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| At Robert is Here tropical fruit stand in Homestead, FL by papayas and mamey |
Assalomu alaykum!
Brian here with a fun photo post to take a break from Uzbek self-study lessons. So far I have posted lesson
1,
2, and
3, and will be continuing with the next ones tomorrow. I'm making a lot of progress with introductory Uzbek material and am really enjoying it, very
excited for Arizona!
One of my greatest interests is healthy living as I blog about at my main website
Brian on Health and will talk more about here at this site too. I have been involved with vegetarian, vegan, raw food, and other natural health movements for over 7 years now and have come to adapt many parts of these eating styles into my life.
I basically identify my diet these days as fruitarian. In other words, I eat fruit — as fresh, ripe, and sweet as possible — and a LOT of it. While I do eat other natural foods too, as far as most people are concerned, I am a fruitarian. (You can learn more about my food ideas
here or email me
here, many questions are beyond the scope of this post.)
A fruit-based diet is one of my passions and is something that many people who know me remember me for. Learning to
purchase, manage, ripen, and eat fruit has been an incredible journey. I've faced some challenges in the past but have amassed quite a few tips and tricks along the way at this point and it's a very enjoyable way to eat for me.
As a fruit lover and connoisseur (they call us "
Fruit Hunters"), my main interest when it comes to traveling and cuisine hence is to learn about the kinds and quality of fruit that is grown at my destination. I love to visit markets, try new varieties, find familiar favorites, bargain with vendors, take pictures, make videos, and even post goofy photo blogs like this one, all about my obsession with fruit.
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| At a durian stall in Chinatown, NYC in the winter (holding box of persimmons, yum!) |
Uzbekistan and Fruit
Uzbekistan is a beautiful and generally warm country that has a climate well suited for growing many delicious fruits. Its cuisine and agriculture is particularly reminiscent of that of Mediterranean countries like Turkey or Greece, with a little bit of Middle East and Asian influence as well.
Though I have not yet visited there myself, from what I have seen online, Uzbekistan looks like a great place for fruit eaters with an abundance of very high-quality ripe tree fruits, melons, grapes, figs, stonefruit, and so on available in markets anywhere for good prices. This post is dedicated to sharing some of the images of Uzbek fruit culture I have found thus far. Please enjoy!
Tip: Click on a photo to browse the collection as a set in theater mode.
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| Fresh tree fruit grown on fertile Uzbek land |
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| Abundance of fruit for sale at Samarkand market |
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| Rich Uzbek fruit crop on display |
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| Bargaining for apples and grapes at market |
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| Beautiful image of ripe tree fruit in Samarkand |
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| Shiny lemons and apples and oranges for sale |
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| Buying fruit at a roadside market in Uzbekistan |
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| Delicious grapes, apples, and more |
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| Dried apricots and prunes from Uzbekistan |
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| Bustling fruit market in Urgut |
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| Gourmet melons hanging in Khiva |
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| Impeccably carved Uzbek melons |
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| Inside juicy Uzbek pomegranates |
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| Local vendors selling fruit in Tashkent |
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| Man proudly displays melon crop |
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| May strawberry harvest in Uzbekistan |
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| Melon seller at fruit market in Samarkand |
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| More juicy melons at market scene in Samarkand |
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| Pomegranates in lovely Uzbek-style box |
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| Fresh quince harvest in Uzbekistan |
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| Red pepper vendor at Uzbek market |
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| Rich harvest of gourds and squash also |
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| Selling fresh cherries at market |
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| USAID Uzbekistan fruit sampling event |
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| Delicious fruit selections at market |
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| Uzbek tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and squash |
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| Uzbek women smiling at peach and grape stall |
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| Woman selecting fruit at Urgut bazaar |
Beautiful, aren't they? I will post more about my lifestyle here soon at Uzbek Brian, especially as my summer program begins and I get everything set up with sourcing food while I'm in Tempe (I'm currently seeking out good wholesalers who can deliver cases).
Keep in touch, and eat fruit!
Thank you to the following resources for information:
Be sure to drop me a comment if you have any photos or stories to add.
Xayr,
Brian
Hey Brian, I like this. As you know, fruits are my passion as well! You know what? this reminds me of something. The first person in the world that invented raw vegan life style was from Iran. I met with him along my father and sister around 1980. However he was originally from old Russia. I read Persian version of his book back then which was about 200 pages. The original book, was over 1000 pages and it was in Russian (I don’t know exactly what language). In the book said that his sister, who was living in Russia, started a raw vegan meet-up back in 1960’s or 1970’s and the number of members went to a few thousand! His name is Arshavir Ter Hovannessian (Aterhov). He’s the one that David Wolf and others plagiarized his book. I just tried to look him up in Wikipedia, but it’s gone! A few years ago he was there!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I thought you might find lots of raw vegan or fruitarian clubs in Uzbekistan. Also the original book might be in Uzbek, and you will be able to read it in near future!
Take care,
Masood Tavalla
Hey Masood!
DeleteOnce again thank you for the lovely comments. It's great to know someone is checking out the blog :)
Yes I've heard of Aterhov and the whole David Wolfe fiasco with that. Really interesting. While I am sure there was a lot of raw food and fruit eating done back then, I am not so sure their version of "raw veganism" reflects what is being promoted today, which is good anyway because I hardly identify with that community anymore. I just like fruit! :)
I would love to go to Uzbekistan sometime in the next few years and totally pig out on peaches, grapes, melons, persimmons, berries, apricots, dates, plums, apples, oranges, pears, and pomegranates right from the tree, yum! Perhaps we could go there someday! :)
Brian