weighing 350 kilograms this is one of
the largest rice pillars in the world
locally known as plov it is the national
dish of uzbekistan
it is enjoyed year-round as a weekday
meal and prepared on huge scales for
weddings and holidays
its popularity and ubiquity across
uzbekistan cannot be overstated
it is so beloved that nearly three
thousand people come to bhiesh kazan
pilaf center in tashkent to have it for
lunch every day
we visited bies croissant to see what it
takes to make such big
batches
making plov on this scale begins the
night before
workers start by peeling and cutting 100
kilograms of carrots and placing them
into large buckets
in the morning masterchef mirkamil who
has been making this dish for 20 years
starts cutting 100 kilograms of mutton
and beef
basil
he then ties the chunks of meat together
tying the meat helps ensure it stays
tender during the cooking process and
prevents it from splaying
just preparing these ingredients takes
three hours
while the meat has been prepared a large
cast iron cauldron called a kazon is
preheated and filled with 40 liters of
sunflower oil
in uzbekistan it's said that the best
tasting pilafs are the oiliest
once warm those chunks of beef and
mutton are slid into the center of the
croissant and cooked until golden brown
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when the beef has browned chefs work
together to lift and dump 100 kilograms
of cut carrots into the center along
with onions
this plant of carrots and onions is
known as zirbak and is the general base
for all clubs
this base is similar to sofrito in italy
and mirpoi in france
love recipes used to include spinach
chestnuts beans and dried fruits but
most of these ingredients have been
substituted at vyshkazon soft raisins
garbazzo beans dried barberries and
water are added
after about 30 minutes 100 kilograms of
a local long grain laser rice is added
and covered by large metal plates which
help steam the rice
unlike many middle eastern pilafs that
fry the rice the steamed rice implove is
crumbly soft and airy
but achieving this texture and making
sure the rice doesn't stick together is
difficult
to blend
m
when the rice is done the steaming
plates are removed and the rice is
fluffed into the mix
the entire cooking process takes around
six hours and is a labor of love
once mixed generous portions of plov are
loaded onto plates
in uzbekistan there are over 120 recipes
for plov that use some combination of
meat vegetables salad and raisins
love in uzbekistan is typically served
with a fresh tomato and crispy onion
salad but there are plenty of other
condiments and toppings you can add
and everyone has their own part they
enjoy the most
part
each plate costs around one to two
dollars
and wild club is now a relatively cheap
and ubiquitous meal in uzbekistan it
wasn't always this way
up until the 1930s plov was mostly eaten
by wealthy families and reserved for
special occasions like holidays and
weddings for everyone else
today many respects eat plov three to
four times a week and sometimes skip the
meat all together
you might have to give it
is adopted from the farsi word polo and
akin to the turkish word pilaf the first
known recipe of plov is believed to come
from 30th century persia where it was
adapted from a barley dish that used
similar ingredients
legend has it that alexander the great
was fed plov after he conquered modern
day summer camp he apparently loved the
dish so much that he brought the recipe
back to macedonia
by the 15th century several styles of
pilaf had established themselves in
central asia indian turkey and the
caribbean where they remain a staple
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while it's now a more common meal plov
is still the preferred dish for its back
weddings
during weddings guests generally help
prepare the meal for everyone on a
similar scale to bieschkazon
croissants on much smaller scales were
first introduced by turkish nomads and
are now just as common in central asia
as a frying pan is in the west
while household quasars aren't as large
they can typically feed 12 to 15 people
and many families have at least one
larger croissant to feed large groups of
guests
[Music]
despite countless varieties of love
bashkos on pilaf center in tashkent
droves a faithful crowd
apart
[Music]
or pilau the core ingredients of this
time honor dish revolve around rice and
the once served abysh kozon is the
ultimate sign of the good life in
uzbekistan
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our previous episode of big batches at
the world's largest community kitchen in
india