Day 28: With Teta by Huda Fahmy

My Egyptian grandmother, my teta, taught me to make my favorite food, molokhia, from fresh jute mallow plant. Pick. Pluck. Wash. Blend. Cook. Add chicken broth, garlic, and spices and you have the greenest, gooiest, most delicious stew. Teta’s other ingredients include laughing and joking, smelling and tasting. I know how important it is to treasure these moments because I grew up knowing how hard we needed to work to exist. But sometimes I wish I could treasure these moments just because they make me happy and not simply to resist.