggplants and peppers. Then, I found another Hermann’s tortoise outside! Ahmet showed me some beans he had planted and picked some tomatoes for dinner. We’d be having chicken!
The mother was cooking chicken in a nice broth. She also made a traditional cake using eggs, milk, sugar, oil, and flour. She cooks the oil and milk and adds the flour, mixes the dough, and puts it on a pan, and mixed in the egg for 5 minutes. Then, she flattens the bright yellow dough in the pan and bakes it! Meanwhile, Ahmet brought me some fruity Torre shesh i zi wine made from indigenous grapes.
For dinner, I had pickles, tomato-and-onion salad with oil, olives, goat cheese, bread, and chicken with potatoes. The olives were nice and oily, and the pickle was a little sour but super juicy! The bread was super fluffy and perfect with the goat cheese, which wasn’t salty at all. We had picked the tomatoes ourselves!
Next, they added sugar syrup on top of the cake. While I waited for it to get ready, I dug into the chicken and potatoes. The chicken was so fresh and delicious and came from the garden. I loved it with the cheese! The French fries were really nice.
Finally, I had tepsije, which is the famous cake in the village. It’s thick and dense and soaked with the sugar syrup. Then, they gave me two peaches to take home with me! What an awesome experience at an Albanian pomegranate farm in Muriqan, Albania! Special thanks to everyone at Agroturizem Shega, as well as my friends at Travel Albanian Alps, Balkan Pearls Tour Operator, and Rental Car Albania for making this adventure possible!
I hope you liked coming with me to an Albanian pomegranate farm in Muriqan, Albania! If you did, please give this video a thumbs up and leave a comment below. Also, please subscribe to my YouTube channel and click the notification bell so you don’t miss any of my travel/food adventures around the world!
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