Istanbul - Foodie Paradise

Plov Plov Plov!!

Plov is Uzbekistan's national dish, and can be found in most restaurants across the country. The key ingredients of rice, meat (usually mutton), carrot and gallons of cotton oil are universal, but we found some regional varitions which added chickpeas and/or raisins to the mix. In Bukhara we were lucky enough to go to a family home to see how this evocative dish is made before feasting on a generous spread of soup, salad, bread, nuts and, of course, plov. So, here's how it's done...

Step One: simmer the meat, chopped carrot and onion in a lot of oil (cotton oil if possible) for about an hour, until very tender. This should ideally be done over a charcoal burner.

Step Two: gather the other key ingredients: washed rice (very like risotto or paella rice), cooked chickpeas and raisins, along with some salt. Mix the chickpeas and raisins with the cooked carrots and meat.

Step Three: spoon the rice on top of the rest of the mixture, but don't stir in - the rice should form a seal on top of the rest of the ingredients.


Step Four: cover with a tight lid and leave to cook for another 45-60 minutes, stirring towards the end to loosen up the rice and mix in the other ingredients.

Serve in generous portions, with bread and salad as accompaniments. Wash it all down with surprisingly decent Uzbek red wine (dry not sweet) and try not to think about what all that oil is doing to your waistline!

So, what's the food like in Uzbekistan?!?

Well, mostly it's about the meat. Lamb, mutton, chicken - probably some goat and horse thrown in there for good measure. Butchery isn't much of an art here, so there are no fillets, no lamb chops, and if you only like the breast of a chicken, you've come to the wrong place. Here the meat is chopped crudely with huge cleavers, and arrives on your plate complete with bone, skin and, most unappetisingly, unfathomable quantities of fat. Boy do they love their fat in Uzbekistan! It's all tasty enough, but not pretty to eat - and while the first five shish kebabs of a two-week holiday might taste deliciously exotic, upon realising that these compose the main part of the country's diet, the lack of variety soon becomes ... well, slightly dull to be truthful! But the smell of barbecuing lamb, smoky and savoury, is an intrinsic part of Uzbekistan life, and will forever take me back to Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva and all the other beautiful places we visited on our trip.

Thankfully, it is also possible to find fruit and veg, especially in the lush and verdant Fergana Valley in the east of the country, where we spent the first three days of our trip. Produce markets abound in this fertile area, the beauty being that very little food is imported, so seasonality is everything. May is the time for luscious strawberries, juicy tomatoes, plump cherries and a baffling array of potato varieties. The traders put a huge amount of effort into displaying their produce carefully and beautifully - some of them producing real works of art - which makes wandering around these bustling markets a true pleasure.


The observant reader will have spotted that pescatarian Hippo may have struggled to find food in a double-landlocked country so clearly obsessed with animal flesh. Well, yes, that's true to a point. But by lowering expectations in terms of variety (and indulging in the occasional Snickers bar - OK, so they do import some food) I actually managed fine by grazing on handfuls of nuts, fruits and sweet treats picked up at various markets, and by sampling the various salad options that were presented to me along the way. The most baffling of these was referred to as "fresh salad" (as opposed to old, mouldy salad?!) which in all parts of the country consists of tomato and cucumber, sometimes with onion and always with dill. Dill is omnipresent in Uzbekistan. They have a multitude of herbs to choose from - we saw basil, coriander, parsley, thyme, you name it -but dill is certainly the herb du jour. Salad on its own might have made for a fortnight of meagre mealtimes, but happily there was always non. Non (bread) is the staple food of Uzbekistan, and the one foodstuff that actually varies from area to area. In the east it is fluffy inside and crisp on the outside; in central Samarkand it is more chewy, like a bagel; and in western Khiva the bread is flatter and altogether crisper. In all cases, however, non is cheap, tasty, comforting and, this pescatarian can confirm, makes wonderful tomato sandwiches.

Hungriest Hippo's back!

