November holidays

Time flies. I am coming to the end of my trip to Albania, and will hop over to northern Italy for couple of weeks. The weather is really cold now in both these countries, although the sun may shine bright during the short hours of the day. Snow is blanketing the top of the mountains, but rarely appears in the capital of Tirana.

Two special holidays will be celebrated this coming week on more than one continent. In the U.S. Thanksgiving day is coming up with his traditional turkey dinner, and Albanians everywhere will be remembering their Independence day, or what they call Flag Day, on November 28th. It was on that day in 1912 that the flag was raised because Albania became a nation.

I am not aware of any particular food being served during this holiday here, although the traditional type of meat is lamb, which is slowly baked, usually with potatoes, in a covered oven that sit on top of the stove. The end result is a deliciously tasty, always available dish that melts in your mouth. Turkeys, I am told, are usually cooked for new year holidays, while another very succulent meat dish reserved for special occasions is roasted wild pig. Fresh fish is also enjoyed by Albanians, who export most of it to the neighboring countries. The dinner tables of Albania never lack, at every meal, beautifully ripe tomatoes and small cucumbers (that in NY are called ‘persian cukes’). They are served sliced and are so flavorsome that can be eaten as is or with oil and vinegar, a set of which is always present on the table.

Today, when I was a guest at someone’s home for lunch, I was served an eggplant course which was quite intriguing and yummy. Small eggplants, cut in large pieces, were cooked with garlic, onions, vinegar, tomato sauce, mixed with a think plum paste, and the end result, incredibly so, turned out to be a very delicate dish. Albanians are also known for their sweet tooth….so desserts are never missed and are usually extra sugary. An excellent Riesling wine like the one I had today washes down everything beautifully!

Happy Holidays everyone!