Po kruh k tradicionalnemu peku, Uzbekistan

Redko se zgodi, da bi na potovanjih slabo jedel. Če pomislim nazaj je bilo bolj slabo le v Egiptu ali pa v deželah zahodne Afrike, kjer pa je bilo pomanjkanje tako ali tako vidno praktično na vsakem koraku. Se je pa tudi v teh deželah vedno našlo nekaj užitnega, predvsem v bivših francoskih kolonijah, kjer si zagotovo užival vsaj v odličnih francoskih štrucah. 🙂 Dobrega domačega kruha se namreč ne branim nikoli in tiste francoske štruce ali pa npr. nekvašen arabski kruh, so dostikrat kot božji dar. 🙂 Uzbekistan zagotovo ne spada med dežele, kjer ješ slabo. Hrana je vrhunska, med drugim tudi domač kruh, ki je bil naravnost odličen. Imajo kar nekaj različic kruha, ki pa so vezane predvsem na posamezna območja Uzbekistana. Nam daleč najboljši kruh smo našli v majhni družinski pekarni v sosednji ulici našega hotela v Bukhari. Pekarna, ki dela skoraj 365 dni v letu, že nekaj 10 let, je le simpatična sobica, kamor lahko pozimi zbežiš tudi pred peklenskim mrazom na drugi strani zidov. Šef in vajenec sta nas tisto jutro sprejela z navdušenjem in tista dobra ura, preživeta z njima, je bila res nekaj posebnega. Kljub temu, da sta bila v polnem zagonu in sta morala s kolesom starodobnikom tisto jutro razvoziti še kar nekaj kruhovskih fur, sta nama z veseljem odgovorila na vsako naše, včasih tudi neumno vprašanje. 🙂 Tisto jutro smo pekarno zapustili s polno vrečo vročega, ravno pečenega domačega kruha. Plačilo sta zavrnila že v štartu in tudi naslednje dni, ko smo vsak dan kupili nekaj domačih hlebčkov, smo se pri denarju skoraj skregali. 🙂 Uzbekistan je res dežela prijaznih ljudi. In ravno zaradi njih upam, da me pot še kdaj zapelje v tiste konce. 😉

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Usually I eat very well on my trips. But there were some destinations like Egypt or some countries in western part of Africa, where food was not really very good. But even in these countries, there was always something edible, especially in the former French colonies, where you enjoy in excellent french baguettes. 🙂 I love good homemade bread and those french baguettes or arabic bread are usually pure joy. 🙂 Uzbekistan is certainly not one of the countries where the food is not good. The food is top notch, including homemade bread, which was simply excellent. They have quite a few varieties of bread, but they are mainly tied to specific areas of Uzbekistan. We found the best bread by far in a small family bakery on the adjacent street of our hotel in Bukhara. The bakery, which is in operation for almost 365 days a year for some 10 years, is just a nice little room, where magic happens every day. The boss and apprentice welcomed us that morning with smiles on their faces and that hour, that we spent with them was really great time. Despite the fact that they had to deliver still many breads that morning, they were open to answer to all our questions. That morning we left the bakery with a full bag of hot, fresh homemade bread. They refused the payment for it at the beginning and it was the same the next days. 🙂 Uzbekistan is really a land of friendly people. And it is precisely because of them that I hope that I will visit this country again.