Tirana - Post Report Question and Answers
What household or grocery items do you wish you had shipped to post?
Ethnic spices and foods (salsas, seasoning mixes, chili powder, hot sauce, green chiles), canned white tuna, black beans, good paper towels and toilet paper (quality not bad here, but rolls seem SMALL), school snack foods, oatmeal, baking mixes, food coloring, and coconut oil. - Apr 2018
Sauces, cereal, and cleaning supplies without scent. - Aug 2016
Any ethnic foods, lady products, dry shampoo, cat litter, dryer sheets, laundry detergent, animal treats. - Aug 2015
We are a consumables post (for the present time). We shipped peanut butter, Mexican food, unscented laundry detergent and stain removers, and toiletries. You do not need to ship anything typical of Italian cooking. - Aug 2014
Salsa is hard to find, and the stuff they stock in some of the stores is pretty nasty. Chinese ingredients are available but expensive - soy sauce is like liquid gold. If you don't use it much, that is not a problem. Tortillas can be ordered through the pouch, and there are some available on the local market. Vanilla extract is a must. I have never seen any on the local economy - they use powdered vanilla here - and it won't come through the pouch. We use peppermint extract around the holidays a lot, too. The commissary at the embassy has improved drastically and now carries a great selection of everything from holiday baking goods and specialty foods to frozen meats like ground beef, good steaks, roasts, and ribs. - May 2013
Since this is a consumables post, I recommend people bringing any of these they use a lot: mostly canned goods items - black beans, refried beans, chili beans, canned green chilis, salsa (anything Mexican related - it's hard to find a pepper spicier than a green pepper if you like heat, though some can be found if you try hard enough), soups, cream of mushroom/chicken if you cook with that, marinades, bbq sauce, salad dressings, creamed corn if you cook with that, peanut butter, syrup and anything liquid used in baking. Laundry detergent and stain removers for clothes/carpet. Deodorant that you know works for you. - Dec 2012
Macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, salsa, tortilla chips, chicken broth, and any ethnic food items, baby and child meds, Dramamine (for driving through the mountains), Pepto and Immodium. - Oct 2011
Cheese, flour tortillas, baking supplies, American candy. - Mar 2008
