I met a lovely family in Bukhara, who adopted me for my stay. Rustham
and his large extended family lived in a narrow street near the Kalon minaret. A
typical Bukhara house with a huge yard containing a day bed at one side, which acted
variously as an eating table, a play table for the kids, and a bed at
night to look up at the stars from.
Every night a feast of many dishes was served to assuage the hunger of the daily fast. Local fruits, vegetables, and good cuts of meat fresh from the main market, were all cooked and then presented in a manner which would not have been out of place in an expensive restaurant.
The best meal I shared at his home was the Uzbek traditional, Plov
(or Pilov). Rice, carrots, nuts, a few herbs, and a chunk of meat, with
its fat still on the bone, and then left to rest for 2 hours after cooking. It was the ideal dish for Ramadan. It could cook slowly until we could eat at exactly the prescribed time
for the end of the fast, which was 8:08 pm this night. The days newspaper had been checked to ensure we ate at exactly the correct time.
As with pizza, Plov was originally poor peoples food made from
leftovers, but is now an exotic delicacy outside of Central Asia.
Easy to make, if you have the time, it fills you up and can give you
great leftovers for the next day. Definitely one I will be making in the
kitchen when I get home.
A new book packed with off the beaten track stories that take you from standing at the 'Gates of Hell' in Turkmenistan to taking part in the ancient Torajan ceremony of partying with their recently dug-up ancestors in Sulawesi. Travel to places that do not feature in any travel agents window.
#1 Bestseller to these remote Pacific Islands. Review: "Absolutely exhaustive guide to this fascinating place, great detail, anecdotes, and highly researched practical info too make this the perfect book to have on hand. This is how all guidebooks should be"
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