May It Nourish You

“Babushi si e bëre këtë gjellën?” (Dad, how did you make this gjellë?)
“Është secret!” (It’s a secret!) He replies winking at me and smiling.

He hovers around the table watching as I and my two nephews (7 and 11 years old) hungrily eat after a long day at the beach. My dad is the best cook and he has the generosity of spirit and love to share nourishment that characterizes any great chef. He is not eating; watching us enjoy his creation, he asks me occasionally:

“Të pëlqen?” (Do you like it?)

Of course I do, and he knows it by the not so graceful way I am dipping the bread in the broth and making a mess. But he is brimming with joy watching us enjoy his food and he offers seconds of the okra dish as soon as the plate becomes near empty, eyes welling with satisfaction. He has satiated us, filled our souls.

Gjellë is the most typical Albanian dish: take a mixture of vegetables and veal and simmer them together for a long time on the stove top, or cook in the pressure cooker to accelerate the cooking process. Either method creates delicious dishes.

Gjellë comprises the main component of the meal and it is usually accompanied by a seasonal salad: lettuce salads, tomato, cucumber, and pepper salads in the spring and summer, and cabbage, olive, and roasted winter vegetables in the fall and winter. Bread is the third component of a typical Albanian meal. There are bread bakeries (Furrë Buke or Bukë) on every block and the bread is delicious.

This particular gjellë recipe follows my dad’s instructions and it is delicious. Even though I kept mmmm-ing in satisfaction after every bite I felt that my dad's okra was better.

“How can it get any better than this?” asked Bryan, slurping the broth.

I did not have an answer then, but I know now that it lacked my dad’s hovering around the table, watching us eat, ready to heap joy and nourishment on our plates.



Gjellë me Bamje (Okra Stew)

Ingredients:

1 lb of fresh okra, ends cleaned, cut in halves if too long
½ lb stew beef, cut in 1 inch or bite size pieces
1 medium sweet yellow onion, chopped
1 15 oz can of petite diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Equipment:
Enameled cast iron Dutch oven, or any heavy Dutch oven that has a fitted lid.

Preparation:

Place all the ingredients in the Dutch oven, mix to combine, cover tightly, and cook in low heat for about 1 hour. Stir occasionally (not more than 3 times) to prevent sticking. Serve with a green lettuce salad with a lemon and olive oil dressing, and good, warm crusty bread to mop up the broth of the okra.

Ju bëftë mirë!
E.

P.S. Previously I have translated “Ju bëftë mirë” as Bon Appétit, but the literal translation is “May it nourish you!” So, Ju bëftë mirë!!!