Turkmen Plov at the Festival in the Russian Village
July 30, 2017 | 23:41 |2678
In an ordinary Russian village, one will not find kazans frequently. But Rebrovo is an unusual village. In mid-August it will for the fourth time mark the most delicious holiday of the Ivanovo region - the folklore and gastronomic festival “Kuhon”. For tourists who come here by the thousands, this is a rare opportunity to taste dishes of the most diverse nations of the world. There are almost two dozen national-cultural associations in the regions of central Russia and almost everyone will prepare their traditional dish at the festival.Leonid KYASHKO, journalist, Ivanovo, Russian Federation
Guests are waited with Russian delicacies prepared according to old cook books, as well as treats from Belarusian, Georgian, Azerbaijani and, of course, Turkmen cuisine, without which no gastronomic festival in Rebrovo is not complete.
Interestingly, Southerners, how representatives of sunny Turkmenistan are called here, are preparing treats for ... southerners. Do not be surprised, but that's what the residents of the village in the Yuzhsky (Southern) district are called here. This is the "cranberry kingdom" of the Ivanovo region. In the land of "hundreds of lakes" this berry grows in abundance, and pies with cranberries have long become a culinary brand of southerners.
The way to cook the latter will be described at the master classes of the festival. Experienced cooks will discover the secrets of cooking other popular dishes, too. Hospitable hostesses will share family recipes, treat guests with home preserves, sing folk songs, talk about the peculiarities of everyday life of different nationalities.
Representatives of the diasporas will perform at the culinary duel, where they will present a creative number in the traditions of their peoples. In the musical part of the program performances of folk groups are expected.
Students from Turkmenistan often perform with vocal numbers in Yuzha, and not only at a festival like this. On the Day of National Unity, for example, they invariably shine at the lyric-heroic song festival.
The national-cultural association of Turkmens in the Ivanovo region is one of the youngest - less than ten years old - but one of the most famous. Thanks to culinary traditions as well. Plov and other oriental delicacies, cooked for the holidays of the region, leave an indelible impression. They are prepared by the Turkmen, as well as by the diasporas of other Central Asian peoples, which are united in the Ivanovo region. The dates for tasting are Novruz and other ancient holidays.
The Turkmen visit orphanages with culinary gifts. And I and fellow countrymen were lucky enough to hold the Day of Turkmenistan in the library for children and youth in Ivanovo. We talked about our Motherland and showed amazing beauty and perfection of handmade carpets, exquisite national embroidery, various minerals of the richest Turkmen land, albums dedicated to protected places and other colorful editions. The girls in our national costumes circled in the magic dance kushtdepdi. Together with the Turkmen guys they cooked delicious plov and juicy fitchi for the guests. I also presented sesame halva, unusual for these places, and not less exotic dried melon, as well as candies made from it and tea made from flowers of camel thorns and other plants of a distant sunny country, amazing for Russians, brought by my country's colleagues for me.
Diaspora, I note, supports first of all students who come to study in Ivanovo. And this is the textile capital of the Russian Federation friendly to Turkmenistan, where representatives of different nationalities live side by side, including Turkmen.
I am glad that in recent years, the socio-cultural and humanitarian ties of this region of Russia with Turkmenistan, which is far from the local places, are getting stronger. Products from Turkmen cotton fiber are in high demand in virtually all the Ivanovo textile markets. There are plans to open a specialized Trade House of Turkmenistan in the city.
