{"id":13162,"date":"2016-07-11T16:35:45","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T16:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mircorp.com\/?p=13162"},"modified":"2024-06-21T18:31:04","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T18:31:04","slug":"an-interview-with-author-caroline-eden-about-samarkand-recipes-stories-from-central-asia-the-caucasus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mircorp.com\/an-interview-with-author-caroline-eden-about-samarkand-recipes-stories-from-central-asia-the-caucasus\/","title":{"rendered":"An interview with author Caroline Eden about “Samarkand: Recipes & Stories from Central Asia & the Caucasus”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\"The
The Registan Complex is the crowning jewel of Samarkand. Photo credit: Caroline Eden<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Got the travel bug but you\u2019re stuck at home? Try this: page through a beautiful new recipe book from foreign lands and cook up a few simple, yet exotic dishes.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travel, culture, and food writer Caroline Eden, an occasional MIR traveler, has just such a book<\/a> for you, featuring sumptuous photos and tantalizing recipes<\/strong> from quite a few of MIR\u2019s destinations.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Caroline
Caroline meets with a local chef on one of her many journeys through Central Asia and the South Caucasus. Photo credit: Caroline Eden<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Entitled Samarkand: Recipes & Stories from Central Asia & the Caucasus<\/strong><\/a>, <\/em>it is gorgeous enough for the coffee table, but will more likely be found propped open on the kitchen counter, spattered with dabs of butter and drips of pomegranate juice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caroline Eden and her collaborator, food writer and recipe developer Eleanor Ford, had a clear intention:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThe idea was to bring together the cuisines of seven ethnic groups who had left their mark on Samarkand over the centuries \u2013 the Tajiks, Russians, Turks, Jews, Koreans, Caucasians, and the Uzbeks themselves.\u201d  <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Caroline\u2019s essays, scattered throughout the book, include tales of wonderful produce markets, over-the-top banquets<\/strong>, and a meal with a man who forages for wild foods and medicinal herbs in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan<\/a>, where she once traveled with MIR.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Getting
Getting off the beaten path along the Pamir Highway, Tajikistan. Photo credit: Caroline Eden<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Eleanor presents simple instructions for putting together meals of Central Asian<\/a> plov<\/em> and shashlik<\/em>, Azerbaijani<\/a> \u201cButtered Rice under a Shah\u2019s Crown,\u201d and a cake popular in Uzbekistan<\/a> called \u201cRuins of a Russian Count\u2019s Castle.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>\"\"
\n

I caught up with her recently to find out more about Samarkand.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

How did you become interested in this part of the world?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

India led me to Central Asia<\/a>. I had travelled through India from north to south and east to west, spending around a year all together exploring the country after university, and it was the Mughal architecture that really grabbed me<\/strong>. I started reading up and realized that the founder of the Mughal Empire was, of course, Babur, who was born in Uzbekistan<\/a> and is buried in Kabul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The stunning Kalon Mosque complex in Old Town Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Photo credit: Caroline Eden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The book covers both Central Asia and the South Caucasus<\/a> (Azerbaijan<\/a>, Armenia<\/a>, and Georgia<\/a>), and after I\u2019d explored Central Asia I went on a few adventures to the Caucasus. The food there is outstanding<\/strong>, as are the mountains.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Do you have a favorite country of the ones you\u2019ve written about in the book?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Depends what I\u2019m in the mood for. If I want to go off-grid and immerse myself in nature, then I\u2019d say Tajikistan<\/a><\/strong>. It\u2019s a country far removed from mass tourism and has some of the best trekking in the world. For audacious architecture and hospitality \u2013\u00ad and an easier time in terms of infrastructure \u2013 it would be Uzbekistan<\/a>. For a time-trip back to the USSR \u2013 combined with emerald green rolling steppe \u00ad\u00ad\u2013 it\u2019s Kyrgyzstan<\/a> with its yurt camps, Soviet buildings, and sanatoriums. For food, it\u2019s probably Azerbaijan<\/a>. People rave about Georgia<\/a>, and they\u2019re right \u2013\u00ad the food is really excellent there. But for me, you can\u2019t beat the sun-ripened produce of Azerbaijan<\/strong> and the Persian heritage that is still reflected in the dishes there. Azerbaijan deserves more credit for this.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n
\n \n
  • \n \"Traditional <\/li>\n
  • \n \"A <\/li>\n
  • \n \"Preparing <\/li>\n \n <\/ul>\n <\/a>\n <\/a>\n