500ml milk

4 tbsp sugar

100g dried figs

+cinnamon, nutmeg to decorate

I travelled to Albania during late spring and a friend suggested I’d try oshaf – the signature dessert of Gjirokastër.

I liked it so much... that I knew I had to make it myself. The timing is right, as I’ve just bought Romanian figs from Sviniţa – the tastiest I’ve ever had.

Mix the milk and the sugar in a pan, on low-medium heat. Add the figs (mine were all halves) and let the mix boil. Traditionally, they use sheep’s milk, but I only had cow’s milk.

Fill the ramekins with the mix and place them into a baking pan filled with water (3 cm high). Bake in the preheated oven, at 120°C, for one hour.

Gjirokastër tradition calls for cinnamon and nutmeg powder on a classical oshaf, after the dessert sits for at least 2 hours in the fridge.