Bimorah began as a shared passion for food between me and my boyfriend. It took one night to convince us to go plant-based after watching “What the health” documentary. Shocked as we were, we did our research and we were more convinced than ever that going plant-based would be the best decision. After that night we began both to find ways to eat plant-based.
We are learning every day to listen to our body and what our body needs. We have chosen to mostly eat plant-based but we also incorporate eggs, yogurt, cheese, and honey in our diet. This means that we don’t like to put labels on what we eat. It is important for us to respect the environment, animals, and our bodies.
The love for food is not new for me. Growing up, my mother was the one who spoiled me and my sister with cakes, warm cookies, and everything good you can ask from homemade food. In the past years, my mother had to work out of the house so instead of her, my father was the cook. He is also a great cook. He is a more traditional chef so he made me fall in love with pies, been stews, cornbread, stuffed peppers, etc and he picks the best seasonal vegetables.
I remember the only times we use to fight in our home was when we had to decide who will cook for tomorrow. Everyone wanted to cook the other day so we had to take turns.
Last two years, I moved in with my boyfriend. Luckily he loves food but he trusts me with most of it. When we went plant-based, I had to learn new things and ways to cook because living in Albania made it harder to find even the basics. I had to make my own plant milk every 2-3 days, make my own nut butter, ferment my own sriracha or buy SCOBY online shipped from the UK because here was impossible to find. I began asking the stores here, for stuff like nutritional yeast, tahini, plant yogurt, tamari, miso even jackfruit. My boyfriend used to laugh at me in the beginning but now after 4 years of being plant-based, we can find all these things here in some stores in Tirana and not order them online.
I find it more meaningful and fulfilling when I cook for others to make them happy. I used to feel bad about always thinking about food and cooking, but now I know this is what I want to do and this is what makes me happy.
Witnessing my love for cooking, my boyfriend is the biggest support. He helps me find ways to make this not only a passion but also a job.
