Tasting as a continuation of the ORIENT report: what we write about is what we eat
It all started with a riot on our little ship. If not a riot, then rather something like a boring grumbling about our way of life.
Historically, a certain duality has crept into the life process of our team. Because we, sitting at the computers, move a little, but at the same time we are forced to endlessly run in different instances. We eat haphazardly, supporting life with monotonous fast foods, but at the same time we regularly look for methods to get rid of extra kilogram-calories.
– We must change the way of life! - resolutely expressed a wise conclusion George Aslanyan, swallowing a hamburger with cola at a fast pace.
“And modify the principles of nutrition,” added Eziz Ovezov, carefully swallowing the micro-portions prescribed by the separate feeding system. – You need to go out of town and cook barbecue in the open air, as well as tea on the fire, - I found an option that was trying on everyone.
And then it began and went - fruitless fantasies began to be born about how we in pristine nature inhale oxygen untouched by civilization, meditate under the endless sky, eat and drink everything we brought with us, etc. etc.
And everything would be fine if George did not remember about my materials about turkeys, unseen neither here nor in the entire Central Asian region ... And also the fact that turkey meat is tasty and healthy.
– You should have brought at least one turkey with you when you went to the farm! - said George.
– Why? - I was surprised. - What are you? Do you want to establish a chicken coop in the editorial office?
– Why the chicken coop? You would slaughter a turkey, and we would love to taste it.
Hearing this, I felt uneasy:
– Remember, taster! The last time I committed a murder was a long time ago. And it was on a fishing trip where the guys lured me. I don’t remember if I managed to catch at least one inhabitant of the depths of water, but I got plenty of mosquitoes there. But in defense, I confess: I showed bloodthirsty instincts without much pleasure!
“It's a pity,” George continued to grumble.
– Whom? Mosquitoes?
– No, I'm sorry for the turkey - otherwise we could taste it ...
– Some an evaluator of the organoleptic properties of turkey meat!
... Our verbal ping-pong would go on indefinitely. But then the eternally reasonable Eziz remembered at the wrong time that he had a phone number lying around, where various types of turkey products were delivered to order.
Anyone else would have been looking for this number for ages, but Eziz is a highly structured being, he keeps everything in a clearly regulated order and only according to his guided system.
Therefore, it was not necessary to search for the longed-for telephone number for a long time:
+993 65 65 65 50
George volunteered to make an order. He always decisively takes on the most responsible matters, and immediately shifts them onto the shoulders of others. His lip, as they say, is not a fool, and his needs, to put it mildly, are extensive. And he began to order one dish after another.
There were three of us, and when the question arose of who would pay for the order, by a majority vote this sacred mission was entrusted to me. Two were in favor (George and Eziz) and only one (and that one myself) opposed.
The main argument of the verdict: whoever wrote about turkeys, therefore, should bear the burden of costs associated with their kingdom.
... After some time, four neatly packed packs were delivered to us - that's exactly what the gluttonous George ordered.
I solemnly piled all four packs on the computer table, muttered through my teeth:
– Then act on your own, tasters from the big road!
While Eziz was getting acquainted with the instructions for preparing almost finished food, George hit the road home for a slow cooker. And he did it with the speed of an Olympic athlete.
“Looks like he is very hungry from the overwhelming toil to slap fingers on the keyboard,” I thought.
So how did the culinary fortune make us happy that day?
To sort this out, Eziz set about monitoring the delivered food.
All packs were produced under the “Maksada Okgunly” trademark, already known not only in Turkmenistan, but also abroad.
Each of them was written in large print in Turkmen BERHIZ, which means DIETARY, which is also not bad, considering the recommendations of smart doctors.
The distributor of these products in Turkmenistan is the entrepreneur Akmyrat Yylkybaev.
The first pack, weighing 750 grams, contained fresh frozen manti with breast of turkey.
And for this I had to fork out 40 manats, which, thank God, is less in comparison with the prices in retail outlets, where their own extra charge is added.
Manty was prescribed to cook for 40-45 minutes, in a mode well known to every housewife. But due to the fault of Eziz, this dish was prepared much faster and using a special method. You will learn about his secret secret a little later.
The second pack, subjected to a rigorous and impartial analysis, consisted of fresh frozen cutlets - there were 3 of them (as if they were counting on us specially)
The total weight of the cutlets is 750 grams. 250 grams for each. And for this I paid another 44 manats.
Cooking the cutlets turned out to be easy and hassle-free, which is very cool considering the culinary abilities of cooks like me.
In the next two packs, we found dumplings and khinkali.
The weight category for both is the same - 750 grams each, and the price is 35 and 53 manats, respectively.
The duration of the preparation of both is 10-15 minutes.
... Everything seems to be. But now the main thing. Even people like me know that manti are steamed in a steam cooker, and dumplings are cooked in an ordinary saucepan. Eziz, I believe, will remain in the memory of future generations due to the fact that numerous macro indicators - macroeconomic, macrostatistical, etc., coexist peacefully in his head.
The work of the gray matter of his brain delights everyone who knows Eziz. But at the same time, it costs him nothing to go astray where there is only one road. So this time, having calculated everything thoroughly, comparing and drawing up a plan of macro actions, at the last moment he confused the packs - instead of dumplings, he hopped manti into the multicooker.
When this crime was revealed, it was already too late to save the situation. And we, like prosecutors, pounced on Eziz with accusatory speeches:
– Don't you know that dumplings are cooked in boiling water, and manti is steamed?
– Can't you distinguish that dumplings are small, and manti are larger!
“What's the difference,” Eziz replied calmly. - You take this dish not as manti, but as macrodumplings…
Macrodumplings? It's even funny!
What it really was - manty or macrodumplings - we didn't care, because we understood all this for a sweet soul.
In addition, we were lucky to taste the rich broth. Ask: where did it come from?
And it arose by itself, as if in parallel. George, being a lover of all kinds of cookery, slightly stewed the onions, added a couple of tomatoes, some aromatic spices and poured all this with boiling water in a slow cooker. And only after that, Eziz’s macrodumplings were thrown there, which, together with the spicy broth, appeared in the light of day exactly 15 minutes later.
We also tasted cutlets from the same “Maksada Okgunly”.
Their cooking, as they say, do not hit the lying person. The cutlets heat up on their own without any interference at an average pan temperature for only 2 minutes on each side, and then for another 3 minutes at a low temperature.
After that, you can immediately eat everything without a trace. Which we immediately did without prior tasting.
It turned out satisfying, tasty, aesthetically pleasing and dietary.
You can add finely chopped cucumbers with tomatoes and herbs to ready-made dishes (you saw them in the photo). And also other ingredients that we have left behind the scenes.
And if you want to repeat our experiments, I will remind you the phone number for ordering and delivery:
+993 65 65 65 50
Moreover, it will be cheaper than in a regular store. Please note, however, that there is a separate delivery charge.
So - bon appetit!
P.S. (After Scriptum): And I will henceforth be more prudent in choosing topics for journalistic investigation - it is better to write about how cast-iron blanks are made than about food products.
Then no one will spring me for a tasting. And it will be more economical this way ...
Alexander BAYRIEV
