The base of the dish is summer vegetables. In late August, Albanian markets are full of bright red and yellow peppers, ripe tomatoes the size of tennis balls, and bunches of fresh garlic. Cooks chop them up, sizzle them in a pan, and stir in soft cheese until the whole thing comes together into a thick, creamy mix.
It is usually eaten with bread, scooped up like a dip, or served as a side dish next to meat or rice. The cheese melts into the tomato, the peppers go slightly sweet from the heat, and the whole thing smells incredible. Some families add a pinch of mild chilli, others a bit of butter.
There are two main kinds. One uses just peppers, tomato and cheese - that's the vegetarian version, called fërgesë verore ('summer fërgesë'). The other adds little pieces of meat or liver. Most Albanian kids grow up eating both, but the vegetarian one is the more famous of the two.
Cooking fërgesë is also a brilliant lesson in not wasting food. At the end of summer, when there are too many peppers and tomatoes to eat fresh, families turn them into fërgesë to use them up. That's how a lot of traditional Albanian recipes started - clever ways to use whatever was growing in the garden.