Yes, it's true. Although I've been slightly neglectful of the old blog as I a) became super-busy at work and then b) went gallivanting around Uzbekistan and Istanbul on holiday, I'm now back at home, cooking and eating like never before, and ready to write about it all. Stand by for tales of shashlick kebabs and plov, for mezze and Turkish cookery class, for chocolate cookies and anything else that takes my fancy in the coming days. It's good to be back. Cheers!

Risotto with Leeks and Spring Greens

The Monkey and I have recently joined a veg box scheme from the wonderfully groovy Phantassie Farm (what a fantastic name!) in East Lothian. With all sorts of options available to us, we plumped in the beginning for a small mixed fruit'n'veg box, excluding potatoes as we don't eat so many of them these days. In the first delivery was an abundance of seasonal produce - plump cauliflower, fat, dirty carrots, juicy leeks, green pepper and some small red onions - along with a large mystery bundle of greenery that I struggled to identify. Not a problem: a quick email to the farm and the mystery was solved. Turns out these were the first of the early spring greens, which I was told should be sliced thinly and cooked quickly - much as you would kale or cabbage, I suppose.

Inspired by this bounty I rustled up this tasty risotto for a quick midweek supper - a total experiment, but then often the best dishes are.

Leek & Spring Green Risotto
Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 leeks, trimmed and sliced
half a red chilli, de-seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
120g risotto rice
glug (ablut 100 mls) of white wine
1.5 litres of vegetable stock
bundle of spring greens, stalks sliced and leaves shredded
butter, olive oil

Method:
1. Heat a little oil in a heavy based pan and add a handful of the chopped leeks along with the garlic and chilli. Saute for a few minutes.

2. Add the rice and stir round to mix with the other ingredients. Splash in the wine, savour the wonderful smell, and stir well. Turn the heat down and simmer until the wine has been absorbed.

3. Throw in the chopped spring green stalks as they will take a while to cook. Add the stock bit by bit, letting each addition absorb into the rice before adding the next.

4. Meanwhile, in a wok or frying pan, saute the remaining leeks until they are soft and golden. Add the green leaves and stir-fry quickly until they are just cooked but not mushy.

5. When the risotto has absorbed enough stock it will be rich and creamy, the rice still slightly al dente. Stir in a nob of butter and season with salt and pepper.

6. Mix the leeks and greens into the risotto and serve in large bowls with a few shavings of parmesan and a glass of chilled white wine on the side.

Buon appetito!

The Larder

Allow me to introduce a new arrival, my baby, my little bundle of joy . . .

No, I haven't just given birth without telling anyone - don't panic! Rather this is the birth of a more literary being, the result of eight months of dedication, imagination and sheer hard graft from a small but extremely dedicated team at Edinburgh's List magazine.

The Larder is a celebration of Scottish food and drink - what it is, where to buy it and how to cook it - as well as a directory of the best shops, farms and chefs we have in this abundant country. In seven chapters the book guides you through the difference between bannocks and butteries, explains the science behind various cuts of beef, and gives guidance on cooking the many and varied fruits of our seas. And that's just for starters.

Nothing could be more relevant in these credit-crunching, carbon-monitoring times than a focus on local, seasonal and natural produce, and that is why The Larder deserves a place on all keen Scottish foodies' book shelves - and no, I'm not just saying that because I part-wrote, edited and project-managed the thing. Get hold of a copy and you'll see what I mean!

The Perfect Sandwich?

As I was flicking through our local free arts'n'culture paper The Skinny a couple of weeks ago a competition caught my eye. The idea was to come up with the perfect sandwich combination for Coffee Angel, a new coffee shop just opened in the Canonmills area of Edinburgh. We all know I love to think about food, constantly, and so I just had to have a go at this. The temptation was to go completely off the wall, to try something outlandish (hummus, coleslaw and green olives, anyone?), but truthfully I think the simplest combinations make for the best sarnies. Quality ingredients, proper fresh bread and a whole lot of flavour are the key.

After coming across a pack of Rannoch Smnokery smoked venison in Valvona & Crolla, my decision was made for me. My competition entry is a sandwich of smoked venison, rocket and zingy chilli jam on the freshest of granary bread, with just a smear of butter. A delicious combination, for sure, and not at all outlandish ...