Lakror: An Albanian Meat Pie
Posted by stef on 03 Jan 2006 | Tagged as: Roman Catholic
Gezuar vitin e ri 2006!!
Albanian cuisine is typical of the Balkans, and similar to other Mediterranean cuisines. Albania was under Turkish subjugation for almost 500 years, so their cuisine shows a lot of Turkish influence. Because of proximity, however, some regions also have a lot of Italian- and Greek-like dishes. Lakror is a pie most common in Korca or Korce, a city famous for its serenades, though it is found throughout Albania. Depending on where you look, you’ll find out that lakror is made with many different things. It is closely related to — and sometimes considered interchangeable with — byrek, also commonly known as “spinach pie”. Note the similarity in name and preparation method to the borek from Damascus and bourek from Algeria. Lakror, however, seems to be more versatile; some sources describe it as a pie, others as a pancake. It can incorporate everything from cheese and eggs to meat and vegetables like green beans and leeks, or onions and tomatoes. When served at New Years’ celebrations, a coin is put under the bottom layer of pastry, and whoever gets the slice of pie that has the coin is believed to be blessed with extra luck for the coming year. In the Korca region, it is also traditionally baked with nettles, a custom which is said to be connected to St. John the Baptist who lived off nettles while he wandered the desert. Lakror is such a fixture in Albanian cuisine that in the US, Albanian Orthodox churches serve or sell lakror at parish picnics and fundraisers.
Historical Tidbits about Albania: A bunch of Roman emperors, including Diocletian and Constantine the Great, were from Albania. Mother Teresa of Calcutta was born in Macedonia, to Albanian heritage. Her real name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu.
Sources:
A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology, and Folk Culture
Albania and the Albanians, by Van Christo
The Mediterranean Diet
Albania, from NewAdvent.org
Mother Teresa of Calcutta, from Catholic Online
The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean
Lakror (St. Basil’s Meat Pie)
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground lamb
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons dried Greek oregano
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup freshly minced parsley, preferably flat-leaf
1/2 cup cooked rice
6 eggs (this is from the original, though I reduced mine to 3)
8 oz. phyllo dough, pieces trimmed to fit a 9×13 baking pan
1/4 to 1/3 cup melted butter
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent, 3-5 minutes. Add the gorund meats, garlic, salt, oregano and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring to break up the pieces, until meat has completely changed color. Drain off fat and adjust seasonings. Cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Add parsley, rice and eggs and stir well. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Brush a 9×13 pan with melted butter. Lay one piece of phyllo dough on the bottom, and brush with melted butter. Repeat until you have used up half of the phyllo pastry (about 10 pieces). Spread the meat mixture evenly over the phyllo dough. Top with the remaining phyllo dough pieces, brushing each layer with melted butter, until all the dough is used up. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden. Serves 8 with salad and/or soup, or up to 16, when served with other dishes.
This recipe comes from Cooking with the Saints
Addendum: Angelo comments below on the similarities of lakror to banitsa, a Bulgarian dish. In A Short History of Modern Greece, they talk about the Greeks pursuing the Turks into Banitsa, and I’m thinking this dish was named after the place. Also found this on infohub:
The most common Bulgarian snack food is banitsa (often referred to by its diminutive form, banichka , or known in some areas as byurek ), a flaky pastry filled with cheese or, on occasion, meat. At its best, the banitsa is a delicious light bite, although it’s invariably quite stodgy by the time it reaches the streets. Mlechna banitsa (literally “milk banitsa “) is a richer, sweeter version made using eggs and dusted with icing sugar, while the Rhodopska banitsa , found only in the Rhodopes, is more like a soufflé filled with cheese.
I’m updating this post to include a link to more discussion at Chowhound. This is the stuff that fascinates me!
Hi,
Sometime ago,a Bulgarian friend gave us some Banitsa.The process and traditions in the making of Banitsa seems to be similar with Lakror.
I posted something about Banitsa in my blog
here in greece we have bits of tid bits called BOUREKAKIA little bourek
stuffing can vary…as for albania greece and bulgaria just think they were all under the Ottoman empire so they do share common cuisine somehow
My family, who are Albanian, often enjoy Lakror (or as the American generation pronounces it, “La-crew-a”. However, for New Year’s we always enjoyed a large buttery spiral pastry called “bluestrel’. I am making up a phoenetic spelling, since my Grandmother bever learned to write in English. It was in this dish that a coin was hidden in the bottom layer, for good luck to the household that recieved that slice. Has anyone else heard of this, or have a recipe for it? It would be very interesting to know a little more about the tradition.
