"Pojanaku" bakery in Pogradec, the most popular in the city

2023-12-02 17:42:00, Qyteti im CNA

"Pojanaku" bakery in Pogradec, the most popular in the city

Illustrative photo

Altin Pojanaku has practiced the profession of baker for a lifetime, inherited from his grandfather who together with his uncle were among the first bakers in Pogradec. Since 1925, they have been working and have inherited this craft, so beautiful but also difficult, to other generations. It has been 16 years since Altin Pojanaku opened the bakery and it is close to the residents of the lake city, as well as to tourists who choose Pogradec in the summer season. Altini tells CNA HD how he inherited this profession, while saying that he feels proud to have reached this far.

"With the introduction of democracy, I was offered a job as a baker and I have been working since 1993. I opened the bakery in 2007, so almost 16 years. As a profession, I inherited it from my grandfather and grandfather's uncle, who they have been bakers since 1925. I first worked in their bakeries, then the party came and they continued in the state bakeries, also inheriting the tirez craft. Together with the other bakers of the city of Pogradec, they made traditional bread of our city as family tradition. And I in my bakery continue to follow this tradition with the traditional bread of the city, with recipes inherited from our forefathers who have left us a wealth of this craft. I feel proud to follow the tradition of my grandfather, and the craft of I do it with dedication and I am very satisfied with the work I do," said Altin Pojanaku.

In the bakery "Pojanaku" we can find a variety of traditional breads which are made according to an old recipe of the ancestors, mentioning kulac and bread with chickpeas which remain the two favorites for customers. Altini tells us the special qualities of some of the breads that customers choose to consume in their daily meals.

"We make several types of bread, bread with chickpeas and kulac that are traditional from the Pogradec area. We also have other breads, we recently introduced a type of bread that does not have yeast, it is only made with dough," he said. .

"This is the kulaç which is produced in our bakery. It is traditional from the Mokrra area and we have taken it according to this tradition, which our grandmothers cooked in their mages with love and a lot of dedication. This bread is liked not only by the people of Pogradec but also from all those tourists who come to our city during the summer season. Kulaçi consists of baking soda, yogurt, we can also add milk, but soda and yogurt are the two main elements that make this type of bread. There is no yeast. Corn bread is only made with corn flour, cooked according to our tradition. This is the most liked in our city. We call this bread "pitalka" and it is made with quality flour, it is very soft and nutritious because it has quality flour. It is very favorite for children," added Pojanaku.

The baker's craft seems simple at first glance, for Altini it is one of the most beautiful professions, but it has many difficulties and requires special dedication. Working in the bakery

"Pojanaku" starts in the early hours of the morning, ends around lunch, producing a large number of loaves and waiting for customers to be served.

"Bread takes a relatively long time to prepare, about 4 hours. The main components of a bread are water, salt, yeast and flour, and we follow a technology left to us by our ancestors, with dry dough and as we call co-yeast, which is the main one for making the dough. The flour must be of the highest quality, have gluten, the right elasticity, proteins which, if they are missing, the bread we are looking for will not be produced. We have several types of bread, mass bread, french fries, unleavened bread, small hamburger buns and kulakka. The process starts with taking the dough, we weigh it and divide it into bowls, put it in the fermentation room, bake it and take it to the market. The work starts early in the morning, and these are the difficulties of our so beautiful craft, and it starts at midnight around 1-2 o'clock, and continues for 8-9 hours. We also have bread for rent that is made in Korça and Pogradec and requires a long work process, and is also preferred for joys family events such as weddings and engagements, and are considered auspicious. In our bakery, we also make petanik, cabbage, and pies, and we make them with love and dedication for our customers," he said.

According to Altini, sales have been quite satisfactory and always growing. Quality is the key element that has made this bakery successful, while cooperation has also been extended with restaurants in the Pogradec area. This year's summer season has been with a high flow of tourists who have chosen the "Pojanaku" bakery, and the impressions have been among the best. Altini shows what tourists choose to try.

"Bread is always on the rise, both from the flours that we have locally and also from abroad. Sales are increasing, and quality has been our priority. As for the cooperation with the restaurants of the city, we have a good cooperation, especially with the kulac they take during the summer season in Voloreka, Tushemisht. Tourists come to the bakery and ask for two types of bread, kulac and chickpea bread. Especially this year we had a high influx of tourists in the summer season. There are local and foreign tourists who come to city ??to relax, their impressions are among the best, telling us that we have a very good bread, especially the kulaçin", said Pojanaku.

Pogradec is one of the cities in the southeast that has experienced a surge in terms of tourism, which grows year by year, due to the beautiful areas that this city has and the assets that can be visited. One of the assets that Pogradeci is lucky to have is the "Pojanaku" bakery, which devotes itself with great love to making quality and traditional bread. CNA HD provides you with its contact number, as well as the address of the bakery for all those interested in trying the fantastic taste of the various products offered.

Altin Pojanaku: 067 543 6678 Address: "Gani Butka" Street, Ward no. 2, Pogradec./ CNA