In vino veritas

Sunday morning was devoted to food shopping for the Italian cooking-class day.

I had the chance to practice a lot my Russian with Marshrutka drivers, sellers, passers-by, beggars, drunk people.

A police officer in plain clothes - after checking my documents - praised my good Russian. A small girl selling juices did the same with a very good English. Also a miller commended my use of his difficult and fascinating language.

Recipe of the day - Laghman

Full recipe at The Washington Post.


Summary:
This stir-fried lamb and vegetable sauce goes well with Kazakh Noodles (see related recipe in Recipe Finder). It helps to have all the ingredients prepped before you start to stir-fry.

"Beyond the Great Wall" cookbook authors Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Diguid like to drizzle black rice vinegar on their portions just before serving; see TIP.

Ingredients (4 servings):
* 2 tablespoons oil
* 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 1/2 pound boneless lamb or goat (chops, shoulder or leg), cut into 3/4-inch cubes
* 1 large red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch-wide strips
* 1 1/2 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped
* 2 teaspoons salt, plus 1 tablespoon for the pot of water (optional)
* 1/2 recipe Kazakh Noodles (may substitute 1 pound dried egg noodles or fettucine)
* Jinjiang (black rice) vinegar, for garnish

Directions:
Heat a large wok or wide, heavy-bottomed pot over high heat. If the noodles have not been cooked, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.

Add the oil and swirl it around to coat the wok. When the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic and meat; stir-fry for about 4 minutes, or until the meat has changed color and the onion is translucent. Add the red bell pepper and stir-fry for 2 minutes, then add the tomatoes and 2 teaspoons of the salt and mix well. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 7 minutes, until the pepper has softened but still retains its shape.

(At this point, your wok or pot will be quite full, so the cooking becomes more of a simmer than a stir-fry.)

Meanwhile, if the noodles have not been cooked, add 1 tablespoon salt to the pot of water, if desired, and drop the uncooked noodles into the boiling water. Cook for about 6 minutes, until tender but still firm to the bite. Drain, then divide equally among individual plates or large wide bowls.

Ladle equal portions of sauce over the hot noodles. Serve immediately, with black rice vinegar at the table.

Recipe Source:
Adapted from "Beyond the Great Wall," by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid (Artisan, 2008).

Eating Japanese style in Bishkek

Before moving to the "fancy" main part of this post, I would like to resume and conclude the previous Nookat Report issue. As probably very few of you were so willing to read it to the very end, I will shortly summarize the facts; whoever is interested in knowing a bit more can move to the "Nookat Report" post to have the full picture.

Nookat events of 1 October 2009 (based on the attached report prepared by a Commission of Inquiry established by the Ombudsman)

The annual celebration of Orozo-Ait and Kurman-Ait is taking place throughout the country including in Bishkek and has been a tradition celebrated in Nookat since 2005. An official authorization for this year’s celebration was issued by the mayor of Nookat on 27 September. However, on 1 October, when people gathered in front of the stadium where the celebration was to take place, the stadium was surrounded by police. The people then spontaneously went in front to the building of the local administration to ask the mayor for an explanation. After about an hour the mayor came outside the building, announced that the celebration had been banned and warned the crowd to disperse within half an hour otherwise force would be used. According to witnesses four young people were then taken inside the building, reportedly beaten up and then thrown out of the building in front of the crowd. The situation deteriorated when the police stared dispersing the people and some of them responded by throwing stones. On 2 October, a list of 90 people suspected in extremist activities compiled by the State Committee for National Security was given to the border authorities to prevent them from leaving the country (the list contained names of children as young as 4 as well as elderly people). After a very quick investigation (less than a month) during which all detained were severely tortured, including a pregnant woman who later lost her child, on 27 November, 32 people were convicted in a 4-days trial to up to 20 years of prison. On 17 January, a Court of Appeal upheld the sentences. The next instance is the Supreme Court –dates have not been fixed yet. Our Office is supporting the Commission's request to the International Community to monitor, advocate and push for the Supreme Court to repeal the sentences.

And now, finally:

Eating Japanese style in Bishkek

Yesterday evening I was invited as International UNV to the evening reception to launch a photography exhibition organized by JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), UNV and HelpAge International. Pictures were taken by a Japanese UNV, Azuma Nakahira, who volunteered with HelpAge International collecteding photography, case studies and video interviews over a series of visits to older people between December 2008 and February 2009.
The "Winter Diary" aims to raise public awareness towards both the extreme vulnerability of many older persons in winter months and their critical contributions to sustain families and communities to live through cold weather. Temperatures in Kyrgyzstan routinely fall below ­20°c during the winter months, yet shortages in gas and electricity supplies, coupled with rising food and fuel prices, mean that many are unable to heat their homes. The venue of the exhibition, mainly inplemented bu JICA, was the Russian National Theatre. It has been a nice event with beautiful and moving pictures and videos, music performance and mixed Japanese-Kyrgyz folk cotillons and gadgets. The overall sight was amazing: geishas and kyrgyz women walking around in traditional dress and posing with participants who wanted to take pictures of this impressive pan-asian pastiche. Most of all, the main attraction of the evening was the announced Japanese catering that meant only one thing: Sushi for free!
To be honest, in the end I ate just a few things; I didn't want to be gross or appear ill-mannered, so I just bottled up my spontaneus instinct of flying in circle around the catering staff waiting for the right moment to "refill" my dish again and again, and I did avoid asking the staff - very thrifty in dispensing food - to be a little more generous as 90% of others actually did. In this way I just had to chance to taste a pair of maki, a meatball, some fried chicken and a few slices of outstanding sesame-flavoured beef but I can easily say that the overall level was very good. After the exhibition a small group of us (2 Italians and 3 Spanish) moved to a British-style pub where we had a beer (it's the second time I drink some alcohol in one month) and both me and Federica we had the chance to practice a lot of Spanish. It's always weird to speak a foreign language different from the one of the country you're living in, and as usual I provoked some funny moments such as talking to Kyrgyz people in Spanish rather than using the 4 Russian sentences that I've hardly learnt.

Apart from that, a new sudden decision has been taken: as soon as possible, we will experience Asian restaurants in Bishkek. Firstly, Corean, then Japanese and finally Chinese.

Will keep you posted on this ambitious plan.