Nancy
that’s what i figured, sha. one of these days i’ll have to visit you so you can give me a food tour hehehe….
hello nancy, thanks for visiting! i’ll ask around/do some digging and i’ll let you know if i learn anything about your pastry.
Ethnic Albanian which is live in Turkey Says “Börek or Lakrur” in Turkish for This Pie.Very Delicious and every week we are cooking this pie…
Hi, Nancy
I am also Albanian -American & mom always put the quarter in the lakror she served on New Year’s day. I don’t recall us eating a pastry like that, although we did eat those rolled pastries filled with poppy seeds that you see in other ethnic bakeries, from time to time…
ALso, we pronounce lakror as lak-ROAR.
And the fillings my mom & grandmother made :
-cottage cheese ( a little feta, too) & leeks/or/spinach& onion;
-tomatoes & onions;
-summer squash;
-sauerkraut;
hamburger, onion, tomatoes & potatoes.
All delicious
To Nancy Andon:
The buttery spiral pastry is called “Brushtull” in English, and you should be able to find a recipe for it in most Albanian cookbooks. If you are unable to locate an Albanian cookbook, you might try contacting some Albanian Orthodox churches as they sometimes put together and sell such cookbooks.
My Grandmother taught me how to make Brushtull, and it requires a lot of butter. The dough was the same recipe she used for her Lakror -which she usually filled with spinach and tomato sauce or a custard made with grated summer squash.
My Grandmother, who was born in Albania, used to make Brushtull in a large, deep enamel pan. When I make it, I usually bake it in smaller, shallower pans (like cake pans) so there are more of the browned, crispy edges. Smaller loaves also make it easier to divide among relatives.
I hope this is of help to you and that you and your family will enjoy some Brushtull on the first day of the next New Year - and that you find the coin!
Marilyn L. George
Am looking for a brushtull receipe, my husband enjoyed as a child. It is an Albanian bread that has lots of butter and the dough is pulled and stretched and pulled and streched and laid in a pinwheel fashion and baked. Can anyone help? I have an Albanian cook book but brushtull don’t seem to come out right.
My mother was born in Corce. She was a great cook and could make filo and strudel dough by hand. My sister and I are looking for a recipe for something she called Lakror but was not the filo-type dough. It was heavier and was filled with tomatoes, onions and potatoes. Would appreciate the recipe.
I’ll see what I can find out, Sandra! Thanks for dropping by.
D. Kalfa, I tried looking for brushtull but no luck. I’ll try to ask around again.
Thanks to everyone for the comments — I’m learning a lot here!
I would love a recipe for making either this or Burek but I do not like the Phyllo dough. Does anyone have a recipe on how to make your own homemade dough for this recipe? Thanks
the best Albanian cookbook can be bought from the St. Mary’s Assumption Albanian Orthodox Church in Worcester, MA., for $22.50 plus S&H
Women’s Guild Cookbook
PO Box 20357
Worcester, MA 01602
508 798 4701
This book really helps me to identify with my heritaqe.
Enjoy, Nashi
There in nothing like Korca’s lakror….
Love it…
for Nancy Andon
The Lakror is divided in pices, and there is one pice fo each member of the family + one fore the home.
All the person select one pice and controll if have coin.
The person who gets the pice of Lakror with the coin is the more luckest for the new wear…
If the coin is “Home pice” there all the family will have luck for the whole year…
P.S.–I wont it last year
i am also albanian and my right now is just making lakror. this can be done with potatos,onions,and tomato suace. this is delicious trust me:)
BRUSHTULL is known by the name of Dredhanik (literally meaning spirals, turns, as for the many turns and pirals of the dough) It is prepared by making the dough with eggs and much thinner than byrek and lakror. Same thickness as you would use for Baklava. Extremely popular in Korca area.. buttery and yummi.
THe original poster, there is a difference between byrek and lakror. Lakror is flexible in the number of sheets used, you can prepare one called “me kulac” which is basically three/four rounds of dougs, spprinkled with butter and opened into a big sheet together, topped with filling, covered with another thick layer prepared by three/four rounda doughs opened by the rolling pin toghther.. or it can have other varities.
Byrek can have one or two fillings but it needs more than two layers that are much thiner than those of lakror.
My mother and father’s parents came from Korce. I remember my mother hiding a quarter in baklava instead of lakror. This was done at New Years and the lucky person who selected the piece with the coin, of course, had good luck the rest of the year.
robert, did you carry on any of your beloved albanian traditions with your children? i see you posted this on july 18. I am open to further discussion. you have my email.
yes, bob, let’s hear about your wonderful family man traditions in the past and present and don’t leave out all the negatives.